The 2024 Autumn Budget introduced significant reforms to Inheritance Tax legislation, affecting business owners, farmers, and ordinary homeowners — particularly those with family homes that have risen in value over recent years.
These changes are far-reaching, and understanding exactly how they affect your estate planning is essential. The nil rate band has been frozen since 2009, and with the average home in England now worth around £290,000, many families who never considered themselves wealthy are being pulled into the Inheritance Tax net.
To protect your estate from an unnecessary 40% Inheritance Tax bill, it’s crucial to stay informed and act early. You can safeguard your family’s wealth by seeking specialist guidance. Fill out our contact form, call us at 0117 440 1555, or book a call with our team today. As we always say — plan, don’t panic.
Key Takeaways
- The 2024 Autumn Budget confirmed that Inheritance Tax thresholds remain frozen until at least April 2031, dragging more ordinary families into the IHT net through fiscal drag.
- From April 2026, Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief will be capped at 100% for the first £1 million of combined qualifying assets, then reduced to 50% relief on any excess.
- From April 2027, inherited pensions will become liable for Inheritance Tax for the first time.
- These changes make proactive estate planning — including the use of lifetime trusts — more important than ever for ordinary families.
- Seeking specialist advice now could save your family tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds in unnecessary tax.
Overview of Inheritance Tax in the UK
Before we look at what changed in the Budget, it’s worth understanding how Inheritance Tax actually works in England and Wales. Many people assume IHT is a tax reserved for the wealthy — but with thresholds frozen for over two decades and property prices continuing to climb, that simply hasn’t been true for years. Trusts are not just for the rich — they’re for the smart.
Definition and Purpose of Inheritance Tax
Inheritance Tax (IHT) is a tax levied on the estate of someone who has died. It applies to the total value of everything a person owned at death — property, savings, investments, and personal possessions — after deducting any debts and allowable liabilities. The tax is paid by the estate (through the executors or administrators) before anything is distributed to beneficiaries.
Two key allowances determine how much of your estate is tax-free. The nil rate band (NRB) is currently £325,000 per person — and has been frozen at this level since 6 April 2009. The residence nil rate band (RNRB) adds a further £175,000 per person, but only where a qualifying residential property is passed to direct descendants (children, grandchildren, or step-children). It is not available when a home is left to siblings, nieces, nephews, friends, or charities. Both bands are transferable between spouses and civil partners, giving a married couple a potential combined allowance of up to £1,000,000 (£650,000 NRB + £350,000 RNRB). For more detailed information, visit our page on Inheritance Tax UK.
Current Thresholds and Rates
The standard IHT rate is 40% on the value of your estate above the available nil rate band and residence nil rate band. A reduced rate of 36% applies where at least 10% of the net estate is left to qualifying charities. These thresholds have been frozen and are now confirmed as remaining frozen until at least April 2031 — meaning that more families are being caught by IHT every single year as property values rise while the thresholds stay exactly where they were in 2009.
- The standard Inheritance Tax rate is 40% (or 36% where the charitable giving threshold is met).
- The nil rate band is £325,000 per person (frozen since 6 April 2009).
- The residence nil rate band is £175,000 per person (only available when passing a qualifying home to direct descendants).
- Maximum combined allowance for a married couple or civil partners: £1,000,000 (£650,000 NRB + £350,000 RNRB).
To put this in perspective: the average home in England is now worth around £290,000. Add modest savings, a pension, and personal possessions, and a single person’s estate can easily exceed the £325,000 threshold. For married couples who assumed the £1,000,000 combined threshold would protect them, the inclusion of pensions from April 2027 could change that calculation entirely.
Recent Trends in Inheritance Tax Revenue
HMRC data confirms that Inheritance Tax receipts have continued to climb sharply, with a record £6.3 billion collected in the period from April to December 2024 alone. This relentless rise is driven almost entirely by the frozen thresholds — a phenomenon known as “fiscal drag.” In simple terms, while the cost of living, wages, and house prices have all increased significantly since 2009, the nil rate band has stayed exactly where it was. The result is that thousands more families are being dragged into paying IHT each year, even though their real-terms wealth hasn’t necessarily grown.
This trend underlines why regular estate plan reviews are essential. If you haven’t reviewed your planning since the nil rate band was frozen, your estate may now face a significant IHT liability that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. Waiting to plan is the most expensive mistake you can make.
