Wills & Business Owners | Davis Blank Furniss Solicitors

Wills & Business Owners

Do you have an interest in a business?  If so, it is important that you ensure your Will makes full use of the exemptions that are available in order to reduce your family’s inheritance tax (IHT) liability.

Each individual has an IHT threshold of £325,000 and anything over this is taxed at 40%. If you leave assets to your spouse or civil partner then there is an exemption on those assets and there is no IHT liability.

If you are an owner of a business, Business Property Relief (BPR) is a relief from IHT of either 100% or 50% for “relevant business property”. However, if you leave business assets to your husband, wife or civil partner then it will automatically be exempt from IHT and so BPR will be wasted.

BPR is a great way to benefit people who are not exempt from IHT, such as your children or grandchildren. You could leave a specific gift of business assets to your children, which would be free from IHT using BPR, and you could leave everything else to your husband, wife or civil partner, which would also be free from IHT. This is tax efficient for you and ultimately for the surviving partner’s estate.

You may want more flexibility about who your business assets pass to. For example, you may want your partner to receive income from a business or you may want to provide for succession of a business to your children at a certain age.

A discretionary trust in your Will is flexible, it protects your business assets and maximises BPR. A discretionary trust does not have a specific beneficiary with an automatic right to income or capital. Instead, your trustees have the power to advance money or business assets to any of your named beneficiaries as they see fit. Your named beneficiaries can include your partner, children, grandchildren as well as other family members or even business associates. In addition, you can leave a separate Letter of Wishes for your trustees to provide guidance about dealing with the business assets.

More than anything it is important that you seek advice about the relief, when it applies and what conditions will apply to you.  If you would like to discuss this in more detail then please do not hesitate to contact myself or Laura on 0161 832 3304.

Karen Witter

Partner, Private Client team

Testimonials

Read what our clients have to say...

View All

Excellent experience start to finish – always very responsive to any queries and the turnaround on the property I was buying was very quick, even in the busy time leading up to stamp duty deadline. Jenny was always very helpful and went above and beyond to close on a short timescale.

Ben Armitage

“Very approachable, practical solutions to problems, but most of all very responsive which I personally think is very important because if you need help, you need it quickly, or at least to know someone is looking at it for you”.

Joanne Rowe, Finance Director, Greater Manchester Chamber

“Always able to contact, very approachable, friendly and professional”

Nives Feely, JAM Recruitment

“I believe I have been able to establish a professional working relationship with everyone I have come into contact. Importantly, I sense the relationships which have been established give me the confidence that I can make contact with Davis Blank Furniss at any time and on any matter. I would also like to express my thanks to the very impressive “gatekeepers” who work in reception, not only for making me very welcome, but also for their professionalism”

Bill Pryke, CEO, Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors

“Thank you for your efficient and friendly help throughout this process. We have had it easy but your approach has been part of that”.

Robert Amsbury (Conveyancing Client)

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you personally for the ongoing support and assistance the firm has offered to our parents over the years. I hope also that we may be able to call on you if necessary in the future.”

Valerie Fisher (Probate Client)

“Jo always provides great service, understands our needs and delivers on her promises. Our needs are relatively simple but the complexity arises out of the volume of work and short time frames, Jo always delivers.”

Peter Fernandez, Corporate Director at Royal Bank of Scotland

“A big thank you to all who dealt with my wife’s claim… We would not hesitate to recommend Davis Blank Furniss to anyone that may be in a situation like we have been…”

Anon (Personal Injury client)

“Before putting my case in Kirsty (Morbey)’s capable hands I’ve met a couple of other solicitors. None of them listen to me as intently as Kirsty and showed me as much empathy and understanding as she did. Simultaneously she was able to look at my case from legal perspective, explain all the options and follow each of our meetings with written summary of the discussed matters (in timely manner). Her advice was invaluable and led me to successfully ending the case matter (hopeful for good). I’m forever grateful for he work and would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for reliable, knowledgeable and committed solicitor”.

Anon (Family client)
5 star service

Our Manchester office is rated 5 stars on Google