Succession Planning
Two questions that must be answered when considering estate planning are Who inherits my estate when I die? and How? The first is usually easy to answer, as most people would wish for it to pass onto their children or close family (via a spouse or partner). The second is not so easy to answer.
If your estate is significant in value making a direct gift on death may well cause some problems that could be avoided.
· If your children are independently wealthy then they may not need
it, in addition to which you are adding to their own eventual IHT bill.
· If a child of yours becomes bankrupt in later life their inheritance
may be lost to creditors
· If a child of yours becomes divorced then his or her wife or husband
may ultimately end up with up of half of the inheritance through the divorce
settlement
· If a child of yours dies prematurely then his or her wife or husband
may end up with all of the inheritance
Succession planning is a very effective way of protecting your estate for the benefit of future generations.
Essentially, on the second death in a couple (or death of the single person), the full value of the estate is now held on Trust for the benefit of the children, grandchildren and any other beneficiaries that you so desire.
This is an opportunity to not just exercise control from beyond the grave, but to provide a Lasting Legacy of financial security and protection for your heirs.
Apart from protecting your heirs from themselves, or worse still their partners, Succession Planning is a means of providing them with an inflation proof income for life; it provides for private medical treatment; it protects against divorce; it protects against debt and even bankruptcy; it ensures the grandchildren can graduate without debts; and has many more uses.
Succession Planning is also a tremendous means of avoiding Inheritance Tax (IHT) for your heirs too; this is because the Fund does not form part of their estate. The Fund itself does still pay income tax and there is a ten yearly periodic charge; however, these too can successfully be mitigated by use of tax efficient insurance related investments, and particularly Offshore Investment Bonds. Here the gross roll-up of interest effectively covers the ongoing taxation issues arising, and should be sufficient to pay the management fees too; additionally, the larger the funds invested the better the allocation rates that can be achieved on behalf of the Trust Fund.
If you would like to know more about how you could use Succession Planning to benefit
your family simply complete the client profile below.
If you would like any further information or assistance in regard to some of the legal products on offer, please telephone us on 0800 435648 or e-mail your details to us by clicking on the e-mail link below.