Key Changes Announced in the Budget
The Autumn Budget 2024 didn’t just maintain the status quo — it introduced several changes that will fundamentally alter how families, farmers, and business owners plan their estates. Here’s what was announced and why it matters.
Summary of Proposed Changes
The Budget confirmed three major changes to the Inheritance Tax regime:
- Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) reforms: From April 2026, the combined 100% relief on business and agricultural property will be capped at the first £1 million of qualifying assets. Above that threshold, only 50% relief will apply — meaning the effective IHT rate on qualifying assets over £1 million will be 20% rather than 0%.
- Pensions brought into the IHT net: From April 2027, unused pension funds and death benefits will be included in an individual’s taxable estate for IHT purposes. This is a seismic change — previously, pensions were one of the most IHT-efficient assets a person could hold, sitting entirely outside the estate for IHT purposes.
- Threshold freeze extended: The nil rate band (£325,000) and residence nil rate band (£175,000) are now confirmed as frozen until at least April 2031 — meaning a total of over 22 years without any increase in the NRB. During that time, average house prices in England have nearly doubled.
Impact on Estate Planning
These changes have substantial implications for how families approach inheritance tax planning. The inclusion of pensions alone could push many estates that were previously below the threshold well above it. Consider a married couple with a home worth £400,000, savings of £150,000, and combined pension pots of £500,000. Before April 2027, their pensions sat outside the IHT calculation entirely. After the change, their taxable estate could leap from £550,000 to £1,050,000 — creating a potential IHT bill of £20,000 or more even after using both nil rate bands and residence nil rate bands.
For farmers and business owners, the cap on APR and BPR means that larger farming estates and family businesses that previously passed entirely free of IHT will now face a 20% effective rate on qualifying assets above £1 million. For many family farms, where land values can easily exceed this threshold, the tax bill could threaten the viability of the entire operation — potentially forcing families to sell land that has been farmed for generations. You can find further analysis of these changes on the Hugh James blog.
Comparison with Previous Budgets
Previous Budgets largely left the Inheritance Tax framework untouched — the approach since 2009 has essentially been to freeze thresholds and let fiscal drag do the work of increasing tax revenue without explicitly raising rates. The Autumn Budget 2024 marks a significant departure. By actively capping APR and BPR and bringing pensions into the IHT net, the government has expanded the scope of IHT in a way not seen for many years. The message is clear: if you haven’t taken steps to plan your estate, the window of opportunity is narrowing with every Budget that passes.
Detailed Analysis of New Thresholds
The freeze on Inheritance Tax thresholds is arguably the single biggest driver of the growing IHT burden on ordinary families. Here’s why it matters so much and what it means for your estate.
Changes to the Nil-Rate Band
The nil rate band has been set at £325,000 since 6 April 2009 and is now confirmed as frozen until at least April 2031. That’s over two decades without any increase. During that same period, the average house price in England has risen from around £160,000 to approximately £290,000 — nearly doubling in value. The effect is stark: a threshold originally designed to exempt “ordinary” estates from IHT is now catching tens of thousands of additional families each year.
This is what fiscal drag looks like in practice. Your home hasn’t become a luxury asset — it’s the tax-free threshold that has failed to keep pace with reality. And with no prospect of an increase until at least 2031, the problem will only get worse as property values continue to rise.
The number of estates subject to Inheritance Tax is rising every year, driven by frozen thresholds and rising property values. Families who never expected to pay IHT are now facing bills of £50,000, £100,000, or more — simply because they own a family home.
Implications for Married Couples and Civil Partners
Married couples and civil partners benefit from the ability to transfer unused allowances. On the first death, assets typically pass to the surviving spouse entirely free of IHT (the spouse exemption — one of the most important reliefs in the IHT framework). The deceased’s unused nil rate band and residence nil rate band can then be claimed on the second death, potentially giving the couple a combined tax-free threshold of up to £1,000,000 (£650,000 NRB + £350,000 RNRB). You can learn more about how this works on our Inheritance Tax allowance page.
However, there are important caveats that many families overlook:
- The residence nil rate band is only available when a qualifying residential property passes to direct descendants — children, grandchildren, or step-children. If you leave your home to a sibling, nephew, niece, friend, or charity, the RNRB does not apply. This catches out many single or childless people who assume they have a £500,000 threshold — they don’t.
