Through our lives, we spend so much time worrying about working hard, making a decent living and accumulating assets. The questions of the day are, "Will we have enough for a new house? Can we afford that new car? Can we take that trip we've always wanted to take?"
But the years pass. You've built up an estate, and achieved success. Your focus starts shifting away from taking care of yourself, to ensuring your loved ones are cared for after you're gone.
Given the increasing levels of personal wealth in Ireland over the last ten years, estate planning has become an extremely important aspect of our tax practice. Estate planning is the process by which an individual or family arranges the transfer of assets in anticipation of death. An estate plan aims to preserve the maximum amount of wealth possible for the intended beneficiaries and flexibility for the individual prior to death. One of the key aspects to a good estate plan is to minimise the taxation aspects of the transfer of assets
A good estate plan is well worth the time it takes to put it together and will typically include such considerations as:
- Is there a comprehensive will in place? – up to two-thirds of self-employed business owners do not have proper wills drawn up
- Will business retirement/agricultural relief be available and, if not, what steps have to be put in place to make it available?
- If the client still runs a business, has that business been through a succession planning project and how far advanced is that project?· Is it possible to set up asset disposals in such a way as to claim credit for Capital Gains Tax against Capital Acquisitions Tax?
- Is there a requirement for the establishment of a family trust or other trust vehicle? These vehicles can be very tax-efficient if used correctly.
- Has consideration been given to taking out a tax-free qualifying insurance policy to pay any residual inheritance tax which becomes payable on death?
- Is the creation of a Self Administered Retirement Trust appropriate or, if one is already in place, should funding be introduced to the maximum permissible levels? – SART’s are transferred free of Capital Acquisitions Tax.
The area of estate planning is further complicated by family and matrimonial disputes which are becoming more and more common.
Every estate plan is different and specifically tailored for the individual client. However, our experience of creating many such plans means that we are familiar with each component of any potential plan and how those components interact with each other.
For more information on this service please contact
Robert Browne
Tel: 046 943 7900
Mob: 087 413 3975
Email: rbrowne@ohd.ie
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