Inheritance Tax changes raise important questions

The Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced immediate changes to Inheritance Tax regulations.  For many people this raises important questions about their current Wills.  The position of the new regulations is unclear and since each person's situation is unique there will need to be a review to establish what is best for all concerned.

One area has been clarified.  The surviving member of a married couple or civil partnership can immediately add the unused total of their partner's tax-exempt £300,000 allowance to their own.  This can give them a nil-rate band of up to £600,000, which would represent an Inheritance Tax saving of as much as £120,000 - and because it has been backdated indefinitely, all surviving widows or widowers can now use their deceased partner's allowance.

Once the regulations have been clarified there may be circumstances in which a Will needs to be re-written or other arrangements changed to protect family assets.  These are important changes that may save your beneficiaries a great deal of money.

For further details on how this may affect your situation please contact Andrew Procter.

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