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Find out the answers to some of the most common questions around inheritance tax and estate planning.
16 December 2025 | 3 minute read
Understanding how inheritance tax (IHT) works and how to mitigate it could help you pass on more wealth to your children and grandchildren. However, IHT and estate planning can be complicated and it’s not something you want to get wrong.
Learn more about estate planning, and how writing a will, lifetime gifting and managing your IHT liability can help you and your loved ones in our comprehensive guide.
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We’ve compiled a list of questions that clients have asked our experts in their one-to-one meetings and during our webinars. While the answers are no substitute for tailored financial advice, we hope the information will help you feel a bit more confident when planning your legacy.
If your estate is valued at above the IHT ‘nil-rate band’ of £325,000 when you die, the excess may be liable for IHT. Currently, the standard IHT rate is 40%. IHT isn’t normally payable if you leave everything to your spouse or civil partner. In fact, married couples and civil partners can transfer any unused element of their IHT nil-rate band to their living partner when they die, effectively doubling it to £650,000.
If you pass on your main residence (or the sale proceeds of your former residence) to your children or grandchildren when you die, you might also qualify for the ‘residence nil-rate band’, which is a maximum of £175,000. Like the standard nil-rate band, you can transfer any unused portion to your surviving spouse or civil partner when you die. That means a couple could potentially pass on up to £1m before IHT becomes due.
There are several ways to manage IHT, but only if you plan ahead. For example, gifting money during your lifetime could help to reduce the size of your estate, which in turn can help to reduce your estate’s IHT liability.
There are a range of allowances that can enable you to gift money tax efficiently, including gifts of up to £3,000 each tax year (your ‘annual exemption’), gifts for weddings or civil partnerships, and gifts from regular income. Larger gifts to individuals are known as ‘potentially exempt transfers’ and you must live for at least a further seven years for them to be tax free.
If you give your house to your children, you must live for at least a further seven years after making the gift for it to be considered outside of your estate for IHT purposes. However, the gift must be made unconditionally. If you benefit from the property in any way, the gift will be a ‘gift with reservation of benefit’ and will remain in your estate.
If you gift your home to your children but continue to live in the property, it will be deemed a gift with reservation of benefit. This means the property will remain in your estate and may be subject to IHT when you die.
Pensions currently fall outside of your estate, which means they can be passed on to your beneficiaries free from IHT. However, under planned changes, the value of ‘unused pension funds and death benefits’ will be brought into a person’s estate for IHT purposes from April 2027.
Planning how to fund your retirement will depend on your individual circumstances, including when you retire and how much you’ve saved up in different savings and investment pots. We can advise on the most tax-efficient solution for you.
The rules around pensions are complex and subject to change, so it’s always worth getting financial advice to ensure you are up to date.
IHT is paid directly from your estate. It is the responsibility of your estate’s executor or administrator to organise the payment. IHT can be paid from funds within your estate or from money raised from the sale of assets. Often, IHT is paid through the ‘Direct Payment Scheme’. This enables the executor or administrator to ask your bank or building society to make a payment from your account to HMRC.
No. Your beneficiaries should only receive their inheritance once your estate’s IHT, debts and other liabilities have been paid. If the executor or administrator distributes the estate without settling the IHT bill first, they could be held personally liable for paying the outstanding bill.
There are other potential ways to reduce IHT, including setting up trusts, specialist investment vehicles and whole-of-life insurance, but the best course of action is to seek financial advice and consult with your tax adviser early on. That way you’ll give yourself the best chance of passing on a legacy that suits your family’s unique circumstances. Don’t just leave a gift, leave a legacy.
If you’d like to speak to one of our wealth managers about IHT and estate planning, please get in touch.
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