Historically only solicitors were allowed to offer Probate services, but since 1st November 2014, accredited accountants are now able to offer this assistance. We were amongst the first firms to gain probate accreditation.

It goes without saying that not having a will in place can have major consequences for those that are left behind as an estate may not be distributed as originally intended.

Furthermore there can be increased administration costs to the estate, with additional tax implications.

It has also been widely reported recently that problems and disputes about probate are on the rise. There are a number of probable reasons for this increase, ranging from suspected executor fraud to negligence, from executors being obstructive to disputes where a Will creates a trust and the executors are also the trustees.

Since we become accredited, and thus allowed to offer probate assistance, we have seen a gradual increase in the number of clients wishing to use these services. Dealing with probate on death is a natural extension to our services, as a clients financial information will be readily available to us.

Apart from applying for probate and acting as an executor and assisting executors, we have also been identifying the assets and liabilities of estates and dealing with all the administration.

It goes without saying that we also deal with all aspects of personal tax planning, claiming all reliefs to which the estate is entitled.

We are always pro-active when it comes to structuring our clients assets for tax purposes, and we have been advising our clients on a number of areas including:

Will trusts or lifetime trusts
Tax-effective clauses to include in a will
Maximising lifetime inheritance tax thresholds in your will
Optimising all inheritance tax reliefs, (including personal business assets)
Bespoke will planning for wealthy estates

Being able to offer probate services has increased the wide range of assistance we offer, and as a result improves still further the level of service we provide to our clients.

Up to 3,000 families may miss out on the government’s proposed changes to inheritance tax (IHT), according to analysis by NFU Mutual.

The Conservatives outlined their plans to raise the IHT threshold to £1 million in their election manifesto. A ‘residence allowance’ of £175,000 would enable married couples to transfer a property of up to £1 million to their children without having to pay IHT.

The £175,000 residence allowance will enable homeowners to extend their current £325,000 IHT threshold to £500,000. Married couples can combine these to give an overall IHT threshold of £1 million.

However, NFU Mutual’s research has revealed that thousands of families could miss out on the tax break because the family home has already been sold.

Data from HMRC shows that thousands of ineligible estates without property must pay IHT bills each year.

The Chancellor is widely expected to officially announce the plans during his Summer Budget in July.

Sean McCann, chartered financial planner at NFU Mutual, said the plans will “stick in the craw” of those who have already sold their houses:

“These proposals are acknowledgement from the government that the existing inheritance tax threshold is far too low. However, it would be much fairer to apply an overall increase rather than tinker with the rules around who can benefit and who can’t.

“Under the new proposals, we could soon start to see more elderly people reluctantly house-sitting for the next generation or even upsizing to make the most of this potential tax break. The wider effects on the property market could be significant.”

Contact us today to discuss your IHT planning.

Tag: Inheritance tax planning

Probate is no longer a protected legal service

Families could miss out on IHT relief