Wills and tax planning

Our tax planning and wills team advise on:

• Will writing and associated advice
• Estate planning, including wills, trusts and personal tax advice 
• Vulnerable beneficiary’s protection
• Succession planning for businesses
• Land succession planning

Will writing

Wills deal with more than just assets; they also cover important aspects of an individual’s life and contain details such as who will care for your children and who will be the executor of your estate. By planning ahead, you can give yourself time to consider implications such as inheritance tax and how your family will be cared for.         

We understand the issues that our clients face on an individual basis, and our team has an unparalleled knowledge about how best to support you. It is our business to protect our clients, their interests, assets and families and that’s why we take care of the things that matter to you.

The team can advise individuals specifically on:

• Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA), Court of Protection (COP) & Powers of Attorney;
• Issues with a loved one’s care and how to protect them;
• Dealing with someone else’s financial affairs; and
• Probate and the administration of estates

Tax planning

Your Will sets out how you plan for your estate to be administered at the end of your life. One important factor you need to plan for is the tax efficiency of your estate. When you die your estate’s total value, above  the nil-rate band (currently £325,000) is subject to inheritance tax at 40%.

Our expert wills and tax planning lawyers will be able to guide you through the impact of decisions you make within your will on inheritance tax.

Succession planning for businesses

Every business owner needs to ensure that the decisions that they take in respect of their business wealth does not impact negatively on their personal wealth, and vice versa. Neither can be viewed in isolation and it is important to work with professional advisers that understand a business and personal context.

Our wills and tax planning team regularly work with business owners and their advisers to ensure that their corporate structures are protecting their wealth in the most tax efficient way. This includes helping business owners to:

• Review business structures to maximise tax reliefs such as business property relief
• Preserve wealth and ensure it is passed on effectively and securely through wills and trusts
• Set up tax efficient wills that protect your business wealth whilst ensuring that the business can be effectively managed
• Advise on succession planning options in order to protect the business for the future
• Set up Powers of Attorney to ensure that your business can continue to operate should you become incapacitated for any reason
• Support on exit planning strategies and ensure that any future exit is managed in the most tax efficient manner
• Set up charitable trusts which provide a tax efficient legacy
• Consider pre and post nuptial agreements to protect your business wealth
• Use Small Self Administered Pension Schemes (SSAS) to invest in commercial property and/ or to lease premises back to the business in a tax efficient manner

Professionals

We understand that our professional clients expect the same level of service when dealing with personal legal matters as they do in their corporate life. Our wills and estate planning team are experienced in advising professionals on all aspects of their personal legal issues including:

• Setting up wills which protect the assets which you have generated through your professional career, maximising available reliefs including the Inheritance Tax Residence Nil Rate Band. 
• Using discretionary trusts to protect your lump sum pension death benefits
• Set up Powers of Attorney to ensure that your financial, health and welfare matters can be managed on your behalf should you become incapacitated
• Consider pre and post nuptial agreements.

Land succession planning

We regularly work with land owners and have particular expertise in advising on strategic land development projects. We have undertaken some key traditional development on numerous schemes and over the last three we have placed in excess of 4,000 acres of strategic land under contract. This has included a large number of significant residential development schemes (including new settlements) from as far north as Tamworth and as far south as Banbury and working alongside most of the national land agency practices and volume housebuilders and their professional advisers. 

We ensure that any land sale is structured in the most tax efficient manner from the outset.

Our team works alongside our agricultural law specialists who regularly advise landowners on regulatory matters ranging from the single farm payment scheme, RPA and compliance, the rural development programme, intervention and private storage aid schemes alongside their liabilities under the Animals Act, live stock issues including milk quotas, cattle passports and animal identification.

Rural estate planning

With an agricultural heritage spanning 175 years, we are one of the long-established agricultural law firms and advises rural property owners on:

• Drafting of farm partnerships and business structures so as to ensure that the business is being dealt with in the most efficient way by recording the intention of the parties
• Maximising tax reliefs such as agricultural property relief
• Sale or purchase of rural property including dealing with any queries which are raised by the purchaser which requires often requires specialist knowledge in respect of rights of way, easements and the transfer or retention of any entitlement to subsidies
• Diversification of rural property assets including the set-up of rural businesses such as equestrian facilities, retail and leisure operations (farm shops, country parks, glamping, wedding businesses, etc).

Landed estates

Managing an estate is a complex and increasingly challenging commercial operation. We regularly work with families and estates team on all aspects of managing landed estates including:

• Tax and succession planning
• Business ownership structures for families
• Strategic land development
• Mineral and sporting rights
• Events and public access