I have an inheritance tax problem. How much can I afford to give away?

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A great question which, understandably, is incredibly difficult to answer.

Your lawyer can give you great estate planning advice involving trust planning and utilising wills etc. but they will normally shy away from answering this question.

Likewise, your accountant can undertake some impressive tax planning but is unlikely to commit to a specific figure.

Your financial adviser may be able to help. But only if you have the right financial adviser.

A Financial Planner armed with lifetime cashflow modelling software can model various “what if” scenarios showing the implication of giving money or spending it or setting up a Trust arrangement.

They can show you whether you can indeed afford to give money away at all or whether a series of smaller gifts over time might be more beneficial.

Clearly some assumptions will have to be made and any financial plan implemented needs to be reviewed on a regular basis but the output can be hugely enlightening.

Granite Financial Planning offer such a service and Paul Gibson has been named Runner Up in the Inheritance Tax Planner of the Year category in the FT Money Management Financial Planner of the Year awards on two separate occasions.

Estate planning can be incredibly complex and one professional may not necessarily have all the answers. By working together financial planners, lawyers and accountants can help provide a better overall solution.

If you would like to have a chat about your estate planning issues, please contact us.