Estates & Wills Accountant London

Our estate-planning specialists can assist you in mitigating inheritance-tax liabilities by utilising lifetime gifts — both outright or via a trust — and by advising you on how best to write or update your will.

Lifetime gifts and trusts

Giving during your lifetime, outright or through a trust, can significantly reduce the value of your estate for inheritance tax — but it needs to be planned carefully around the seven-year rule, your own needs, and the reliefs available. We help you use lifetime transfers effectively.

Wills

A well-drafted, up-to-date will is the foundation of any estate plan. We advise on how best to write or update your will so it reflects your wishes, provides for your beneficiaries, and works with the rest of your estate planning.

Our role and your solicitor’s

We are accountants, not solicitors, and we do not draft wills. What we do is make sure the will your solicitor drafts works for tax. We calculate the inheritance tax your estate would face under different arrangements, show how gifts, trusts and the way property is owned affect the result, and set out the options in plain English. Your solicitor then drafts the will and any trust documents on that basis, and we stay involved as the figures change.

Helping executors after a death

Executors are personally responsible for getting the tax right, often while grieving and with little experience. We take on the financial side:

Valuing the estate and preparing the inheritance tax account
Claiming any unused nil-rate band from a spouse or civil partner who died earlier
The deceased person’s final Self Assessment return, up to the date of death
Income tax and capital gains tax on the estate during the administration period
Capital gains on property sold from the estate, including the 60-day UK property return where tax is due
Estate accounts showing what each beneficiary receives

Trusts: the ongoing tax side

Many trusts must be registered with HMRC’s Trust Registration Service and the details kept up to date. Trusts with income or gains may need their own tax returns each year, and some are subject to periodic inheritance tax charges and charges when assets leave the trust. We prepare trust accounts and returns and help trustees plan distributions with the tax in mind. Trustees are often family members with no background in tax, so we explain their duties, keep the records HMRC expects, and give beneficiaries the tax certificates they need for their own returns.

When to review your will and estate plan

A will written many years ago may no longer do what you intended. We recommend a review of the tax side of your estate plan, with your solicitor updating the will where needed, at these points:

Marriage, civil partnership, separation or divorce
The birth of a child or grandchild, or a child reaching adulthood
Buying, selling or letting property, or starting or selling a business
Receiving an inheritance or a significant gift
Moving to or from the UK, or buying property abroad

Mistakes executors and families make

Paying out to beneficiaries before all tax has been agreed, leaving the executor personally liable for any shortfall
Forgetting the final tax return for the person who has died
Selling estate property without working out the gain and the 60-day deadline
Losing the valuations and evidence HMRC may ask for later
Leaving a will unreviewed after marriage, divorce, a new child or a move abroad

Fees are agreed in writing before work starts, and we meet at our Finchley office or at your home.

What’s included

Lifetime gifts
Outright or via trust, planned around the seven-year rule.
Trusts
Setting assets aside for beneficiaries, tax-efficiently.
Wills
Advice on how best to write or update your will.

Estates and wills across North London

We handle the tax side of estates and wills for families throughout North London. Our local pages go into more detail: accountants in Golders Green, accountants in Winchmore Hill, accountants in Finchley and accountants in North London.

Frequently asked

Do I need a will if I have done estate planning?

Yes — a will is the foundation. It ensures your estate passes as you intend and works alongside any lifetime gifts and trusts.

Can gifts really reduce inheritance tax?

Yes — lifetime gifts, outright or through a trust, can reduce the value of your estate for IHT, subject to the seven-year rule and your own needs. We help you plan them properly.

What happens if I die without a will?

Your estate passes under the intestacy rules, which follow a fixed order: a spouse or civil partner takes the first share, children take the rest, and other relatives inherit only if there is no spouse or child. An unmarried partner receives nothing automatically, however long you lived together. The result is often not what people would have chosen, and it can also produce more inheritance tax than a well-drafted will.

When is inheritance tax due after a death?

By the end of the sixth month after the month of death, with interest after that — and usually before probate can be granted, which means executors often have to arrange the payment before they can access the estate. Tax on property can be paid in instalments over ten years in some cases. We prepare the inheritance tax account and help executors plan the payment.

Do you write wills?

No. Wills are drafted by solicitors and other qualified will writers. Our role is the tax side: we work out how different arrangements affect inheritance tax and capital gains tax, recommend a structure that suits your family, and work with your solicitor so the will they draft reflects it. If you do not have a solicitor, we can suggest how to find one.

Does an estate pay tax while it is being administered?

It can. Income the estate receives after the death, such as rent, interest or dividends, is taxable, and gains on assets sold for more than their value at death may be subject to capital gains tax. Executors may need to report this to HMRC and pay the tax before the estate is distributed. We work out what is due and handle the reporting.

What is the Trust Registration Service?

It is HMRC’s register of trusts. Many trusts, including some created by wills, must be registered and the details of trustees and beneficiaries kept up to date, whether or not any tax is due. Failing to register can lead to penalties. We check whether your trust needs registering and handle the registration and updates for you.

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