- The RNRB tapers away for estates valued above £2,000,000, reducing by £1 for every £2 over the threshold. A couple with a combined estate of £2,700,000 or more will lose the RNRB entirely.
- With pensions entering the IHT net from April 2027, many couples who thought they were comfortably within the £1,000,000 combined threshold may find their estates now exceed it — potentially by a significant margin.
Potential Impact on First-Time Inheritance
The frozen thresholds create a particular challenge for those inheriting for the first time. Adult children who stand to inherit a family home — perhaps the only significant asset their parents owned — may be shocked to discover that a house worth £400,000 with savings of £100,000 creates an IHT liability of £70,000 (40% of the £175,000 above a single person’s £325,000 NRB). That’s a bill that often has to be paid before the Grant of Probate is obtained and the property can even be sold, creating real cash-flow difficulties for families who may not have that kind of money readily available.
The good news is that with proper planning, much of this can be mitigated or substantially reduced. That’s where specialist estate planning advice becomes invaluable — and why starting early makes such a difference. As we always say: plan, don’t panic.
Implications for Property Owners
For most families in England and Wales, their home is by far their largest asset — often representing 60% to 80% of their total estate value. That makes the Inheritance Tax changes in the Budget especially significant for property owners.
Changes Affecting Property Valuations
The continued freeze on IHT thresholds means that as property values rise, more of your home’s value falls above the tax-free allowance. With the average home in England now worth around £290,000, a single homeowner with even modest savings and a pension could easily exceed the £325,000 nil rate band. For a couple in London or the South East, where property values are significantly higher, the combined estate can quickly exceed even the £1,000,000 combined threshold — especially once pension funds are included from April 2027.
The changes to Agricultural Property Relief also directly affect farmland and agricultural property valuations for IHT purposes. From April 2026, the full 100% relief will only apply to the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. Any excess will only receive 50% relief, meaning an effective 20% IHT charge on the value above £1 million. For farming families with land that has appreciated significantly in value, this represents a fundamental change in how they need to plan for succession.
Strategies for Property Owners to Reduce Liability
Property owners have several legitimate planning strategies available to them. Early planning is the key — once a need for care has arisen or health has deteriorated, many options are no longer available.
- Lifetime trusts: Placing your home into a properly structured lifetime trust — such as a Family Home Protection Trust or a Gifted Property Trust — can protect it from sideways disinheritance, care fee assessments, and potentially reduce your IHT liability. A trust can start from as little as £850 for straightforward cases — the equivalent of less than a single week’s care home fees, which currently average £1,200 to £1,500 per week.
- Lifetime gifts: Making outright gifts to individuals starts the 7-year clock for potentially exempt transfers (PETs). If you survive seven years, the gift falls entirely outside your estate. However, be mindful of the Gift with Reservation of Benefit rules — you cannot give your home away and continue to live in it rent-free, as HMRC will treat the property as still being part of your estate regardless of how long ago the gift was made.
- Regular reviews: Your estate plan should be reviewed regularly, particularly after major life events (marriage, divorce, bereavement, property purchase) and after every Budget. What worked five years ago may no longer be optimal given the changes to pension treatment and the new relief caps.
- Make use of all available allowances: Ensure you are claiming the residence nil rate band where eligible, using your annual £3,000 gift exemption (with one year’s carry-forward if unused), and documenting any regular gifts from surplus income under the normal expenditure out of income exemption.
By taking proactive steps now, property owners can significantly reduce their Inheritance Tax liability and ensure that more of their estate passes to their family rather than to HMRC. Not losing the family money provides the greatest peace of mind above all else.
Tax Reliefs and Exemptions
Even after the Budget changes, there remain several important reliefs and exemptions that can substantially reduce your IHT bill. Understanding which ones apply to you — and how the Budget has changed them — is critical to effective planning.
Overview of Available Reliefs
The UK Inheritance Tax framework includes several reliefs that can reduce or even eliminate the tax payable on qualifying assets. The two most significant for business owners and farmers are Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR), both of which have been reformed by the Autumn Budget 2024.
