Clear, practical advice on tax planning and insurance, so you can keep more of what you've built and protect the people who matter most.
Excellent
Answer four quick questions for an estimate. Nothing is saved, and you can change any answer.
home, savings, investments and life insurance not in trust, minus debts
Gifts given in the last 7 years£145,000
beyond the £3,000 a year anyone can give tax-free
Estimated inheritance tax bill
£248,000
Your family could keep about £552,000. A specialist can show you lawful ways to reduce the bill.
An illustrative estimate, not advice. It uses the standard allowances, frozen until April 2031: £325,000 tax-free per person, plus up to £175,000 for a home left to children or grandchildren, with 40% above them. For a married couple, it's the bill after you've both died, with everything passing to the survivor first. It leaves out the 36% rate for leaving 10% to charity, business and farm relief, trusts, and pensions, which count from April 2027.
Inheritance tax is 40% of what you leave above the tax-free allowances, and it's due within six months, often before the home can be sold. With the allowances frozen until April 2031 while prices rise, more families are reaching them. Planning ahead is lawful, and usually simpler than people expect.
The calculator gives you a rough figure in a minute. It's a starting point for the conversation, not a verdict.
A qualified specialist looks at your home, savings, pensions, gifts and family with you, by phone, at a time that suits you.
Clear recommendations in plain English, with a fixed price agreed before any work starts, and easy to revisit when life or the rules change.
Three things make the biggest difference. A specialist looks at all three with you and says honestly which are worth doing for your family.
Make full use of every allowance: the tax-free band, the extra one for your home, what passes between husbands, wives and civil partners, and the lower rate when 10% goes to charity. Often the biggest saving is how your will is written.
Pass wealth on while you're here. Regular gifts from spare income and £3,000 a year are tax-free straight away; larger gifts leave your estate after seven years. A trust can set money aside for grandchildren, with clear rules on when they receive it.
Cover for the tax that's left, or for your family's income and mortgage. A policy written in trust pays out outside your estate and without waiting for probate, so nobody has to sell the home to pay the bill.
Real experiences from people who've gained clarity and confidence with our tax and insurance support.
Larktree helped us understand our options and plan ahead. The advice was clear, practical and tailored to our situation.
Straight answers about inheritance tax and life insurance. For anything about your own situation, our specialists are a call away.
Call 0800 123 4567
A tax on what someone leaves when they die, above the tax-free allowances. It's 40% of the amount over them, paid from the estate before the rest is passed on. Anything left to a husband, wife or civil partner is free of it.
Everyone can leave £325,000, plus up to £175,000 more if their home goes to children or grandchildren (less for estates over £2,000,000). Husbands, wives and civil partners can pass on what they don't use, so together a couple can leave up to £1,000,000.
Not always. A life insurance policy written in trust can pay the bill so your family doesn't have to sell the home to do it, but gifts, trusts and how you leave your estate can reduce the bill first. A specialist will look at both and tell you honestly what's worth doing.
Yes. The allowances, gifts, trusts and the charity rate are all set out in law for exactly this. We only recommend standard, recognised planning, never schemes designed to get round the rules.
From April 2027, most unused pensions will count towards your estate for inheritance tax. If your pension is a large part of what you'll leave, it's worth reviewing how you draw it and who it goes to.
A qualified specialist in tax and estate planning, by phone, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm.
Tell us roughly what you own and who you'd like it to go to, and a specialist will tell you what's worth doing. No jargon, no pressure.
