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Have inheritance tax changes simplified death? STEPHEN HAGGETT considers the 2007 PBR and the continued importance of flexible trusts
KEY POINTS
- Need for comprehensive and holistic planning.
- Outline of non-tax factors.
- The future role of trusts.
- Importance of preserving all inheritance tax exemptions.
For many married couples (and civil partners) the inheritance tax (IHT) reforms announced by the Chancellor in the latest Pre-Budget Report might suggest a return to much simpler estate planning.
Most may envisage a will which merely leaves everything to the surviving spouse (including in this context a civil partner) on the first death in the knowledge perhaps in some circumstances mistaken of a 100% uplift to the survivor's nil-rate band (IHT exemption and for 2007-08 £300 000).
Although further guidance has recently been issued by HMRC all private client practitioners will now be aware of the legislation proposed in the Finance Bill 2008 allowing a claim for the...
