What you've built should benefit the people you built it for.
Estate planning & inheritance tax advice.
You’ve spent years building it
The business, the pension, the property, the investments.
At some point the question changes from “how do I grow this?” to “what happens to this, and who actually benefits?”
That's what estate and legacy planning is about.
Not death, specifically.
Direction.
Making sure what you've built ends up with the people you intend, in the way you intend, with as little unnecessarily lost along the way.
Independent, FCA-authorised advisers | Designing Tomorrow’s Income, Today.
The Situation.
TD Insight 💡
A will decides who inherits. A financial plan decides how much is actually left for them to inherit. Most people only address the first one.
Inheritance tax used to be something other people worried about.
That's changing, and not because families are suddenly wealthier - it's because the thresholds that decide who pays haven't moved in years while property values, pensions and business assets have.
Right now, every individual has a nil-rate band of £325,000 before inheritance tax applies, plus a further £175,000 residence nil-rate band if a main home passes to children or grandchildren - up to £500,000 for one person, or £1 million for a married couple or civil partnership using both allowances.
Anything above that is generally taxed at 40%.
Those figures are frozen, which means more estates are drawn into inheritance tax each year simply through inflation and rising asset values, not because anyone became meaningfully wealthier in real terms.
On top of that, two significant changes are landing that directly affect the people we work with:
From April 2026, the relief available on qualifying business and agricultural assets is being restructured - full relief now applies to the first £2.5 million of combined value, with 50% relief above that.
From April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits will be brought within the value of your estate for inheritance tax purposes for the first time.
Neither of these is a reason to panic. Both are a good reason to actually look at where you stand.
What Estate & Legacy Planning actually covers
TD Question❓
If your estate was assessed today, do you have a reasonable idea of what would go to the people you intend - and what would go to tax?
This is where it's worth being precise about what we do and don't do.
Writing a will, setting up a trust, and dealing with probate are legal matters, handled by a solicitor.
We're not solicitors, and this page isn't legal advice.
What we help with is the financial planning that sits alongside that legal work - understanding what's actually in your estate, how it's likely to be treated for inheritance tax, and what role your pensions, investments, property, business assets and protection could play in reducing an unnecessary tax bill or making sure the right money reaches the right people at the right time.
In practice, that often means working closely with your solicitor rather than instead of them.
For business owners specifically, this usually also means thinking about retained cash in the business, the value of the business itself, and what happens to that value if something happens to you - questions that sit as much inside the company as outside it.
Building this into your wider Income Architecture
For business owners in particular, legacy planning tends to sit at the end of a longer conversation — about what the business has built, what's been extracted into personal assets, and what future income and choices that creates.
Estate and legacy planning is the final piece: making sure that structure works not just for you, but for the people who come after you.
It’s not about trying to avoid tax at all costs.
It’s about planning to leave your family as much as possible.
The two changes reshaping estate planning right now
TD Tip 💡
Before assuming you need a new strategy, start with the basics: a current valuation of what you own, an up-to-date will, and correct, current beneficiary nominations on every pension and protection policy. It's surprising how often the simplest things are years out of date.
Business and agricultural property relief (from April 2026)
If you own a business, or agricultural property, a significant part of that value has historically been shielded from inheritance tax through Business Property Relief or Agricultural Property Relief.
From April 2026, that full relief is limited to the first £2.5 million of combined qualifying assets, with the value above that taxed at an effective rate of 20% rather than being fully relieved.
The allowance is transferable between spouses and civil partners. For many business owners this changes very little. For those with higher-value businesses, or shares in AIM-listed companies (where relief is being reduced further), it's worth understanding before it becomes urgent.
Pensions and inheritance tax (from April 2027)
This is the bigger shift for most people.
Pensions have generally sat outside your estate for inheritance tax purposes - one of the reasons many people have used them, deliberately or not, as a way of passing on wealth as much as funding retirement.
From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits will be included in the value of your estate. Death-in-service benefits are excluded, but for most defined contribution pensions, this is a genuine change to how much of that pot ultimately reaches your beneficiaries.
