Our speciality
Inheritance tax planning in Devon and the South West
Inheritance tax takes 40% of everything above your tax-free allowances. We help families across Devon and the South West use the legal reliefs available, so more of your home and savings passes to your children and grandchildren.
27 Years of estate planning experience
STEP Affiliate Member, The Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners
£2m professional indemnity insurance
5.0 rating from 24 Google reviews
How it works
How inheritance tax works
Inheritance tax is paid on what you leave when you die, above your tax-free allowances. The rate is 40%. If everything you leave is worth less than your allowances, there’s nothing to pay, but rising house prices bring more family homes over the line.
£325,000 each
Everyone has a tax-free allowance, called the nil-rate band.
£175,000 more for your home
An extra allowance if your home goes to your children or grandchildren. It shrinks by £1 for every £2 your estate is worth over £2 million.
Married couples can share
Anything left to a husband, wife or civil partner is tax-free, and any allowance not used passes to them. Together, a couple can pass on up to £1 million.
40% on the rest
The rate drops to 36% if you leave at least 10% of your estate to charity. The allowances are frozen until at least April 2030.
What a married couple can pass on tax-free
The home allowances apply when your home goes to your children or grandchildren and your estate is under £2 million.
A real example
How an East Devon couple’s £240,000 bill was removed
A retired couple in East Devon owned a home worth £1.2 million and had £400,000 in savings. Their family faced an inheritance tax bill of £240,000.
By setting up trusts built around their family, we were able to remove that bill. As house prices and investments grow, there are further options to keep it that way.
Every family is different. What works depends on what you own, who you want to leave it to and your health.
Home £1,200,000
Savings £400,000
Less the couple’s allowances −£1,000,000
Left to be taxed at 40% £600,000
Bill without planning £240,000
Bill after planning £0
Ways to reduce it
Legal ways to reduce inheritance tax
These are the main tools. Most plans use more than one, and the right mix depends on your family. If your estate is under your allowances, we’ll tell you there is nothing you need to do.
Gifts and the 7-year rule
A gift is free of inheritance tax if you live for 7 years after giving it. If you die sooner, the tax on large gifts can be reduced on a sliding scale after 3 years.
Yearly allowances
You can give £3,000 a year, plus any number of £250 gifts, without them counting. Wedding gifts of up to £5,000 to a child are exempt too.
Gifts from spare income
Regular gifts from your income, not your savings, are exempt straight away, with no limit, as long as you can still afford your usual living costs.
Trusts
A trust can move assets out of your estate while you keep a say in who benefits. Trusts have their own tax rules, so the type matters. Family protection trusts
Leaving the right things to the right people
A Will that leaves your home to your children or grandchildren keeps the extra home allowance. Leaving 10% to charity lowers the rate to 36%. Will writing
Business and farm relief
Qualifying business and farm assets can be passed on with full or half relief. The rules changed in April 2026. Protecting business assets
What’s changing
Two changes every Devon family should know about
If you made a plan before these changes, it’s worth checking it still does what you want.
April 2026
Business and farm relief capped
Full relief now applies to the first £2.5 million of qualifying business and farm assets. Above that, relief is 50%.
April 2027
Pensions start to count
For deaths from 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits count as part of your estate. Death-in-service payments are not included.
How we work with you
Three steps, and a fee agreed before we start
Michael Doctors has 27 years of estate planning experience and is a STEP Affiliate Member. He comes to you, anywhere in Devon and the South West, or meets by video.
1. A free first conversation
We look at what you own and who you want to provide for, and tell you plainly whether you need to do anything.
2. Your written plan
A written summary with the options that suit your family, and the fee to put them in place.
3. Put in place
Signed documents usually take two to three months. Registering trusts with HMRC takes some weeks, and the Land Registry can take 12 months or more after that.
Expert partners
We work with SRA-regulated solicitors, full STEP members and tax and trust specialists, with advice underpinned by King’s Counsel opinion.
Michaels & Co is an estate planning consultancy, not a firm of solicitors. Legal work, such as preparing trusts and applying for probate, is carried out by our preferred partners, who are SRA-regulated solicitors and Tax & Trusts Corporations.
★★★★★
“We were looking for advice on how best to secure our family home in Exmouth for our daughter and her children. Michael, working with a law firm, has helped us establish a bespoke Trust and new Wills which exactly fits our needs.”
Ian T.
Google review · Read all 24 reviews
Questions
Inheritance tax questions, answered
The questions people in Devon ask most about inheritance tax.
Tax rules on this page were checked against GOV.UK on 28 October 2026.
Can I leave my house to my children without paying inheritance tax?
Often, yes. If your home goes to your children or grandchildren, you get an extra £175,000 allowance on top of your £325,000. A married couple can pass on up to £1 million tax-free. Above that, planning can reduce or remove the tax.
How can I avoid 40% inheritance tax?
By using every allowance you have, giving gifts early, making regular gifts from spare income, using trusts and leaving 10% to charity if that suits you. The right mix depends on your family, which is what the free first conversation is for.
Can I just give £100,000 to my son?
Yes. There’s no tax when you give it, and none at all if you live for 7 years afterwards. If you die within 7 years, it counts towards your estate, with less tax due on large gifts after 3 years.
How do HMRC know if I’ve given money away?
When you die, your executors must tell HMRC about gifts you made in the 7 years before. That’s why it helps to keep a simple record of what you give and when.
Do trusts avoid inheritance tax?
Some do, but not all, and some have tax charges of their own. A trust needs to be the right type for what you want, set up correctly and registered with HMRC. We work with specialist solicitors to make sure it is.
What happens when the second parent dies?
When the first parent dies, everything left to the other is usually tax-free, and their unused allowances pass across. The tax normally falls due when the second parent dies, which is why planning together matters.
How much does inheritance tax advice cost?
Your first conversation is free. If you go ahead, your fee is set out in your written plan and agreed with you before any work starts.
Related: Family protection trusts Wills Care fee planning Lasting powers of attorney Deed of variation
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