Gifts

You can legally avoid Inheritance Tax by giving away gifts during your life.

The rules around making gifts are tricky and will be strictly applied, so it’s important to speak to a professional for advice on your specific circumstances. If, for example, you should need to go into a care home, the local authority will look at any gifts that you have made, to see whether they could be classed as deliberate deprivation of assets. If so, you could still be required to pay for your care, even if you have given much of your estate away.

Also, Inheritance Tax could be payable on gifts made during the last seven years of your life. This is charged on a sliding scale. For instance, the rate for gifts made between six and seven years before death is 8 per cent, while the rate for gifts made during the last three years of life is 40 per cent, where the estate is worth more than £325,000.

Make a Will

You can avoid inheritance Tax by leaving everything to your spouse or civil partner in your Will.

​Married couples and civil partners are also able to pass on their unused tax allowance to their partner, which can very substantially increase the surviving partner’s tax allowance.

If you leave your house to your children, your estate can benefit from an additional tax allowance as well.

If you want to avoid Inheritance Tax and ensure your money, property and possessions are inherited by your chosen loved ones, please ring us on 0203 488 3997, email us at info@ashtongrace.co.uk  or make an appointment