In television’s Downton Abbey, management of succession and its financial implications is a constant theme. The portrait of the decline of the English country-house way of life illustrates how planning early for transferring wealth works well over time, despite unexpected events.
Whether you prefer Downton Abbey or a more contemporary family saga such as Succession, the importance of long-term planning for wealth transfer is a recurrent theme. Every situation is different, but the same basic truths always apply.
While wealth transfer is often thought of in largely financial terms, it can be tax driven, but in fact it’s also an emotional and practical family matter. Whether you have a business to transfer, financial assets or property, you’ll have your own set of priorities and family members with different situations and characteristics.
Transferring wealth well is a balancing act: part personal family matter and part logical financial transaction. It’s also something that’s best done over time with considered and deliberate planning, both so that you can take pleasure in the benefits to your inheritors in your lifetime and because tax allowances encourage a long-term approach.
Understanding the Importance of Wealth Transfer Planning
Intelligent planning for transferring wealth can make a huge difference. We know from experience that it pays to start thinking and acting as soon as you can. Working out what you want to do and putting plans into action takes time.
For your beneficiaries, this can help with some of life’s major financial obligations. Your children might need help paying down a mortgage or financing a new business. Or you might choose to pay fees for your grandchildren’s school or university.
Thinking about this early means they benefit at the time of life when they need help the most. It may also allow you to take advantage of tax allowances that make your money go further.
The Growing Need for Strategic Wealth Transfer
With Inheritance Tax (IHT) payments likely to reach a high of £9.1 billion in 2025-20261, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility official forecaster, there are increasingly large sums at stake for many families. That follows several years of the government freezing the threshold at £325,000 above which IHT becomes payable, known as the nil rate band, as well as introducing further measures to increase the tax take.
Beyond the purely financial reasons, though, the rise in blended families and increasing longevity mean that you need to consider wealth transfer strategically. There’s a lot at stake.
Potential Risks of Delaying Wealth Transfer Planning
It’s easy to put off making decisions, but doing so can come with a cost. From a practical perspective, you may lose the chance to help your beneficiaries when they need it most. Equally, you may end up making hasty decisions in a hurry.
What’s more, any gifts you make are not immediately outside your estate for inheritance tax purposes. They can have an impact on the tax your estate would pay for years to come, and this is why wealth transfer is often considered. It’s a long-term business. Quite simply, delaying matters may risk more of your estate being spent on tax, with less going to your heirs.
Key Considerations When Starting Wealth Transfer Planning
Passing on your wealth is about ensuring it goes to the right people in the right ways. Whether that’s family and loved ones or charitable causes close to your heart.
You may have some concerns about what your beneficiaries might do with any assets they inherit. Are you worried about them getting married or divorced, and the implications that may bring? Do you want to put some controls over the wealth they receive? Or is there a family business you want to protect?
Whatever your concerns and circumstances, we can help create a personal plan that meets your objectives and gives you peace of mind.
Assessing Your Financial Situation and Future Goals
Of course, your financial security must come first. Before you think about passing on wealth to others, you need to be confident that you’ll have sufficient income and assets for the rest of your life, including the possibility of covering the costs of long-term care.
It’s helpful to understand the value of your assets. Then you can calculate how much money you’re likely to need and how much you can pass on.
Family Dynamics and Succession Planning
With families becoming increasingly complex, succession planning is more valuable important than ever. Families may stretch across many generations, now and divorce is more common than it was 50 years ago. Additionally, your children might live in different countries. Intelligent succession planning can help you deal with such complexity.
You may want to talk to your beneficiaries about what you have in mind. You’ll also get a clearer idea of their needs. Conversations bring clarity about what’s next.
The Benefits of Early Wealth Transfer Planning
In our experience, starting to plan early pays dividends. After all, if you have a large estate there’s a lot to think about.
Indeed, setting up a structure for wealth transfer can involve the use of several different tools. The foundation should be your will, which tells your family who you want your wealth to go to when you die.
Mitigating Tax Implications
Additionally, there’s a range of IHT allowances, which may have multi-year lead times. For instance, you can gift surplus income free of IHT if you do so regularly. You may also make a gift under the so-called seven-year rule, which allows gifts over your nil-rate band to pass free of tax, providing you live for seven years. If you pass away before then, the amount of tax relief is tapered. There are exceptions to this, for example if other gifts have been made in the previous seven years, so it can be the case that gifts made up to fourteen years before death can affect the amount of IHT due.
For more complex estates, you can set up Trusts . Trusts can also be used to give you a degree of control and manage the timing of the transfer of assets.
How Brown Shipley Can Help You Prepare for Wealth Transfer
Making informed decisions about how you pass on your wealth is an empowering thing to do, and it’s never too early to start planning. We know there’s a lot to think about. That’s why we’re here to help you understand the options, have conversations and put plans in place.
It starts with a phone call. Once we understand what you want, we create a plan that’s tailored to your unique situation and start putting it into action.
Contact a Client Advisor today, or download 'Your Essential Guide to Passing On Wealth'.
Sources:
1 Office for Budget Responsibility. https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/inheritance-tax
Important Information
Information correct as of 12 December 2025.
- Our Wealth Planning service can involve investing your capital, which places it at risk.
- The value of your investments or any income from them can go down as well as up, and you could lose some or all of the money.
- The information provided is general in nature and does not constitute tax or financial advice.
- We recommend that you seek professional tax advice to understand your personal tax liabilities.
- This will depend on personal circumstances and the prevailing tax rules, which are subject to change.
- Tax planning is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority.