Should my mum pay £6k for IHT (non) advice?

VT82

My mum has substantial assets of over £2.5m, split into roughly 50% own home, 35% business assets (shop and BTL Ltd co properties) and 15% savings/ISAs. She is married to my dad and has 3 children and 5 grandchildren. She is 70 and in good health but is very keen to plan to mitigate against IHT.

She has had an initial meeting with 'Strategic Asset Protection', who seem very slick with their TikTok videos and so on, and has forwarded their bumf onto me. They want to do a 'tax report' first (at a cost), and then decide what IHT mitigations to implement (e.g. trusts, deeds of assignment, strategic mirror wills, probate preservation plus), all at further costs.

My initial queries are:

• How do I know if the company is reputable?

• Is £5,940 inc VAT a reasonable sum just for the tax report? There would likely be this much again on top to implement the recommendations.

• Should it bother me that in their letter of engagement they state 'Our role in non-advisory in nature. We will not give tax advice, legal advice and/or investment advice.'?

Thanks in advance for any insight you helpful people can provide.

On-the-coast

I know nothing about this subject or how reputable that company is - except that I hope the initial outreach wasn’t via social media

Keep_pedalling

With such a high level of assets she certainly be taking professional advice which will cost, but it should be with an independent financial advisor not an unregulated company with slick tictok adds.

What additional assets does your father have?

mebu60

What @Keep_pedalling says. IFA. 

VT82

My dad has his old house that he rents out and modest savings. My mum's assets are mostly the result of her own inheritance, so she considers them to be something she is using to maintain a reasonable lifestyle and then pass on to her kids rather than pooled with her husband (especially as not all of her kids were with my dad).

If I recall correctly, she was at a fair of some sort, and this financial advisor company had a stall. IHT was already on her mind so she spoke to them. Pretty sure the approach wasn't through social media - definitely not entirely unsolicited.

probate_slave

This company, in particular its magical proposal to put property into trust without ever incurring IHT or CGT charges nor losing private residence relief, is currently being scrutinised on the Trusts Discussion Forum. The solicitors are not impressed.

https://trustsdiscussionforum.co.uk/t/lifetime-trusts-of-residential-property-having-your-cake-and-eating-it/27517

Keep_pedalling

VT82 said:

My dad has his old house that he rents out and modest savings. My mum's assets are mostly the result of her own inheritance, so she considers them to be something she is using to maintain a reasonable lifestyle and then pass on to her kids rather than pooled with her husband (especially as not all of her kids were with my dad).

If I recall correctly, she was at a fair of some sort, and this financial advisor company had a stall. IHT was already on her mind so she spoke to them. Pretty sure the approach wasn't through social media - definitely not entirely unsolicited.

She can’t really look at IHT planning alone, it needs to be something they do together. Things like spousal exemption and the transferable NRB mean for tax purposes their estates are interlinked. 

Edit - Please ignore the above if they are divorced or were never married.

The company she is looking to work with do not appear to be regulated and she risks being sold unsuitable trusts. Your parents should seek advice from a regulated and preferably independent FA. IHT planning when the bulk of your estate is in illiquid assets is not an easy task. 

badmemory

Well all I know about financial advice is what I have learnt on here over the years & one important thing I have learnt is financial advisier is a no, INDEPENDENT financial advisor is a yes.

poseidon1

Agree with everyone here , Strategic Asset Protection' should be kicked into touch in short order, together with any other firm who consider Tik Tok a suitable medium to ply these types of 'services'.

However, given your mother's  assets include commercial property and BTL property held within a company wrapper, I would be more inclined to point her in the direction of a mid tier Chartered Accountancy firm with STEP qualified practitioners for detailed tax planning advice. 

I would be surprised if she does not already have an accountant, but may need more advanced proactive advice from a specialist, than she is getting at present.

Your mother's estate planning may or may not  warrant creation of a life time trust, but in my view a  STEP qualified Accountant coupled with a similarly qualified Solicitor ( to handle Wills and any lifetime trust provision), are more likely to be able to put together bespoke and robust tax mitigation strategies for her particular asset base, than an IFA limited to offering package schemes. Such an  accountant can of course also offer ongoing tax compliance assistance and guidance , as circumstances change.

VT82

probate_slave said:

This company, in particular its magical proposal to put property into trust without ever incurring IHT or CGT charges nor losing private residence relief, is currently being scrutinised on the Trusts Discussion Forum. The solicitors are not impressed.

https://trustsdiscussionforum.co.uk/t/lifetime-trusts-of-residential-property-having-your-cake-and-eating-it/27517

Wow that thread is quite damning. I'll make sure she doesn't hand over any money to them.

poseidon1 said:

Your mother's estate planning may or may not  warrant creation of a life time trust, but in my view a  STEP qualified Accountant coupled with a similarly qualified Solicitor ( to handle Wills and any lifetime trust provision), are more likely to be able to put together bespoke and robust tax mitigation strategies for her particular asset base, than an IFA limited to offering package schemes. 

Thank you that is really helpful. She has an accountant but they don't seem to be the best. I remember being told to look at 'unbiased' many years ago when someone suggested an IFA - do you know a good place to look for what you propose? Would it be the same but searching for a STEP qualified chartered accountant rather than an IFA?

Keep_pedalling

I just watched that TikTok presentation. A trust with a clause that comes into effect 2 days before you die! Where do I sign and can I have some magic beans with that please👿