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Help Sheets
Planning for Death
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The most straightforward starting point in estate planning — setting out who benefits, who you trust to carry out your wishes, and who would care for your children. Better than nothing, but with limitations worth understanding.
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Protects your share of the family home on the first death, giving the survivor the right to remain while ensuring your share ultimately reaches the people you intended.
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Extends protection across your entire estate — not just the property. The survivor is properly provided for during their lifetime, while your share is preserved for your chosen beneficiaries.
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The most flexible and protective Will trust structure. No beneficiary has an automatic right to the assets — trustees decide how and when they benefit, guided by your letter of wishes.
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Designed for beneficiaries who aren't able to manage an inheritance independently — whether due to disability, mental health, learning difficulties, or age. Assets are managed by trustees for their genuine benefit.
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For business owners and investors with BR-qualifying assets — preserving the tax advantages of Business Relief while adding the protection of a trust on death.
Preserving & Protecting Your Estate
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A plain-English breakdown of the rules around making gifts during your lifetime — annual exemptions, potentially exempt transfers, the seven-year rule, taper relief, and gifts out of normal expenditure.
For helpsheets on IHT-motivated planning tools — Business Relief Trust Wills, the Settlor Excluded Asset Protection Trust, and S102B Gift Planning — see Protecting Your Estate.
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A lifetime trust that protects your home or other assets now — not just on death. You retain the right to live in the property while the underlying asset is committed to your chosen beneficiaries.
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A lifetime trust for assets you're ready to pass on — starting the seven-year IHT clock immediately while keeping the assets protected within a trust structure. The settlor is excluded as a beneficiary.
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A well-established approach to reducing IHT on the family home by gifting a share to a qualifying occupant — based on specific legislation and case law. Genuine occupation is the foundation the whole arrangement rests on.
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A legal document recording how a property is owned between two or more people — who owns what share, on what terms, and what happens to each share in different circumstances.
Decision Making
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Gives someone you trust the legal authority to manage your financial affairs or make decisions about your health and welfare if you lose the capacity to do so yourself. One of the most important documents you can put in place — and one of the most commonly overlooked.
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A simpler, shorter-term document for specific situations — useful while you still have capacity but want someone to act on your behalf temporarily. Becomes void the moment capacity is lost.
Post Death Administration
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The legal authority that allows an executor or administrator to deal with a deceased person's estate. Understanding when it's needed — and when it isn't — is an important part of navigating estate administration.
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Allows beneficiaries to redirect an inheritance after someone has died — to a different person, a trust, or a charity. Must be done within two years of the death, and treated by HMRC as though the change was made by the deceased themselves.
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A plain-English overview of the main Inheritance Tax forms required when administering an estate — which form is needed, when, and why. A useful reference for executors navigating HMRC's reporting requirements for the first time.
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Governing Structures
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The simplest way to run a business — full control, full responsibility, and no separation between personal and business affairs. Straightforward to set up but with implications for liability and estate planning worth understanding.
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Two or more people running a business together, sharing profits, responsibilities, and liability. The relationship between partners — and what happens if one leaves or dies — needs to be properly documented.
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A hybrid between a partnership and a limited company — partners benefit from limited liability while retaining the flexibility of a partnership structure. Often used by professional firms.
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A separate legal entity — distinct from its owners and directors. Offers limited liability and potential tax efficiencies, but comes with administrative responsibilities and a public record of accounts.
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A legal arrangement where assets are held by trustees for the benefit of beneficiaries. Used across estate planning, business structures, and charitable giving — one of the most flexible and widely used legal structures available.
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A private body governed by its own rules and operating for the benefit of its members rather than the public. Distinct from a limited company in both structure and accountability.
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A organisation established for charitable purposes and registered with the Charity Commission. Subject to specific governance requirements, reporting obligations, and tax treatment.
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An organisation incorporated by Royal Charter — a form of incorporation granted by the Crown, typically to professional bodies, learned societies, and institutions of significant public standing. Governed by its charter and bylaws rather than company law, and carrying a distinct legal status that sets it apart from both a limited company and an unincorporated association.
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A company incorporated at Companies House but without share capital. Instead of shareholders, members guarantee a nominal sum — typically £1 — in the event of the company being wound up. Commonly used by professional bodies, membership organisations, charities, and not-for-profit entities that want the legal protection of incorporation without the commercial structure of a limited company.
Find out more
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A group of people bound together by a common purpose under their own rules, without forming a separate legal entity. Simple and flexible to establish, but with no legal personality of its own — meaning the association itself cannot own property, enter contracts, or be sued. Members and officers may carry personal liability as a result. One of the oldest and most widely used structures for clubs, societies, and membership organisations.
Find out more
Law & Jurisdiction
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The simplest way to run a business — full control, full responsibility, and no separation between personal and business affairs. Straightforward to set up but with implications for liability and estate planning worth understanding.
Find out more
-
Two or more people running a business together, sharing profits, responsibilities, and liability. The relationship between partners — and what happens if one leaves or dies — needs to be properly documented.
Find out more
-
A hybrid between a partnership and a limited company — partners benefit from limited liability while retaining the flexibility of a partnership structure. Often used by professional firms.
Find out more
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A separate legal entity — distinct from its owners and directors. Offers limited liability and potential tax efficiencies, but comes with administrative responsibilities and a public record of accounts.
Find out more
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A legal arrangement where assets are held by trustees for the benefit of beneficiaries. Used across estate planning, business structures, and charitable giving — one of the most flexible and widely used legal structures available.
Find out more
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A private body governed by its own rules and operating for the benefit of its members rather than the public. Distinct from a limited company in both structure and accountability.
Find out more
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A organisation established for charitable purposes and registered with the Charity Commission. Subject to specific governance requirements, reporting obligations, and tax treatment.
Find out more
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An organisation incorporated by Royal Charter — a form of incorporation granted by the Crown, typically to professional bodies, learned societies, and institutions of significant public standing. Governed by its charter and bylaws rather than company law, and carrying a distinct legal status that sets it apart from both a limited company and an unincorporated association.
Find out more
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A company incorporated at Companies House but without share capital. Instead of shareholders, members guarantee a nominal sum — typically £1 — in the event of the company being wound up. Commonly used by professional bodies, membership organisations, charities, and not-for-profit entities that want the legal protection of incorporation without the commercial structure of a limited company.
Find out more
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A group of people bound together by a common purpose under their own rules, without forming a separate legal entity. Simple and flexible to establish, but with no legal personality of its own — meaning the association itself cannot own property, enter contracts, or be sued. Members and officers may carry personal liability as a result. One of the oldest and most widely used structures for clubs, societies, and membership organisations.
Find out more
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