Every estate is different. What you owe depends on your assets, debts, income, who you want to inherit, and any gifts you made during your lifetime.

We review your individual circumstances and identify which exemptions, allowances, and reliefs give you an advantage. From there, we build a plan around your family, not a generic template.

If you want a clear answer instead of guesswork, contact Vexo Accounting. We will explain what your estate owes, what your family may have to pay, and what their inheritance will be.

Every one of us will die one day, and it helps to think about that before you die, rather than leaving your family to deal with it after.

Some of the most complicated rules in inheritance tax cover business and agricultural assets. Get this wrong, and a family business or farm can end up broken up just to cover a tax bill.

The 2026 Changes to Business and Agricultural Property Relief

From 6 April 2026, the rules changed for Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief. Qualifying assets now receive 100% relief up to a combined £2.5 million allowance, with a reduced rate of taxation above that threshold.

A surviving spouse or civil partner can benefit from up to £5 million where unused relief transfers between them. In 2022 to 2023, £3.34 billion of estate value was relieved through Business Property Relief and £1.94 billion through Agricultural Property Relief. We check every one of these reliefs before assuming none apply. As another example, a couple running a farm together might combine agricultural relief with their nil rate bands to protect the property.

We help family businesses and farms plan succession around these limits, including private company and share valuations. The right plan can mean the difference between a business surviving to the next generation and one that has to be sold to pay the bill.

Lifetime Gifts, Trust Planning and the Seven Year Rule

Gifts made during your lifetime can still count towards your estate. The seven-year rule is the key test: a gift can fall outside your estate if you survive seven years after making it, though the rules on exempt transfers have conditions, and not every gift is subject to inheritance tax the same way.

You can gift up to £3,000 a year under the annual exemption, plus other exemptions for gifts to a spouse, civil partner or charity. A larger gift, given early, does more for your family than the same gift given late, since these help move wealth to the next generation while you can see the benefit. Trust planning and family investment companies can be part of a longer plan, giving you control over how assets pass to beneficiaries, though they carry their own rules, including charges every ten years.

We review previous gifts as part of any inheritance tax health check, since these are often forgotten. Each gift you make is worth recording, so nothing gets missed when your estate is valued. You may need to pay inheritance tax on some gifts made within seven years of death, depending on their value.

Wills sit at the centre of most estate plans. Out-of-date wills can undo years of tax planning, and mismatched wills are a common cause of unexpected bills. We check your wills alongside your tax position: couples often hold separate wills that were never checked against each other, two sets of wills can disagree, and badly drafted wills are a common reason families overpay. Trust arrangements and wills often need reviewing together, since outdated wills and outdated trusts rarely align. We review existing wills at any time and recommend revisiting your wills every three to five years, or sooner if your circumstances change. Your will only takes effect once you die, so it needs to say exactly what you want.

Life insurance, pensions, savings and investments can each play a part in a wider plan, and some sit outside your estate depending on how they are set up. The difference between an estate that has been planned and one that has not can run into tens of thousands of pounds, and good planning can save a family a considerable amount. Every person's plan should be reviewed again throughout life, whenever circumstances change, such as a marriage, a divorce, a death in the family, a new grandchild, or a change to your income or assets.

Fees typically range from £150 to £300 an hour for individual advice. Estate administration and IHT400 work is often quoted as a fixed fee from roughly £1,500, rising with the complexity of the case. Business and agricultural relief planning tends to sit at the higher end because of the valuation work and tax involved.

One factor is the size of the estate. Another factor is how many assets need valuing, and how much of the estate involves business or agricultural reliefs. This is a rough guide and the actual cost varies depending on your circumstances. The only way to get an accurate figure is to ask us directly, and your first conversation with Vexo Accounting is free.

If you want to know what your estate could owe, or you want a plan that protects what you've built for your children, grandchildren and other loved ones, talk to Vexo Accounting. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation inheritance tax quote and find out where you stand, what your family will inherit, how much you may need to pay, and how to keep more of it with the loved ones who matter to you.