Inheritance Tax (IHT) is an issue affecting increasing numbers of households across the country. Changes introduced in Chancellor Alistair Darling\u2019s pre-Budget report in October 2007 have made it possible for couples and civil partners to combine their individual IHT allowances, so that it is easier for them to protect their families\u2019 inheritance.<\/p>\n
IHT is currently payable at 40 per cent on any amount over \u00a3325,000 \u2013 the nil rate band (tax year 2011\/12). The nil rate band is the term used to describe the value an estate can have before it is taxed (\u00a3650,000 for married couples). So if you have an estate worth \u00a3500,000, \u00a3175,000 is taxed at 40 per cent, meaning the IHT bill would be \u00a370,000.<\/p>\n
Estate planning tool<\/strong> The value of a trust in IHT planning is that it enables you to reduce the wealth on which your beneficiaries will pay IHT without making a valuable outright gift \u2013 something you might be reluctant to do if the potential recipients are quite young or might take an irresponsible approach to a substantial sum of money, for example.<\/p>\n Passing on wealth<\/strong> Other trusts, known as discretionary trusts, allow the trustees to retain control of the assets under the terms of the trust, which set out when and what the beneficiaries receive. They can also allow the trustees to react to changes in the beneficiaries\u2019 circumstances. Again, the settlor can be named as a trustee.<\/p>\n Bare (Absolute) trusts<\/strong> Interest in possession trusts<\/strong> Discretionary trusts<\/strong> Passing on wealth in a tax-efficient manner Inheritance Tax (IHT) is an issue affecting increasing numbers of households across the country. Changes introduced in Chancellor Alistair Darling\u2019s pre-Budget report in October 2007 have made it possible for couples and civil partners to combine their individual IHT allowances, so that it is easier for them to… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suretyfp.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTrusts are a well-established and useful tool in estate planning. A trust allows someone (the settlor) to make a gift of assets, without completely losing control of those assets, by placing them with a third-party (the trustees) to administer on behalf of the trust beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
\nThe trust allows wealth to be passed on in a tax-efficient manner under the control of the trustees, who can include the settlor. There are different types of trust. Some give the trustees very little discretion, but can be useful when the aim is to establish the future use of assets. For example, a Will trust could give a widow the right to certain income, with the capital passing to any children on her death.<\/p>\n
\nWith a bare trust you name the beneficiaries at the outset and these can\u2019t be changed. The assets, both income and capital, are immediately owned and can be taken by the beneficiary at age 18 (16 in Scotland).<\/p>\n
\nAn interest in possession trust is one where the beneficiary of a trust has an immediate and automatic right to the income from the trust after expenses. The trustee (the person running the trust) must pass all of the income received, less any trustees\u2019 expenses, to the beneficiary.The beneficiary who receives income (the \u2018income beneficiary\u2019) often doesn\u2019t have any rights over the capital held in such a trust. The capital will normally pass to a different beneficiary or beneficiaries in the future. Depending on the terms of the trust, the trustees might have the power to pay capital to a beneficiary even though that beneficiary only has a right to receive income.<\/p>\n
\nHere the trustees decide what happens to the income and capital throughout the lifetime of the trust and how it is paid out. There is usually a wide range of beneficiaries but no specific beneficiary has the right to income from the trust<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"