Agricultural Property Relief reduces the taxable value of qualifying agricultural land and buildings used for farming purposes. Until April 2026, qualifying assets can receive 100% relief (meaning no IHT is payable on them). From April 2026, the 100% relief will be capped at the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property, with only 50% relief applying to any excess. This means family farms valued above £1 million will face an effective 20% IHT rate on the value above the cap — a dramatic change for larger farming estates that previously passed entirely free of IHT.
Business Property Relief applies to qualifying business assets, including shares in unquoted trading companies and interests in trading partnerships. The same cap applies from April 2026: 100% relief on the first £1 million of combined BPR and APR qualifying assets, then 50% relief on any amount above.
How to Qualify for Business Relief
Qualifying for Business Property Relief requires the business to be primarily a trading business rather than an investment or property holding business. The owner must have held the business interest for at least two years before death. Key considerations include:
- The business must be primarily engaged in trading activities — businesses that are mainly investment-based (such as property letting companies or businesses holding investment portfolios) generally do not qualify.
- The business assets must be used for the purposes of the business — surplus cash or assets not used in the business may be excluded from relief.
- Shares in companies listed on AIM (the Alternative Investment Market) currently qualify for BPR, but from April 2026 the relief on AIM shares will be reduced to 50%, down from the current 100%.
- Regular reviews of your business structure are essential to ensure continued eligibility, particularly given the new cap taking effect from April 2026. Business owners should be considering succession planning strategies now, not waiting until the changes come into force.
Making Use of Agricultural Relief
Agricultural Property Relief remains a vital tool for farming families, but the April 2026 changes mean that larger farming estates need to plan carefully and urgently. To qualify, the property must be agricultural land or pasture used for the purposes of agriculture, and it must have been either occupied by the owner for agricultural purposes for at least two years, or owned for at least seven years and occupied by someone else for agricultural purposes.
For farming families with land and buildings valued above £1 million, the new 50% relief cap on the excess means potentially significant IHT exposure. It is essential to take specialist advice on structuring the ownership and succession of farming assets to minimise the impact. Strategies might include making lifetime transfers (bearing in mind the 7-year rule and the distinction between potentially exempt transfers and chargeable lifetime transfers), using partnership structures, or combining APR with other reliefs and allowances.
Beyond APR and BPR, don’t overlook other valuable exemptions that are available to everyone: the annual gift exemption of £3,000 per person (with one year’s carry-forward if unused), small gifts of up to £250 per recipient per tax year (which cannot be combined with the £3,000 exemption for the same person), wedding gifts (£5,000 from a parent, £2,500 from a grandparent, £1,000 from anyone else), and the normal expenditure out of income exemption for regular gifts made from surplus income. These smaller exemptions add up over time and should form part of every family’s estate planning strategy.
Planning Strategies to Mitigate Inheritance Tax
With the Budget changes tightening the IHT regime further, proactive planning is more important than ever. The good news is that England invented trust law over 800 years ago, and there are well-established, entirely legitimate strategies available to protect your family’s wealth.
Importance of Early Planning
The single most important factor in effective IHT planning is starting early. Many of the most powerful strategies — such as potentially exempt transfers and lifetime trusts — require time to deliver their full benefit. The 7-year rule for lifetime gifts, for example, means that a gift made today only falls completely outside your estate if you survive for seven years. Similarly, placing assets into a trust works best when done years in advance, while you are in good health and there is no foreseeable need for care.
Effective early planning strategies include:
- Making lifetime gifts: Outright gifts to individuals are potentially exempt transfers (PETs). Survive seven years, and they’re completely outside your estate. However, it’s important to understand that transfers into discretionary trusts are treated differently — they are chargeable lifetime transfers (CLTs), not PETs, and attract an immediate 20% charge on any value above your available nil rate band.
- Reviewing and updating your will: Ensure it takes full advantage of the nil rate band, residence nil rate band, and the spouse exemption. A poorly drafted will can waste tens of thousands of pounds in unnecessary IHT — and a will drafted before the Budget changes may no longer achieve what it was intended to.
- Using lifetime trusts: A discretionary lifetime trust can protect assets from care fee assessments, divorce, bankruptcy, and sideways disinheritance — all in a single legal arrangement. Depending on the type of trust used, it can also form part of your IHT planning strategy.
