A Professional’s Guide to Estate Planning
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A Professional’s Guide to Estate Planning
A concise and impartial reference document, giving common-sense assistance on the latest technical, planning and legislative aspects of estate planning.
What you'll find inside
Practical Guidance
Detailed overview of the types of estate planning methods and the technical complexities to be aware of
Case Studies
Real life examples of when and how the various estate planning options can be used and what they can achieve
Connections
Straightforward advice on developing professional relationships with financial planners and advisers
CPD Accreditation
Our guides are accredited by the CII, IFP and PFS. Give us feedback and don’t forget to claim your CPD!
Estate planning is the process of preserving a life’s work in the form of a financial legacy
SIMON HARRYMAN, INGENIOUS
Learning objectives
» Understand the range of estate planning options that are available
» Feel confident discussing the various estate planning solutions with their clients
» Have the knowledge they need to evaluate estate planning advice their clients have received
» Feel confident to forge the relevant commercial relationships and to implement client referral arrangements
» Understand how to deliver holistic estate planning advice (subject to regulatory approvals to do so) either in conjunction with third party partners or their own wealth management division
Acknowledgements
A guide like this is rarely the product of one organisation’s efforts: to ensure that it is up to date, comprehensive, accurate and captures all of the key issues requires an industry wide initiative.
We’ve had plenty of help producing this guide and would like to thank our co-authors Dave Robinson FCCA APFS IMC TEP LLAA CFPcm and Anne Hills FPFS Chartered Financial Planner. Both Dave and Anne are Chartered Financial Planners and work for Centurion Chartered Financial Planners.
We are also very grateful to John D. Bunker, Jane Finnerty, Fiona Graham, Edward Grant, Louise Polcaro, Claire Trott, Karon Walton. Their input is invaluable, but needless to say, any errors and omissions are ours.
Most of all we would like to thank our sponsors Blackfinch, Canada Life, Downing, Foresight Group, Ingenious, Oxford Capital, Puma, TIME, Triple Point, and WAY Group. It would not be possible to produce educational material like this without their generous support and contribution towards the production, printing and distribution of the Guide.
Brief Overview
The field for provision of professional services has opened up significantly in the last decade thanks to ongoing pressure from the government for more transparency and better consumer outcomes. The drive for more joined up services and the overlap in areas including estate and later-life planning has highlighted the synergies between legal, accountancy and financial advice professionals. And with their combined knowledge bases, but separate expertise, they have ongoing opportunities to work together to identify and fulfil all of the complementary needs of each other’s clients.
However, many lawyers and accountants may lack the confidence to engage directly with financial advisory or planning firms, perhaps because they feel that they do not have the tools to feel fully comfortable with the potential strategies that could be recommended to their clients.
At a time when the Treasury’s IHT take is higher than ever, it is an apt time for more professionals, who may meet clients on a weekly or daily basis, with estate planning needs, a greater insight into the options available as well as the opportunities for their business.
Early preparation is key to successful estate planning. Taking advantage of various solutions to secure wealth often ensures more can be passed on to the next generation
KAREN STACEY, HEAD OF DISTRIBUTION SERVICES, CANADA LIFE
Comments on Estate Planning
People do not plan enough financially for old age. There are also misconceptions as to the level of funding the Government will provide to those who require assistance.
Occasional Paper 31, Financial Conduct Authority, September 2017
Increasing choice and complexity for older consumers as a result of pension freedoms.
Occasional Paper 31, Financial Conduct Authority, September 2017
In spite of the push by the SRA and the government for the last 10 years to open up legal services and to try to engender better service to consumers, my view is that separate organisations still tend to be quite insular.
Fiona Graham, Institute of Family Business
Inheritance tax is clearly a huge area of MoneySaving. After all, you don’t want to be super-savvy all your life just to have most of what you’ve saved go to the taxman.
Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert
Partners
Blackfinch Investments is an established and experienced manager in the UK market for tax efficient and capital protected investments. Blackfinch specialise in Inheritance Tax mitigation through Business Property Relief (BPR) for both individuals and corporate entities, Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Portfolios and also Seed EIS (SEIS) Portfolios. With a focus on capital preservation, Blackfinch look to protect investor capital through asset backed investment strategies in sectors such as property, lending, renewable energy and media. Underpinning this investment strategy is a first class client services and intermediary support team based in both London and Malvern, Worcestershire. Their approach embodies the Blackfinch philosophy: efficient client-focused solutions delivered in a simple and transparent way.
Canada Life looks after the retirement, investment and protection needs of individuals, families and companies. We help to build better futures.
There can be no greater priority than the commitment and responsibility towards all our customers. At Canada Life we adhere to the same principles as when we were formed in 1847: integrity, consistency and experience.
Our heritage is important to us. We benefit from a financially strong, stable, modern global organisation being the oldest Canadian Life assurance company with invaluable experience since our foundation in 1847. That is more than 170 years of helping customers plan for the future.
Since 1903 we have operated in the United Kingdom where we have hundreds of respected and supported staff all geared to doing the right thing for customers. As well as Canada, Europe and the United States and other countries we also work through branch operations and subsidiary companies.
https://www.canadalife.co.uk/
At Downing, we aim to make a difference in the lives of our investment community. We design & manage investment products that help investors look after their financial wellbeing, while our investment partnerships support businesses in their ambitions.
In uniting the two, we build lasting relationships that become the foundation of our investment community. And in our openness to learn how to develop these we continue to evolve. We value flexibility, transparency and integrity in everything we do.
Foresight is a leading, independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager owned by its partners, who together have combined investment experience of over 200 man years across a wide variety of sectors. Foresight’s three investment teams operate on a collaborative basis with a pro-active and pragmatic investment style.
With current assets under management of over £1.5 billion, raised from UK and international private and high net-worth individuals, family offices, pension funds and other institutional investors, Foresight strives to generate increasing dividends and capital appreciation for our investors over the long term.
Our portfolio of investment opportunities focus on four unique and diversified sectors: media, infrastructure, real estate and education. Sector knowledge is central to our investment philosophy and our teams are comprised of specialists with experience operating and managing businesses and assets within these sectors. We build strategic partnerships with our investors and their advisers, working together to understand individual financial objectives and consistently providing compelling solutions which meet these as they evolve.
Oxford Capital aims to make EIS investments accessible, easy to understand and hassle-free for investors and their financial advisers. The firm has two distinct EIS strategies – Investment in high growth companies from a range of industries and investment in companies which own infrastructure assets. The Oxford Capital Growth EIS portfolio backs established businesses to support their expansion. Oxford Capital builds each investor a portfolio of around 8-10 companies, providing the tax advantages of the EIS whilst mitigating some of the risk of smaller company investments through diversification. The Oxford Capital Infrastructure EIS invests in companies which own and operate infrastructure assets, such as renewable energy installations, earning revenues through long-term contracts. Because the investments are asset-backed, the Infrastructure EIS has a lower risk profile than some other EIS investments.
Puma Investments has a strong track record in providing asset-backed funding to established businesses across the UK. Our multi-disciplinary team is able to draw upon a nationwide network of offices to source, evaluate and execute transactions.
Our principal focus is on capital preservation and generating stable returns for our investors whilst seeking to offer robust downside protection. The business was founded on and continues to follow two guiding principles: protecting capital and minimising risk. This has always been and will continue to be our promise to our investors and business partners.
TIME provides tax efficient investment solutions and we’re proud to say we’re rather good at it – our original Inheritance Tax service boasts an impressive 19 year track record of successfully achieving Inheritance Tax savings for our investors. What stands us apart in our market is our focus on seeking consistent stable returns which we deliver through a defensive investment strategy. We pride ourselves on offering real transparency around our products, what we invest in and what the risks are. We’re dedicated to supporting the adviser market and we recognise that our services require professional advice, which is why we don’t accept direct investments. We also have a nationwide sales team on hand to assist financial advisers in identifying solutions for their clients’ financial concerns, dealing with technical queries and delivering one-to-one support.
We are an established private partnership founded in 2004. As an expert investment company, we build innovative products for investors and offer attractive financing solutions to a range of businesses and organisations in both the public and private sector.