Arford Henderson Law

Month: September 2019

IFAs: Business Property Relief and Inheritance Tax

IFAs: Business Property Relief and Inheritance Tax

financial security, Taxes / By

There are so many different facets to Estate Planning that clients just have not thought about.

Why would your clients want to invest and save all their lives and then have 40% of it to go into inheritance tax and the rest of it divided amongst people they didn’t intend to.

Let me tell you of a horror story: Ms. Money-bags had built up a fabulous business and it generated a substantial amount of money. She allowed the profits build up in the company bank account because she didn’t want to pay the higher income tax rate that extracting the profits would cause.

Sadly, Ms. Money-bags became ill and passed away – without doing any IHT planning. When the executors submitted the IHT account, HMRC asked them to pay inheritance tax on the £1 million bank balance that Ms. Money-bags had let build up in the company.

Her children were not impressed at all. They thought that the entire value of the company should be free from IHT, under the Business Property Relief (BPR) rules.

Unfortunately, the IHT rules say that if a company holds assets, including cash, that are not used in the company’s trade, that proportion of the company’s shares are subject to IHT.

In some cases, it is possible to claim business property relief where it can be shown that the cash is required for the trade or is being retained for future investment in the business, but it is not always possible, so it is best to obtain professional advice.

And the moral of this story is…

  • If there is a lesson to be learned from the above tale, it is this:
  • It is a good investment to obtain sound Estate Planning advice.
  • I have been a qualified solicitor since October 2003, and solely work in Estate Planning law.

Please contact me on [email protected] or 0207 041 6069 to find out how I can best help you protect your family and your assets.

IFAs and WHY Estate Planning Law is Critical!

financial security / By

You value your client’s financial well-being. That is because you value the financial advice that you give and hope that you have a long lasting relationship.

Your clients prosper and you have a long term client. That’s the ideal way of building an IFA business with an established trail business.

What goes hand in hand with your financial advice that your client will be indebted to you for arranging for them?

Estate Planning! – Your clients will forever be grateful that not only have you sorted out their long term financial plan but you also helped them ensure that their assets are protected when the they pass from this world.

There are so many different facets to Estate Planning that clients just have not thought about.

Why would your clients want to invest and save all their lives (with your help) and then have 40% of it to go into inheritance tax and the rest of it divided amongst people they didn’t intend to.

Let me tell you of a horror story. Mr. Thrifty married to Mrs. Thrifty  has ensured that he has paid off his mortgage on his £1m home (with your help) and hopes that one day his daughter Lucy will inherit the home. You have advised them to get a mirror Will that they did on the Internet.

However, Mr. Thrifty dies a year later in an accident. The home transfers to Mrs. Thrifty who marries her tennis coach, Mr. Opportunity a year later. They have two children. She makes a new will, leaving everything to her children.

Unfortunately they divorce ten years later, and Mr. Opportunity receives half the value of the house (£500,000) in the divorce settlement. Mrs. Thrifty dies in shock and the rest of the estate is divided amongst the three children. Lucy receives £166,000.

This is not what Mr. Thrifty had intended when he was setting out his long-term financial plan with you.

And the moral of this story is…

 If there is a lesson to be learned from the above tale, it is this:

It is a good investment to obtain sound Estate Planning advice.

I have been a qualified solicitor since October 2003, and solely work in Estate Planning law. I work with IFAs who wish to offer this service to their clients as an added value and opportunity to increase their margins.

Please contact me on [email protected] or 0207 041 6069 to find out how I can best help you protect your family and your assets.

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Arford Henderson Law is the trading name of Arford Henderson Law Ltd. Arford Henderson Law Ltd is a limited company registered in England and Wales with the registered number 12729294. The registered office is at Kemp House, 160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX Arford Henderson Law Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA No 801483.
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