Inheritance tax planning is not essential for all individuals. If you are unlikely to be leaving an estate with a value of over £325,000 (not including your main property of residence) then your beneficiaries will not face any inheritance tax. Furthermore, if your main property of residence is under the value of £175,000 which you wish to leave to your children or grandchildren, then again there will be no inheritance tax liability. There is therefore a maximum threshold of £500,000 that you can potentially leave completely tax-free.

Ridgefield Consulting are able to provide straight forward guidance and calculations for inheritance tax planning. We’re also able to identify opportunities for you to make use of more complex strategies such as the use of trusts and/or use of life insurance policies; however we would point you to recommended third party advisors for further advice and execution of such approaches.

Inheritance tax planning is a service we would recommend people revisit throughout different stages in life as the future is inevitably unpredictable and decisions and plans can always change. However, it is highly worthwhile as it will:

• Give you peace of mind that your affairs will be in order when the time comes
• Provide reassurance that your loved ones will be able to settle any inheritance tax bill without struggle
• Ensure you retain adequate finances to sustain you throughout your lifetime

Ridgefield Consulting is a small but growing independent family-run firm based in Oxford. We’re well known within the local community of Botley and Cumnor, but our reputation goes much further and we help many clients in Oxfordshire including Woodstock, Farringdon and Banbury.

Our inheritance tax planning clients include spouses and civil partners, family business owners and high-net-worth clients. We welcome clients from any background and always offer the first consultation free of charge so that we can introduce ourselves, find out more about you and give you a chance to see if we would be a good fit for your needs.

Ridgefield Consulting does not operate on fixed-fee rates. That’s because we don’t believe anyone should have to pay for more than what they need. Every client we meet is different, will have their own individual circumstances as well as personal plans for how they would like their assets and wealth to be distributed through inheritance. Our free introductory consultation will allow you to discuss the objectives you want to achieve. We will then prepare a quote detailing the level of advice required, calculations that will be included in your inheritance tax planning summary and any further tax and accounting action that may be required.