DISCRETIONARY TRUST WILLS - £79.95There is still plenty of mileage in Discretionary Trust WillsClick here to open our Free IHT Calculator to see how much IHT YOU can save
However, whilst trying to remain politically impartial, IHT is still an issue worth planning for in your Wills - simply because Labour may backtrack or the Conservatives may get in with different proposals or the HMRC will interpret Darling's changes to the advantage of the Government. Furthermore, the IHT advantages for couples who are NOT married or in a civil partnership of having Discretionary Trust Wills (i.e. avoiding paying IHT twice on the first estate) remain (I.E. YOU CAN STILL SAVE A LOT OF INHERITANCE TAX). This is because the new legislation has no effect on the IHT threshold for un-married couples.To keep all options open, we recommend a pair of '2 Year Discretionary Trust' Wills. This type of Will basically leaves the entire estate to a Discretionary Trust managed by the appointed Executors, and allows them 100% flexibility to set up any further Trusts required to maximise any potential IHT saving. What's more, if there is no IHT saving to be had then the Executors can also simply pass the entire estate directly to the surviving spouse/partner - so even in the worst case scenario the effect is no worse than having a pair of normal Mirror Wills. Finally, once you've paid for a pair of '2 Year Discretionary Trust' Wills at our site, you can login and produce a simple pair of Mirror Wills for no charge and sign/witness them if you decide against Discretionary Trust Wills at a later date. You can also 'swap back' at no charge. So in the very 'worst case' scenario the most you’re going to lose is the 'extra' you've paid for a pair of 2 Year Discretionary Trust Wills (£79.95) over the cost of a pair of Mirror Wills (£49.95) - i.e. just £30.00. And in the 'best case' you could up saving tens of thousands of pounds in Inheritance Tax. To summarise, if you're married ...If you're married or in a civil partnership then as the new legislation stands:-
... or if you're not marriedIf you're a couple but neither married nor in a civil partnership, then nothing has changed and YOU CAN STILL SAVE A LOT OF IHT by making Discretionary Trust Wills. This is because if one of you dies and passes his/her estate to the other, then the first estate attracts IHT at 40% on all assets over the £325,000 threshold and then what's left of it is taxed again at 40% when the second partner dies (assuming that the second partner's estate exceeds the IHT threshold of £325,000). A pair of Discretionary Trust Wills will still 'ring-fence' a part of the estate for the benefit of your eventual heirs and ensure that IHT is only paid once on it. Our recommendation is that if you are in such a relationship and your joint estate exceeds £325,000 then you should make a pair of '2 Year Discretionary Trust' Wills as this will not only protect you now but also position you well whatever future legislation may throw at you. Click here to open our Free IHT Calculator to see how much IHT YOU can save |