- Using your annual exemptions: The £3,000 annual gift exemption and normal expenditure out of income exemption are use-it-or-lose-it opportunities to reduce your estate over time. The annual exemption has not been increased since 1981, and there’s no guarantee it will be increased — so use it every year.
Charitable Giving as a Strategy
Charitable giving is not only a generous act — it’s also a genuinely tax-efficient estate planning strategy. If you leave at least 10% of your net estate (after deducting debts, liabilities, reliefs, exemptions, and the nil rate band) to qualifying charities, the Inheritance Tax rate on the remainder of your taxable estate drops from 40% to 36%. This reduced rate can result in substantial savings.
For example, on a taxable estate of £500,000 (above the nil rate band), leaving 10% to charity (£50,000) reduces the remaining taxable estate to £450,000. At 36%, the IHT would be £162,000 — compared to £200,000 at 40% on the full amount. The charity receives £50,000, and your family saves £38,000 in tax. It’s one of the few situations where giving more away actually means your family keeps more too.
Setting Up Trusts to Protect Assets
Trusts are one of the most effective tools available for estate protection and IHT planning. A trust is a legal arrangement — not a separate legal entity — where trustees hold and manage assets for the benefit of named beneficiaries. The trustees are the legal owners of the trust assets, but they hold them in accordance with the terms of the trust deed for the beneficiaries’ benefit. The most commonly used trust type in the UK is the discretionary trust, where trustees have absolute discretion over who benefits, when, and how much they receive. This flexibility is precisely what provides the protection — because no individual beneficiary has a legal right to the trust assets.
A properly structured discretionary trust can protect family wealth from care fee assessments (where the local authority capital threshold in England is currently £23,250), divorce settlements, beneficiary bankruptcy, and sideways disinheritance (where assets pass to a new partner’s family rather than your own children). Trust assets also bypass the probate process entirely, meaning trustees can act immediately upon the settlor’s death — no frozen bank accounts, no months of waiting for a Grant of Probate.
A straightforward family trust can be set up from as little as £850. When you compare that to the average cost of residential care — currently around £1,200 to £1,500 per week — it’s one of the most cost-effective forms of protection available. The law, like medicine, is broad. You wouldn’t want your GP doing surgery — so when it comes to trusts, use a specialist.
Expert Insights on the Changes
The Autumn Budget 2024 changes have significant implications that warrant careful analysis. Here’s what the key issues look like from a practical planning perspective.
Views from Financial Advisors
The inclusion of pensions in the IHT net from April 2027 represents perhaps the most significant shift in inheritance tax planning for a generation. Previously, pensions were one of the most tax-efficient ways to pass wealth to the next generation — sitting entirely outside the estate for IHT purposes. Many families were advised to draw down other assets first and preserve pension funds as long as possible, using them as a de facto inheritance vehicle. That strategy now needs to be fundamentally reassessed.
- Families who relied on the pension IHT exemption as a cornerstone of their estate planning need to review their arrangements urgently before April 2027 — there is still time to restructure, but the window is narrowing.
- The cap on APR and BPR means business owners and farmers with qualifying assets above £1 million need to consider succession planning strategies now, including lifetime transfers, trust structures, and partnership arrangements.
- The continued threshold freeze makes annual gifting strategies and regular reviews of existing arrangements more important than ever — every year you delay is another year of potential fiscal drag working against you.
Reactions from Legal Experts
From a legal perspective, the Budget changes emphasise the need to review existing wills and trust deeds. A will drafted five years ago may no longer achieve what it was intended to, given the changes to pension treatment and the new relief caps. Similarly, existing trust arrangements should be reviewed to ensure they remain optimal under the new rules and that the trust deed provides the flexibility needed to adapt to changing legislation.
The combination of frozen thresholds, pensions entering the IHT net, and the cap on business and agricultural reliefs means that comprehensive estate planning is no longer optional — it’s essential for anyone who owns a home and wants to protect their family’s wealth. Doing nothing is now the riskiest choice of all.
Predictions for Future Inheritance Tax Changes
Looking ahead, there are several areas where further changes may emerge:
- Further threshold freezes or reductions: There is no indication that the nil rate band will be increased any time soon. Some commentators have suggested that thresholds could even be reduced in future Budgets, given the revenue IHT generates for the Treasury.
