Tax Planning and Asset Protection video transcript

Asset protection is about reducing the impact that life events or claims may have on your financial position. This can include claims made if your relationship breaks down, if you suffer financial difficulties, and also succession claims brought by family members following your death.

Asset protection also includes planning for tax liabilities or other costs that may arise such as the cost of residential care. In each case there may be steps that you can take to reduce such claims or costs or their impact but it is important to be proactive.

The earlier you seek advice the greater the chance of there being steps you can take. One area of asset protection that we're often asked about is protecting the family home against care costs. It is possible to take steps before you need to go into care to mitigate the risk of having to sell your house to fund this care. There are various options here such as giving the house away to relatives or putting it into trust. Inheritance tax is another aspect of asset protection that frequently comes up. There are various ways you can reduce or plan for your your inheritance tax liability.

As a start you should make sure that your will is structured tax efficiently and you may also want to look at gifts to make full use of exemptions, trusts and the possibility of making other lifetime gifts. If you're a business owner there are also specific reliefs which may reduce your inheritance tax bill so you should make sure your business is structured in a way to capture these reliefs in full.

If you would like to have a chat to discuss your situation and all the options available to you then please get in touch today using the telephone number or enquiry form on our website.