Death and taxes.
As the American statesman Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1789: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” It would be nice to imagine that, once we are dead, our tax obligations die with us. Unfortunately, this is not the case, not initially anyway…
Here at Lewis & Co we can make life a little easier for your loves ones when you do pass away by supporting you to put your tax affairs in order and reducing your tax liability – primarily Inheritance Tax – as much as possible.
Estate planning provides a means of helping to protect your wealth after you are gone, ensuring it goes to those you intend it to. We will work to remove the burden of the laborious amounts of paperwork, working in conjunction with your solicitors as they prepare everything which is needed to achieve Probate.
While your solicitors will typically be dealing with Probate, they will often liaise with us as your accountants, as we will have an in-depth knowledge of your financial affairs and access to all the relevant financial information. Probate is a fairly financial process, which will include calculating tax liabilities and preparing accounts and we are often called upon to support solicitors with this.
While this is typically true of our private clients, we do also remain involved for a while after a business client has passed away, as we will have built up a lots of knowledge about your company and will typically have already been talking to you about any succession plans.
As we spend a long time getting to know our clients and, very often, their families too, our priority at this difficult time is to take away some of the strain and upset from clients and their families.
To find out how Lewis & Co can help with planning your tax affairs, please call our team on: 01892 513515 or email: info@lewisandco.biz