Inheritance Tax - Financial adviser or solicitor?

[VirginiaPlane]

DH and are are borderline on the IHT threshold. He manages our investments (it's his hobby ) and we have wills in place.
So we don't want investment advice just someone to clarify the IHT position. There are some complications in that the deceased share of the property goes directly to the DC.
It's also not unlikely that one of us will die within 7 years.
So which professional do we need to see?

I would say both - IFA for advice on how to manage things and a solicitor to draw up any legal paperwork required.

To just clarify the IHT position I'd say see a tax advisor. They can then recommend if you need to further see an IFA or solicitor.

Thanks. A tax advisor sounds like a good idea.
Obviously IHT rules are subject to change but we want to plan as well as possible. We live in an area of low property values but have other capital which DH invests so don't want investment advice.

You need a tax advisor that specialises in IHT

Chartered tax advisor in a mid tier accountancy firm should do it.

A good solicitor should be able to minimise inheritance tax through sensible estate planning but as you have wills in place already you probably are looking at a tax adviser as others have said. If you do need to make legal changes you ideally need a STEP solicitor.

Depends on how complex it is. An IFA will be ok for simple inheritance tax planning. However, if any complications you need to go to a specialist. I recently saw a presentation from one company (who I'm not a customer of) who illustrated some extreme complexities with IHT and explained that's why they have specialist departments with advisors that only deal with that specific field. Same with trusts. All made sense to me that one person cannot be a master of all specialists.

So I would say, if you are a couple with a house likely to exceed £1m then you need a specialist in inheritance tax

Agree with a pp - you need a tax adviser in an accountancy practice.

A solicitor who is also a tax adviser. You can get both in one place easily.

Some (Chartered) IFA’s will deal with IHT issues with every client and are extremely knowledgable on the subject - degree level exams are taken on the topic, annual CPD is undertaken.

I’m not sure many assume an accountant is better placed to answer personal finance questions when another profession actually operates in this specific space.

However, in complex cases, with large estates CGT is often an issue. An accountant would be involved. A solicitor would also be involved to ensure a suitably drafted Will was in place. Trusts can be implemented via IFA’s or solicitors. IFA’s will have access to the investments needed to operate the Trusts.

For many of the estate planning techniques ONLY an IFA can implement them. Unlike years gone by accountants and solicitors cannot operate in what is a highly regulated area.

With many areas of complex planning all three professions are involved.

There is a lot of overlap between financial adviser, solicitor and accountant in estate / inheritance tax planning. I would personally start with an IFA / financial planner - even if you don’t want investment advice they will be able to look at what types of investment your husband has made and the tax treatment of them on death.