Considering how to financially plan for the future can feel like a daunting and overwhelming task, but one that is vital to ensure peace of mind for your family’s future. If you’re struggling to know where to start, you can make the journey as smooth as possible by seeking professional advice from a qualified personal tax accountant - whether it’s in relation to Inheritance Tax, Estate planning, succession planning or trusts.
Improving your financial position is not only beneficial for you but also for the future beneficiaries of your will. One way to do this is to ensure you’re paying the right amount of tax and seeking reliefs where possible.
To be efficient with your money, it’s recommended that you take proper advice to ensure you’re only paying what you’re legally and ethically obliged to, whilst still maintaining tax compliance. By doing this, you can structure your affairs in a way that is tax efficient - whether you have assets located in the UK or elsewhere.
Trusts can be a very useful tool to assist with tax planning and asset protection for future generations. Essentially, they are a legal agreement where assets are placed into the care of an individual who manages them for the benefit of another person, who may then take control of the assets in the future.
For example, you may own a property that you rent out and wish to leave it to one of your children - but you don’t want them to have it until they’re a certain age. A trust would allow you to transfer the property into your child’s name now, but you can set out the terms which stipulate when they are entitled to the property and what they can do with it.
For the person giving the asset, they hand over their ownership and responsibility of the asset - so you would no longer own the property - but the benefit of this is that you will have reduced your estate and therefore reduced your Inheritance Tax (IHT) liabilities in future.
When it comes to preserving wealth and ensuring the financial wellbeing of your family, Inheritance Tax can be a significant barrier. It can cost your Estate hundreds of thousands of pounds when you die and, in 2023, it generated £7 billion for HM Revenue and Customs.
With the correct advice, you can mitigate your inheritance tax liabilities and ensure your assets are passed on as you intend.
Estate planning involves preparing a plan of action for transferring your wealth and assets as you wish, in the case of incapacitation or death. An Estate plan can help you to organise things such as gifts and trusts, donating to charity, and your final will and testament.
Without an Estate plan or legal will, your estate will be divided according to the rules of intestacy, which means that any personal decisions you otherwise would have made will not be taken into account.
Care should be taken when considering Estate planning, including the intricacies of Wwills, trusts and other essential documents - allowing you to protect your assets for generations to come.
If you own a business that you wish to be passed onto a member of your family, then succession planning should be an important part of your financial planning.
Businesses often use succession planning to pass leadership roles down to another employee or group of employees. This means that the business can continue to run smoothly and without interruption in the case of the current leader being unable to fulfil their role.
Capital gains tax can significantly impact your financial position - it’s a tax that you are liable to pay on the profit you make when you sell an asset that’s increased in value. This could be shares, a property such as a second home, or a property you’ve rented out, or business assets.
For example, you could have bought shares in a company for £5,000 and later sold them for £20,000. With a gain of £15,000, some of this will be taxable.
Failure to take measured advice to both minimise your tax liability and maximise your returns could be a costly mistake. We have a wealth of experience on tax-efficient investments, exemptions and reliefs, allowing you to make informed decisions that will help you achieve your financial goals and make sure your family are well looked after in the future.
Are you looking for help and advice about how to protect your wealth? Our expert team can provide you with this advice, as well as making you aware of benefits and reliefs that you may not have already explored.
Whatever you’d like support with, get in touch with our team of experts today.