If your retirement planning has been built partly around your pension as a tax-efficient way to pass on wealth, this is a good moment to revisit that assumption
How Turkington Davis helps
We start by understanding what you actually have
assets,
pensions,
property,
business interests
and how that picture is likely to be treated for inheritance tax today, and under the rules coming in 2026 and 2027.
From there, we look at what role your pensions, investments, protection and business planning could genuinely play, working alongside your solicitor where wills, trusts or probate are involved.
There's no assumption that everyone needs the same answer, or any answer at all - some people simply need clarity that things are already in reasonable shape.
Ready to understand where you stand?
Whether your estate feels straightforward or genuinely complex, every plan starts with a conversation.
FAQs: Estate & Legacy Planning
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Not usually.
That's your nil-rate band, and estates below it typically pay no inheritance tax.
If you own a home and plan to leave it to children or grandchildren, you may also have a further £175,000 residence nil-rate band on top.
It's worth checking both against a genuine, current valuation rather than assuming.
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From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits will be included in the value of your estate for inheritance tax purposes, where previously they generally weren't.
Death-in-service benefits are excluded. If you're relying on your pension as a tax-efficient way to pass on wealth, it's worth revisiting that plan before the change takes effect.
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It depends on the value of your qualifying business and agricultural assets.
From April 2026, full relief applies to the first £2.5 million combined, with 50% relief above that.
Many business owners won't be materially affected; those with higher-value businesses, or AIM-listed shares, may want to look at this specifically.
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No.
A will is a legal document dealing with who inherits and is drawn up by a solicitor.
Estate and legacy planning is the financial side - understanding what's in your estate, how it's likely to be taxed, and what role your pensions, investments and protection could play.
The two work best together.
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Not always, and we wouldn't suggest chasing that as the goal.
The aim is usually to understand your position clearly and make sensible, well-evidenced decisions - using the reliefs and allowances that genuinely apply to your circumstances - rather than pursuing an aggressive strategy that creates other risks.
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Start with the practical basics:
a current valuation of what you own,
an up-to-date will,
and correct beneficiary nominations on pensions and protection policies.
From there, a conversation can establish whether anything more specific is worth exploring.
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No - that's legal work, carried out by a solicitor.
We focus on the financial planning around it, and typically work alongside your solicitor rather than replacing that relationship.
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Your pension is one building block within your wider estate, and from April 2027 it's treated differently for inheritance tax than it has been.
We look at pensions as part of your Pension & Retirement Planning conversation, and bring that into the wider estate picture here.
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Business owners typically have more complexity:
retained cash,
business value,
and the question of what happens to that value if something happens to you.
We look at estate planning alongside your Business Owner Planning conversation, rather than treating your business as separate from your personal estate.
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No.
Some of the most useful estate planning - reviewing beneficiary nominations, understanding your current position, structuring how assets are held - is worth doing well before it feels urgent, particularly given the frozen thresholds and the 2026/2027 changes.
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We'd be delighted to help.
If you can't find the answer you're looking for, simply get in touch or book a complimentary Financial Planning Consultation.
We'll be happy to answer any questions and help you decide whether financial planning is right for you.
More Info : Internal Link Suggestions
Pension Planning – a major part of your future income plan.
Retirement Planning – joining the dots for your future income.
Investment Planning – built around your goals, managed with care.
Financial Planning – turning today’s income, into tomorrow’s lifestyle.
Financial Insights - guidance to protect, plan and grow your wealth.
Helpful External Resources
GOV.UK - Changes to Agricultural property relief & business property relief
GOV.UK - Inheritance tax: unused pension funds and death benefits
Money Helper - A guide to inheritance tax in the UK
FCA Register - Turkington Davis
The benefits to the treatment of tax will depend on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change in future.
The value of pensions and investments and the income they produce can fall as well as rise. You may get back less than you invested.
This information is for general guidance only and does not constitute personal financial advice, and does not constitute legal advice on wills, trusts or probate.