A little-known trick protects children from inheritance tax and is being used increasingly by British families.
UK households can escape HMRC inheritance tax charge with three-word trick
Families are rushing to use a little-known rule that could save your children thousands and spare them a tax raid from HMRC. A little-known trick protects children from inheritance tax and is being used increasingly by British families.
Financial advisers report a sharp rise in people using a “deed of variation” to redirect inherited wealth into a trust after the death of a parent. The loophole allows beneficiaries to alter how an estate is distributed.
It is treated as though the person who passed away had made the decision. Experts say the move could save families hundreds of thousands of pounds.
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Scott Gallacher, director of advice firm Rowley Turton, said: “We are now discussing deeds of variation with almost every client we see, as the Government’s new inheritance tax raid on pensions is dramatically increasing the number of families facing inheritance tax on their estates.
“In many cases, this approach is creating six-figure inheritance tax savings. Ideally, families should consider trusts before the estate is passed down, but these are difficult conversations.”
Independent adviser Samuel Mather-Holgate from Mather and Murray Financial said: “These deeds of variation have been under-utilised, even before the inheritance tax changes, but the proposed reforms are bound to get people thinking in new ways.
“There are important considerations about trusts, and professional advice is essential, but used wisely, these tools could save millions of pounds across a family over generations.”
Irwin Mitchell advises: “A deed of variation, sometimes called a deed of family arrangement, allows beneficiaries to make changes to their entitlement from a Will after the person has died.
“You might want to do this if you don’t need all your inheritance and would like it to go to someone else. It can also help minimise inheritance tax.
Beneficiaries can only amend their own share of the estate. Sometimes other people, such as executors or other beneficiaries, also need to agree if they’re affected by the change.”