The chancellor’s Autumn budget 2024 has several implications for making a will, including:

1. With the aim of ending the practice of using pensions to reduce Inheritance tax (IHT) liabilities, from April 2027 unused pension pots and death benefits from registered pension arrangements will be included in an estate for IHT purposes.
2. In a major tax grab, from April 2026 IHT relief for business and agricultural assets will be capped at £1 million. With assets above £1 million threshold, a reduced rate of 20% will apply instead of the standard rate of 40%. Nevertheless, this has proved extremely controversial and unpopular, with many farmers claiming their farms will have to be sold to pay off to pay the resultant IHT tax bill.
3. The IHT general nil rate band will remain at £325,000 and the residential nil rate band (used to offset the value of the family home passing down to descendants) will remain at £175,000 until 2030. Clearly, this means that these benefits will shrink in value in real terms as estate values rise (not least because of rising property values), with more people being drawn into paying IHT.
4. Domicile will no longer determine an individual’s eligibility to pay UK tax. Instead, the length of their UK residency, as defined by the statutory residency test, will be the sole determining factor.

How can I reduce my estate’s tax burden?

1. Plan early, and keep your affairs under review.
2. Incorporate discretionary trusts in your will. This enables decisions about how to pass on your estate to be made after your death (within two years), in light of the tax regime at the time.
3. Make gifts of capital or excess income to individuals or into lifetime discretionary trusts.
4. In your will, make gifts to charities (no IHT on such gifts).