UK Tax Lawyers and Estate Planning Solicitors

Making the most of your choices
Most people work hard throughout their lives to build up their personal and family wealth, yet all too often neglect measures to preserve that wealth. Income, capital gains and inheritance taxes can substantially erode the value of your estate. A failure to plan ahead may lead to your assets not being transferred to future generations as you would wish and their value being unnecessarily reduced due to the failure to plan properly for Inheritance Tax.

With so much at stake, it is important to secure the services of an expert. At Pannone, a dedicated private client team offers access to professional tax and estate planning assistance throughout your life.

Whether developing a strategy to minimise your tax liabilities, or creating a framework to ensure the smooth and effective transfer of your assets after death, our goal is the same. We aim to put your arrangements on the soundest of footings and so help you exercise the maximum freedom of choice.

Our advice and solutions are tailored specifically to your needs, based on an intimate understanding of your individual circumstances and objectives. With the emphasis on a personal and enduring relationship, our specialist solicitors and lawyers can meet with you on a regularly to review your changing circumstances, at a time and location that suits you best.

We are conscious of the often sensitive nature of our work and adopt a sympathetic approach, whilst ensuring that our advice makes maximum use of all available planning opportunities. We are equipped to advise on the most complex of situations, either working in partnership with your advisers or integrating other Pannone specialists to provide a one-stop solution.

Working with you throughout your life
Planning ahead is the key to protecting your interests. With expertise across the full spectrum of tax and estate planning, we can help whatever your situation and stage of life.

In all circumstances, our aim is to minimise your tax liability whilst structuring a framework that offers the maximum flexibility to adapt to your future circumstances. Whilst our solutions are tailored individually to your circumstances, we outline below some of the key areas where we can add value.

Lifetime Planning

Wills
Dying without a valid Will means that your estate is subject to the rules of intestacy. Under intestacy rules, a surviving spouse or civil partner may not inherit your entire estate but may have to share it with children or with your parents or siblings. Cohabitees and step-children will not automatically benefit from an intestate estate.

A well drafted Will can ensure that your chosen beneficiaries inherit your estate with the minimum of fuss. We will help you to plan for the transfer of your estate on death; taking into account your family and fiscal circumstances. Issues such as guardianship and the appointment of appropriate executors will be addressed.

Second families can be catered for via a suitable trust structure in your Will which, whilst making provision for a second partner, can ensure that children from a first relationship will ultimately benefit.

At Pannone, we have particular expertise in advising parents of children with special needs who are concerned about the management of estate funds after death. A properly structured discretionary trust arising on the death of the second parent can allow assets to be used for a child with special needs without jeopardising means-tested benefits.

We will guide you through the options available to you when drafting your Will, advising of the tax consequences of your proposals.

A Will should be an essential part of any succession planning for your business. Our private client team will work with your corporate advisors to maximise any tax saving opportunities.

Inheritance Tax
Inheritance Tax is charged at 40% on the value of an estate on death, over and above the Nil Rate Band (currently £300,000). The changes to the Inheritance Tax regime announced by the Chancellor in October 2007 are to be welcomed. Married couples and civil partners can now transfer any unused Nil Rate Band on the first death to apply it to the estate of the second to die, thereby reducing the Inheritance Tax paid by the ultimate beneficiaries. Because the Nil Rate Band tends to rise in value each tax year (it will be £350,000 by 2010/11); it may now be prudent for married couples not to use any of their Nil Rate Band by making gifts to children or other non-exempt beneficiaries on the first death. In this way, their ultimate beneficiaries will enjoy the enhanced value of the unused Nil Rate Band on the second death.

 Life-time gifts remain a sensible strategy to mitigate Inheritance Tax. If the donor of a life-time gift (the person who makes the gift) survives for seven years from the date of the gift, the value of the gifted assets will not be chargeable to Inheritance Tax on the donor's subsequent death. In addition, gifts which fall within the life-time exemptions will never be chargeable to Inheritance Tax, no matter how long the donor survives the gift. The main life-time exemptions are as follows:

• Annual exemption
  Each individual can give away £3000 per tax year
• Small gift exemption
  Any number of gifts of £250 or less can be given to any number of individuals in any tax year
• Spouse exemption
  Transfers between spouses and civil partners are entirely exempt from Inheritance Tax
• Regular payments out of income
  Gifts from surplus income

Trusts
We have considerable experience in the establishment of Trusts and can advise Trustees on effective Trust Administration.  We act as Professional Trustees in many cases; dealing with the administration of the Trust; producing annual Trust Accounts and dealing with Trust Tax Returns.

Charities
We can help with the formation and registration of charities either by Charitable Trusts or a Company limited by guarantee. We can also help with the administration and taxation of charities.

Tax planning
In addition to inheritance tax planning we can help maximise general tax planning opportunities, including the potential of situations of non-residence or non-domicility, in cases where you move abroad after retirement. We can advise on how to preserve agricultural property and business property relief.

Pensions
We can help to protect lump sum death benefits payable on death from an inheritance tax charge. By nominating the payment of the lump sum death benefits to be paid into a discretionary trust the benefits will not form part of the estate and no inheritance tax will be payable.

Nursing home costs
We can help create a framework that preserves your property and other financial assets in the event of you having to go into a nursing home.

Lasting powers of attorney
We can advise on the drafting of Lasting Powers of Attorney, ensuring someone is appointed to deal with your financial affairs should you become incapable at a later date. In addition we can assist in preparing a Lasting Power if Attorney to appoint someone to manage your personal welfare should you lose the capacity to do so yourself. (more on Lasting Powers of Attorney)

Post-Death Events

Probate and estate management
Our advice and expertise enables executors to administer a person's estate in the most efficient way.

Post-death variations
It may be possible in certain circumstances to make post-death variations to an estate to minimise tax liabilities and we will always examine this possibility when administering an estate.

Will or trust disputes
We can advise in situations where a will or trust is being contested, for whatever reason, drawing on the expertise of our in-house solicitors where appropriate, should the matter progress to litigation.

Financial services
With access to an independent financial adviser, we offer a comprehensive financial planning service that complements our tax planning solutions. We can provide genuinely independent advice and guidance on a wide range of financial affairs, including investments, pensions, insurance protection and mortgages.

Call us on 0870 164 2372 to speak with a Tax Lawyer or an Estate Planning Solicitor at Pannone LLP.