Comfort & expertise

Estate planning and IHT mitigation

Are your assets, including your house, worth £325,000 or more?
Or are they likely to be in the near future?

If your estate exceeds £325,000 (or £650,000 for married couples or civil partnerships) any excess over this sum could be liable to Inheritance Tax at a rate of 40%. In fact, over 40,000 estates a year are subject to inheritance tax and these numbers are bound to increase if property values increase.

In recent years the Chancellor has specifically targeted the impact of trusts in the tax mitigation process which has made tax planning more difficult, but there are still a number of ways to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by your estate so that your beneficiaries can reap the rewards.

At Martin-Kaye we can help you take advantage of the annual exemptions as well as working with a number of professional advisors who can assist with investments and sophisticated schemes designed to reduce liability.

Succession Planning (for business owners)

The Improvement and Development Agency states that “succession planning is typically defined as a process by which one or more successors are identified for key posts (or groups of similar key posts), and career moves and/or development activities are planned for these successors.” In other words, succession planning is about preparing organisations for likely or inevitable changes now, in order to minimise challenges later.

Martin-Kaye have embraced this concept for many years, running seminars and workshops and offering advice and assistance to our business clients. Succession planning is a broad concept and, if handled correctly, can have a positive impact through improved job filling, active development of longer term successors, auditing the ‘talent pool’ and identifying those people with the ability to drive the business forward.

Unfortunately, many businesses find that when their owner decides the time is right to hand over the reins they do not have a sufficient plan in place to ensure a smooth transition. This often leads to the failure of the business – a proper succession plan is therefore crucial to long-term success. We see it as an ongoing process rather than a one off, which has to be carefully managed, possibly over a number of years.

Our commercial department are always happy to speak with business owners no matter how late in the day they may have left it and always offer a free initial consultation – please contact us below.

For more information please contact Jemma Blake who is a Solicitor on 01952 272222 or fill in the form on our Contact Page:

Comfort & expertise

Estate planning and IHT mitigation

Are your assets, including your house, worth £325,000 or more? Or are they likely to be in the near future?

Succession Planning (for business owners)

What our clients say

Are your assets, including your house, worth £325,000 or more?
Or are they likely to be in the near future?