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Estate Planning Specialists

29 articles

Inheritance Tax

Practical guides on inheritance tax for UK executors and families dealing with probate.

  • Inheritance Tax

    How Many Valuations Do You Need for Probate? Count the Assets, Not the Opinions

    The number of valuations an estate needs is decided by how many assets the person owned, not by how many opinions you collect on each one. There is no legal requirement to obtain three valuations of a house. GOV.UK says you can get a professional valuation for anything worth over £1,500 and can have property valued by an estate agent or a chartered surveyor, and the standard every figure must meet is open market value at the date of death. Most estates need exact figures supplied free by banks and registrars, plus one or two paid valuations at most.

    5 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    Inheritance Tax Rates and Allowances Explained: The 2026/27 Figures

    Inheritance tax is charged at 40% on the value of an estate above its available allowances, falling to 36% where at least 10% of the baseline amount passes to charity. The allowances are the £325,000 nil rate band, a residence nil rate band of up to £175,000 that tapers away above a £2,000,000 estate, the unlimited spouse and civil partner exemption, and a set of gift exemptions covering £3,000 a year plus £250 small gifts and wedding gifts. Two further changes matter now: from 6 April 2026 the 100% rate of business and agricultural relief is capped at £2.5 million combined, and from 6 April 2027 most unused pension funds count as part of the estate. This guide sets out every figure in one place, with the mechanics that consumer summaries usually get wrong.

    9 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    How an Inheritance Tax Threshold Calculator Works, and Where It Stops

    An inheritance tax threshold calculator turns a handful of inputs into one number: the amount an estate can pass on before 40% tax starts. This guide walks through exactly what our calculator asks for, how each input moves the answer, and the four situations where its estimate and an actual filing position part company: gifts made in the last seven years, a home that does not pass wholly to direct descendants, assets held in trust, and reliefs the tool has no box for. Knowing where the arithmetic stops is what makes the number useful.

    7 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    The Nil Rate Band Explained: £325,000, the Freeze, and the Transfer Most Estates Under-Claim

    The nil rate band is the £325,000 slice of an estate that is taxed at 0%. It has not moved since 6 April 2009 and is now fixed at that level until 5 April 2031. Whatever a spouse or civil partner did not use on the first death can be added to the survivor's estate, but the mechanism is widely misunderstood: what transfers is a percentage of the band, not a cash amount, so a husband who died in 1996 when the band was £200,000 can still add a full £325,000 today. The transfer is not automatic. It has to be claimed on form IHT402 within a time limit, and an older will containing a nil rate band trust may have spent part of the band before it could ever pass across.

    8 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    The 7-Year Rule on Gifts and Inheritance Tax Explained

    Most lifetime gifts to other people are potentially exempt transfers: no inheritance tax is due if the giver survives 7 years, but death within 7 years pulls the gift back into the tax calculation. Taper relief can then reduce the tax on a gift made 3 to 7 years before death, from the full 40% down to as little as 8%. The detail that catches families out is that taper relief reduces the tax, not the value of the gift, so it only helps once total gifts in the 7 years exceed the £325,000 nil-rate band. This guide explains PETs, the taper bands and the gift with reservation trap, with worked numbers.

    8 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    Agricultural Relief for Inheritance Tax: The Basics, the Tests and the £2.5 Million Cap

    Agricultural Relief (often called agricultural property relief or APR) can remove some or all of the value of qualifying farmland, farm buildings and farmhouses from an inheritance tax bill, at either 100% or 50%. The property must have been owned and occupied for the right period: broadly 2 years if the owner farmed it, 7 years if someone else did. For deaths on or after 6 April 2026 the 100% rate is capped: a combined £2.5 million allowance is shared between Agricultural Relief and Business Relief, with 50% relief on qualifying value above it. This guide explains what qualifies, which rate applies and how the new cap works, with a worked example.

    8 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    Business Relief for Inheritance Tax: The Basics Every Owner and Executor Should Know

    Business relief (often called business property relief or BPR) reduces the value of a business or its assets when inheritance tax is calculated, at either 100% or 50% depending on the asset. The owner must normally have held the asset for at least two years, and the business must be a genuine trading business rather than an investment vehicle, which is the single most common reason claims fail. From 6 April 2026 the 100% rate is capped: a £2.5 million combined allowance covers business and agricultural property, with 50% relief above it, and shares not listed on a recognised stock exchange (such as AIM shares) now get 50% relief. This guide explains the rates, the tests, how executors claim on forms IHT400 and IHT413, and exactly what changed in April 2026.

    8 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    Capital Gains Tax on Inherited Property: The Probate Value Rule Explained

    Inheriting a property does not trigger capital gains tax. The tax question only arises if you later sell, and the answer hinges on one number: the property's market value at the date of death, usually the probate value. That figure becomes your acquisition cost, so only growth after death is taxed, at 18% or 24% for 2026/27 after a £3,000 annual exempt amount, with a 60 day deadline to report and pay. This guide works through the calculation, the reliefs, and a trap few pages mention: how a lowballed probate valuation quietly inflates the CGT bill years later.

    7 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    Declaration of Trust for Jointly Held Property: Ownership Shares, Form 17 and Tax

    A declaration of trust records who really owns what share of a jointly held property, separately from whose names appear on the legal title. For married couples and civil partners it is the evidence HMRC requires with Form 17 to move rental income off the default 50:50 split, and the form must reach HMRC within 60 days of signing. It is a lifetime ownership and tax document, not to be confused with a property protection trust, which is a will trust that only takes effect on death. This guide explains how the two differ, how Form 17 works, and the capital gains, stamp duty and inheritance tax consequences of changing shares.

    6 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    Deed of Variation Explained: How to Change a Will After Death

    A deed of variation lets a beneficiary rewrite who receives their share of an estate after the person has died, and, if the strict statutory conditions are met, the change is read back into the will for inheritance tax and capital gains tax as if the deceased had made it. It must be in writing, signed by everyone who loses out, completed within two years of the death, contain the correct statement of intent, and involve no payment in return. Used well, it can redirect an inheritance to a spouse, skip a generation, or push a charitable legacy over the 10% line that unlocks the 36% inheritance tax rate. This guide explains the conditions, the uses and the limits.

    8 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    Do You Need a Professional (RICS) Valuation for Probate?

    There is no law that forces executors to instruct a RICS surveyor before applying for probate, but the property must be valued at its open market value on the date of death, and HMRC routinely checks the figures on taxable estates through the Valuation Office Agency. A free estate agent appraisal is often accepted on smaller, clearly non-taxable estates. On anything near the inheritance tax thresholds, a formal RICS Red Book valuation (typically £200 to £600) is the evidence HMRC respects, and skipping it can cost far more in extra tax, interest at 7.75% and penalties of up to 30% if a figure turns out to be carelessly low.

    7 min read

  • Inheritance Tax

    How to Value an Estate for Probate: The Three Steps HMRC Expects

    Before you can apply for probate in England and Wales you must value everything the person owned at the date they died, add any gifts they made in the 7 years before death, and deduct their debts. Bank balances need exact figures, while houses and possessions need a realistic open market value. A formal property valuation is not a legal requirement in every case, but the closer the estate sits to an inheritance tax threshold, the stronger the case for one. This guide walks through the three steps, the reporting rules and the current £526 application fee.

    4 min read
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