Plan how your wealth and assets should pass to future generations while understanding the tax and practical implications of the decisions you make.

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Effective succession planning can help you decide how and when property, investments, business interests and other assets should pass to the people you want to benefit. It can also help identify potential Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax liabilities before decisions are made, allowing you to consider the available options in the context of your wider family and financial circumstances.

DTM Legal advises individuals, families, business owners, farmers and landowners on estate and succession planning. Our Trusts & Estates team can review your current position, including Wills, trusts, lifetime gifts, property and business interests, and help you establish arrangements that reflect both your immediate priorities and longer-term intentions.

Tax rules should not be considered in isolation. Transferring an asset during your lifetime, for example, may have Inheritance Tax advantages in some circumstances but can also create a Capital Gains Tax liability. Likewise, retaining particular assets until death may produce a different overall result. Our role is to help you understand these interactions and, where appropriate, work alongside your accountant, financial adviser or other tax specialists.

Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Succession Planning Legal Services

Our Trusts & Estates team can advise on a wide range of estate and lifetime planning matters, including:

Reviewing potential Inheritance Tax exposure
Advice on the Inheritance Tax nil-rate band and residence nil-rate band
Lifetime gifting and succession between generations
The Inheritance Tax implications of gifts made during your lifetime
Advice on gifts from surplus income and other available exemptions
Capital Gains Tax implications of transferring property, investments and other assets
Advice on Gift Hold-Over Relief where relevant
Establishing and reviewing trusts as part of an estate or succession plan
Reviewing Wills alongside wider tax and succession arrangements
Planning involving family wealth and assets intended for future generations
Business succession and transfers of company or partnership interests
Planning involving significant property portfolios and investments
Considering pension death benefits alongside the wider estate
Reviewing arrangements following changes in tax legislation or personal circumstances
Working with accountants, financial advisers and other professional advisers to implement a coordinated succession strategy

Why Instruct DTM Legal?

Good succession planning is not simply about achieving the lowest possible tax liability. You may also need to retain sufficient assets and income for your own future, treat different beneficiaries fairly, preserve a family business or farm, provide for a vulnerable relative or ensure that assets remain manageable after they have been transferred.

Our Trusts & Estates team takes time to understand these wider objectives before recommending a particular structure. We can help you compare options such as retaining assets, making lifetime gifts, using trusts or changing the way assets are ultimately distributed through your Will. Where Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax and other financial considerations overlap, we will highlight those interactions so that decisions are not made based on one tax in isolation.

We provide:

Practical estate and succession planning based on your objectives
Clear explanations of relevant Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax considerations
Advice on lifetime gifts, Wills and trusts
Experience advising business owners, farmers, landowners and families with significant assets
Reviews of existing arrangements following changes in tax legislation
A joined-up approach to personal, family and business assets
Collaboration with accountants and financial advisers where specialist financial or tax input is required

Get in Touch

Whether you are beginning to consider succession planning or want to review arrangements already in place, our Trusts & Estates team can help you understand your current position and the options available.

To discuss your requirements, contact us by emailing trustsandestates@dtmlegal.com or calling 01244 354 800 / 0151 321 0000.

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Key Considerations When Planning Your Estate and Succession

Read our Key Considerations guide to understand some of the points a solicitor may wish to discuss when responding to your enquiry. It can help you prepare the relevant information and make your initial conversation more productive.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Commonly asked questions about tax and succession planning.

The standard Inheritance Tax nil-rate band is currently £325,000.

An additional residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 may also be available where a qualifying home passes to direct descendants. This means an individual may in appropriate circumstances have combined thresholds of up to £500,000. The residence nil-rate band begins to taper for estates worth more than £2 million.

Unused allowances can also potentially transfer between spouses and civil partners, meaning the position for a couple may be different.

Whether Inheritance Tax will actually be payable depends on the overall estate, beneficiaries, previous gifts and the exemptions or reliefs available, so headline thresholds should not be considered in isolation.

Lifetime gifting can form part of an estate plan, but simply giving assets away does not automatically remove all tax consequences.

Most outright gifts to individuals fall outside the donor’s estate for Inheritance Tax purposes if the donor survives for seven years, subject to the detailed rules and any applicable exemptions. However, gifts can remain relevant if death occurs within that period.

There may also be Capital Gains Tax consequences. Assets gifted to family members are generally treated as being disposed of at market value for CGT purposes, meaning a taxable gain could arise even though you received no payment.

You should also consider whether giving the asset away affects your own financial security or exposes it to circumstances outside your control. Advice before completing a substantial gift can help identify these issues.

You do not normally pay Capital Gains Tax simply because you inherit an asset. Inheritance Tax is dealt with separately as part of the deceased’s estate where applicable.

However, if you later sell or otherwise dispose of the inherited asset and it has increased in value since the relevant probate value, Capital Gains Tax may become payable on that subsequent gain.

This can be important where beneficiaries inherit property, shares or investments and are considering whether to retain, transfer or sell them.

Both reliefs can reduce the value of qualifying agricultural or business property when calculating Inheritance Tax.

From 6 April 2026, there is a combined £2.5 million allowance for qualifying agricultural and business property eligible for the 100% rate of relief. Qualifying value above the available allowance generally receives relief at 50%. An unused allowance can transfer to a surviving spouse or civil partner, subject to the applicable rules.

Whether an asset qualifies depends on factors including its nature, ownership and use. Business owners and agricultural families should therefore obtain advice rather than assuming that all business or farming assets automatically receive relief.

Succession planning is usually more effective when it begins before a transfer or major life event is imminent.

Starting early gives you time to review asset ownership, Wills, trusts, business arrangements and potential tax liabilities before deciding whether changes should be made. For family businesses in particular, DTM Legal’s existing guidance emphasises considering ownership, management responsibilities and family expectations alongside taxation.

You should also revisit your arrangements following significant changes such as marriage, divorce, bereavement, a business sale, substantial increase in asset values, retirement or a change in relevant tax legislation.

See what our customers have to say about their experience

5/5 350+Reviews

Simon Poole

17/07/2025

Recently used DTM legal for Estate Planning and Will Making. We received a very efficient & professional service. I would highly recommend and use DTM Legal again

Ginny

19/04/2026

Worked with DTM Legal for many years and I would highly recommend. Very friendly and helpful staff, really supportive of my elderly mother during her appointment.

Layla

19/10/2023

Excellent knowledge and superb explanations.

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Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Succession Planning

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Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Succession Planning Legal Services

Why Instruct DTM Legal?

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