Your will decides who inherits. Planning decides how much they receive.
Writing a will often brings questions to the surface that sit outside it: inheritance tax, pensions, income, gifts to family. We work alongside your solicitor to answer them, so the wishes in your will are matched by a plan that delivers them.
What will the inheritance tax bill be, and how will it be paid?
Pensions pass by nomination, not by the will.
Is the life cover written in trust?
What a will does, and what it leaves open
A well-drafted will is the foundation of any estate plan. But some of the most valuable decisions about your estate are made elsewhere, and some only work if they're made during your lifetime.
- Sets out who inherits, and in what shares
- Appoints executors and guardians
- Can create trusts to protect beneficiaries
- Makes sure allowances can pass efficiently between spouses
- Pensions, which pass by nomination to the scheme
- Life cover, unless written in trust
- How large the inheritance tax bill will be, and where the money comes from to pay it
- Gifts and planning you can only make while you're alive
- Whether you can afford to give, without compromising your own security
Three changes worth planning around
An estate plan that worked a few years ago may no longer do what you expect.
Full relief now applies to the first £2.5 million of qualifying business and agricultural property, with 50% relief above that. Unused allowance can pass to a surviving spouse or civil partner.
Most unused pension funds and death benefits will count towards the estate for inheritance tax. For many families, this is the single biggest change to their position.
The £325,000 nil rate band and £175,000 residence nil rate band stay fixed while values rise. The residence band tapers away on estates above £2 million.
Which of these apply to you?
Tick any that sound familiar. Each one is a common reason a will prompts a wider financial review.
How we work together
Your solicitor remains responsible for your will and legal documents. Our role is the financial side: understanding the numbers, then putting in place the planning your will relies on. It begins with the same four conversations we have with every client.
Where you are now, what you want your estate to achieve, and any gaps the will has raised.
Your finances and estate modelled forward, including your likely inheritance tax position.
Our written recommendations, shared with your solicitor and accountant if you'd like.
Putting the plan in place, then reviewing it as your life and the rules change.
Useful to have to hand
Nothing needs preparing formally, and rough figures are fine for a first meeting.
- Recent pension statements, including any SIPP or SSAS
- Investments, ISAs and cash, with approximate values
- Property values and any outstanding mortgages
- Details of your shareholding and recent company accounts
- Life cover and other protection, and whether it's in trust
- Any significant gifts made in the last seven years
- Your draft or current will, and any Lasting Powers of Attorney
- A rough idea of household income and spending
Chartered Financial Planner
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390 Walton Road, West Molesey, KT8 2JG
Information on this page is based on our understanding of current legislation and HMRC practice as at October 2026. Levels, bases of and reliefs from taxation may change, and their value depends on individual circumstances. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate taxation or trust advice, or will writing. The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.
Elmstone Financial Planning is a St. James's Place Partner Practice. The Partner Practice is an Appointed Representative of and represents only St. James's Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority).