Wishing you a merry Christmas


New data from HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has revealed Probate application delays continue. For the 27,664 grants of probate issued in October, the average timeline from submission to grant was 15.2 weeks (September was 15.4) according to the data. This is still an increase from the 13.9 weeks recorded in June this year…
Beneficial Ownership, Resulting Trusts, and UK Inheritance Tax: A Case Study in Cross-Border Estate Planning By Pavan Nagori, Finawis Advisors Introduction Inheritance tax planning rarely follows a straight line. The most compelling cases are those where the facts on the ground tell a story that the legal paperwork has not yet caught up with —…
Many homeowners consider transferring the title of their primary residence to their children in an attempt to reduce or eliminate inheritance tax (IHT) liabilities. However, under UK tax law, specifically HMRC’s Gifting with Reservation of Benefit (GROB) rule, such a transfer generally does not provide any inheritance tax benefits. Here’s why: Understanding the Gifting with…
Reports suggest Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking at targeting inheritance tax in the Autumn Budget as a way of raising revenues while avoiding a breach of her fiscal rules (fiscal gap of £40–50bn). In practice, there are a number of changes she could introduce — but it remains questionable whether they would make any meaningful…
If you receive inheritance from overseas (e.g. India), is there UK inheritance tax? NO. In UK, inheritance is not on beneficiaries like in certain European countries like Portugal but on the estate of the deceased. Meaning the tax is charged on the deceased wealth and then post-tax amount is distributed. Hence any tax from overseas…
Did the parent (now deceased) intend to give the child the gift and half of the estate or not? I’m just doing a matter where the law of double portions has become relevant and the Will does not cover. I am willing to bet a significant majority of the Wills (including those drafted by STEP…