Death benefits & inheritance tax

What you'll find on this page

• Case studies
• CPD - Death benefits
• CPD - Death benefits - Facts and planning
• Death benefits
• Inheritance tax
• Our frequently asked questions
• Trusts

Case studies

• Death benefits: discretion or direction
• How inheritance tax might apply to a pension transfer (deceased estate taxed in England)
• How inheritance tax might apply to a pension transfer (deceased estate taxed in Scotland)
• Pension death benefits in trust 

CPD | Death benefits – Pensions freedoms in 2015 introduced major changes to pension death benefit options and taxation. Here we provide some technical support to help you.

• Death benefits

CPD | Death benefits – Facts and planning – The changes to death benefits have had a fundamental impact on advisers, their clients and also the beneficiaries of clients. This webinar will briefly mention the law and some of the areas which are causing problems for advisers but it will also consider where advisers can add value to their professional connections by explaining areas where pension legislation may interact with other areas of the law.

• Death benefits – Facts and planning

CPD |  Pension hot topics - We investigate three of the hottest technical pension topics including IHT and pensions changes from January 2022 – when IHT can apply to pensions and the recent changes to the reporting of IHT.

• Pension hot topics

Death benefits

• Death benefits from April 2015
• Death benefits: discretion or direction
• Nominee and successor flexi-access drawdown
• Taxation of pension death benefits

Major changes to the tax charges that apply to benefits paid on the death of a pension scheme member took effect from 6 April 2015.  This article explains how the funds were treated prior to then.

• Death benefits pre 6 April 2015 overview

Inheritance tax

In this article we look at the differences between individual savings accounts and pensions when it comes to inheritance tax.

• Inheritance tax - pensions v individual savings account 

In these case studies we look at inheritance tax on transfers.

• How inheritance tax might apply to a pension transfer (deceased estate taxed in England)
• How inheritance tax might apply to a pension transfer (deceased estate taxed in Scotland)

In this guide we talk about the importance of inheritance tax planning.

• Importance of inheritance tax planning  (PDF)

A spousal bypass trust can be used to stop death benefits falling into the surviving spouse’s estate. Here we explain how this type of trust works.

• What is a spousal bypass trust?

On the 6 April 2015 the residence nil-rate band (RNRB) was introduced. This is an additional threshold for inheritance tax (IHT) planning above the current £325,000 threshold. Here we explain how this works.

• Residence nil-rate band part 1
• Residence nil-rate band part 2

Gifts made to anyone from your client’s estate are exempt from inheritance tax provided they survive for a period of 7 years from the date the gift is made. Here we explain how this works.

• What is a gift inter vivos policy and when should it be used?

The Finance Act 2013 introduced a change which limits the deductibility of debts in certain circumstances.  Here we explain the changes.

• Deductibility of debts for Inheritance Tax

The House of Commons has produced a briefing paper on inheriting both state and private pension rights. 

• House of Commons briefing paper - Inheriting pension rights
  
  

Our frequently asked questions

Here we look at some of the questions we are asked most often.

• Death benefits - Our top five questions
• Death benefits
• Nominating beneficiaries

Trusts

When may it be beneficial to use a trust? 

• Reasons why you might put pension death benefits into trust