- Changes to the trust taxation regime: The relevant property regime that governs discretionary trusts — including the 10-year periodic charge and exit charges — could be subject to further reform, though no specific proposals have been announced. Trusts remain one of the most effective planning tools available, but the tax treatment should be monitored.
- Tightening of gift exemptions: The annual gift exemption of £3,000 has not been increased since 1981. While there have been calls to increase it, there is equally a risk it could be reformed or restricted in future.
- Possible reform of the 7-year rule: There has been periodic discussion about extending the 7-year period for potentially exempt transfers, which would make lifetime gifting less attractive as a planning tool. Any such change would make starting your planning early even more important.
The one certainty is that IHT receipts continue to be a valuable revenue stream for the government, and there is little political appetite to reduce them. The best response is to plan proactively with specialist help — not to wait and hope the rules change in your favour.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Autumn Budget 2024 changes to Inheritance Tax have raised many questions. Here are answers to the most common ones.
What Should I Know About Inheritance Tax?
Inheritance Tax is charged at 40% on the value of your estate above the available nil rate band (currently £325,000 per person). Key points to understand:
- The nil rate band has been frozen at £325,000 since 6 April 2009 and will remain frozen until at least April 2031.
- An additional residence nil rate band of £175,000 per person is available when passing a qualifying home to direct descendants (children, grandchildren, step-children) — but not to siblings, nieces, nephews, or friends.
- Married couples and civil partners can combine their allowances, potentially passing on up to £1,000,000 free of IHT (£650,000 NRB + £350,000 RNRB).
- Gifts to individuals that you survive by seven years (potentially exempt transfers) fall entirely outside your estate.
- From April 2027, pension funds will be included in the taxable estate for the first time.
For more detailed guidance, we offer specialist advice on inheritance tax planning tailored to your circumstances.
Who is Affected by the Changes?
The Budget changes affect a wide range of people, not just the obviously wealthy:
- Homeowners: With the average home in England worth around £290,000 and thresholds frozen, a single homeowner with modest savings is likely to have an estate above the nil rate band.
- Farmers and business owners: The cap on APR and BPR from April 2026 will particularly affect those with qualifying assets above £1 million.
- Anyone with a pension: From April 2027, pension funds will count towards your taxable estate. This could push many families over the threshold who previously thought they were safe.
- Families who have already planned: Existing wills, trusts, and pension strategies may need to be reviewed and updated in light of the changes — what was optimal before the Budget may no longer be so.
How Can I Get Help Understanding My Options?
Understanding your options requires specialist guidance — estate planning is a specialist area of law, and general advice from a high-street solicitor or a financial adviser who doesn’t specialise in trusts may not be sufficient. The law, like medicine, is broad — you need a specialist. Here are the steps we recommend:
- Get a specialist estate plan review: Our team can analyse your specific situation using our proprietary 13-point threat analysis to identify exactly where your estate is exposed to IHT, care fees, and other risks.
- Consider a lifetime trust: For most families, a properly structured discretionary trust is the single most effective planning tool available. Trusts can protect against care fees, divorce, sideways disinheritance, and form part of your IHT planning strategy — and they can start from as little as £850.
- Don’t wait: Many of the most effective strategies require time to work. The 7-year rule for gifts, trust planning before care needs arise, and pension restructuring ahead of April 2027 all reward early action. Plan, don’t panic.
Not losing the family money provides the greatest peace of mind above all else. Get in touch today.
Get Professional Advice and Protect Your Estate
With the Autumn Budget 2024 tightening the Inheritance Tax regime, there has never been a more important time to take control of your estate planning. The combination of frozen thresholds, pensions entering the IHT net, and the cap on business and agricultural reliefs means that families who do nothing will pay the price — often to the tune of tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds handed to HMRC rather than to the people you love.
Our team specialises in setting up trusts and estate plans that protect ordinary families from IHT, care fees, and the other threats to family wealth. We believe that keeping families wealthy strengthens the country as a whole. You can explore more about reducing your inheritance tax, or better still, speak to us directly.
Contact Our Team
Fill out our contact form, call us at 0117 440 1555, or book a call with our team of specialists today. We’re here to help you protect your estate and ensure that your loved ones — not HMRC — benefit from what you’ve worked a lifetime to build. Trusts are not just for the rich — they’re for the smart.