Private wealth

UK trusts, tax & estate planning

Creating and preserving your legacy.

Considering estate and succession planning during your lifetime gives you the opportunity to structure your affairs in a flexible and tax-efficient way for the short and long term. You may be looking to provide for children or grandchildren without them having control too soon, preserve business assets, or protect a disabled child. To ensure that your wealth is structured in line with your priorities, you need an expert adviser to provide you with creative and individually tailored advice. While the scope for people domiciled in the UK to create new trusts tax-efficiently is more restricted than in the past, there are still a number of planning options.

Our team will guide you through the available tax and succession planning opportunities and provide effective strategies to deal with issues which could impact the transfer of wealth including marital breakdown, financial immaturity, mental incapacity and providing for disabled beneficiaries.

We support individuals, families and trustees in the establishment and administration of trusts and other estate planning structures. We also advise on the ongoing management of existing trusts, including changes of trustees, restructuring and taxation.

We know that each and every client is unique so we spend time gaining a thorough understanding of your specific circumstances and what is important to you and your family with regards to succession. We will then work with you to manage your estate in a way that is tax-efficient and fulfils your wishes for your family’s future.

Coronavirus delays IR35 until 2021

IR35 was introduced by the Government to counter perceived tax avoidance where individuals were providing their services through an intermediary, such as a personal service company.

In an attempt to alleviate pressure during the COVID-19 fallout, the government announced on 18 March that is has postponed these reforms until 2021.

How are your cryptoassets taxed?

December 2019’s guidance note set out HMRC’s view on the appropriate tax treatment of cryptoassets for individuals. Read our guide outlining what you may need to pay and what records you may need to keep.

Download guide

Family investment companies

Family investment companies can be attractive for wealthy clients who are used to a corporate structure and who want more control over the flow of assets to the next generation. The underlying assets may be a property portfolio or stocks and shares. Assets can be held through family investment companies without upfront and ongoing inheritance tax charges like a trust, and income and capital gains can be accumulated tax-efficiently. We can draft the Articles of Association of the company carefully to ensure that control is retained by the right family members, and to achieve flexibility in providing benefits to shareholders.

Trusts for business owners

For clients who own trading businesses, trusts can be a useful succession and tax planning vehicles to ensure the preservation of our clients’ wealth. For example, it may be possible to transfer shares in a business into a trust free from inheritance tax, while also optimising the capital gains tax position

Trusts for future generations

Where clients wish to provide for their children and grandchildren (e.g. for the provision of school fees), it can be prudent to create a trust of up to the available inheritance tax allowance (known as the nil rate band). There will be no inheritance tax on creation and a new trust of this type can be created every seven years. Also, if clients have surplus income, outright gifts or gifts into trust out of this surplus income can be made which are completely exempt from inheritance tax.