Murray Beith Murray LLP is a leading Scottish private client law firm.
For 175 years we have specialised in meeting the legal, financial and administrative needs of individuals and families, family trusts, charities and private companies.
Your succession planning is not an exercise to carry out and then forget. You must be vigilant throughout your life to ensure your end-of-life wishes can be fulfilled and that your estate planning remains effective.
When dealing with estate planning, the focus tends to be on Inheritance Tax (IHT) mitigation and savings. However, for those with assets acquired over the course of their life, there is also a need to consider the impact Capital Gains Tax (CGT) has on an estate.
Recent analysis has disclosed that one in twenty-five of us will pay Inheritance Tax (IHT) on our estate. In the last year, HM Revenue and Customs has collected nearly £1bn more in IHT receipts than in the previous year. This signifies an increase in the value of estates falling into Inheritance Tax. This is partly driven by recent record increases in residential property values and partly by IHT thresholds that have remained static for several years.
It is no secret that, today, parents tend to be wealthier than their children. Wealth built up during a lifetime of work leading to defined benefits pensions and a strong savings mentality combined with home ownership in a market that has seen ever-increasing values means many of today’s pensioners are reasonably well heeled. That leads to an expectation by the younger generation of a windfall through inheritance when a parent passes away. But how and why are your loved ones relying on inheritance?
The new Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament in November 2022 and proposed a number of reforms to Scottish Succession Law and the management of Trusts in Scotland.
