Services Private wealth Lifetime gifts
Lifetime gifts
Service overview
Legacy planning starts in life.
It’s never too early to start planning for the future – and never too late to change course if the landscape shifts unexpectedly.
Against the backdrop of increasingly tight Inheritance Tax measures, balancing compliance with cost-effectiveness is an increasingly pertinent consideration for business owners and families alike. Lifetime gifts can be a useful mechanism help you achieve equilibrium.
Depending on when you make your lifetime gifts, you could reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax your beneficiaries have to pay – or perhaps even help them avoid an Inheritance Tax bill altogether.
While this may sound simple, rules around lifetime gifts are complicated – and care must be taken to ensure that your plans will hold water with HMRC later down the line.
From making lifetime gifts to navigating disputes, we’ll provide tailored support that means you where you are – and moves with you every step of the way.
Ready to take the next step?
Our services
How we can help you:
PETs enable you to make gifts during your lifetime, but require you to live for seven years in order for the gift to be exempt from Inheritance Tax.
If you make a gift with reservation of benefit, you can continue to benefit from the gift you intend to make (such a share of the ownership of your house), and the requirement to live for seven years after making the gift does not apply – but unless certain criteria are met, the gift may still be liable for Inheritance Tax.
What to expect from us
The right legal experts, wherever you are.
Regional teams, nationally connected – we move quickly, stay close, and bring the right specialists together around you.
When it matters most, you need experience in the room. Our structure gives senior advisers more time with clients. So relationships are built over years, not handed off after day one.
Our specialists in your region are backed by a nationwide network. So, whatever comes up, you get the right experts without having to change advisers.
We’re based in the regions where you operate. So you work with advisers who understand you and are there in person when you need them.
Lifetime gifts
Related insights
Not sure where to start?
Whether you’re looking to change existing plans or prepare for what’s on the horizon, there’s plenty we can do to help.