Wills and lasting powers of attorney for Essex families

IHT is charged at 40% on the value of your estate above your available allowances. Each person has a £325,000 nil-rate band, frozen until April 2030, plus a residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 when a main home passes to direct descendants (this tapers away for estates over £2,000,000). A married couple or civil partners can typically combine these to pass on up to £1,000,000. A specialist can calculate your specific position — the figure is always plan-dependent, never fixed.

Until now, most unused pension funds have usually sat outside your estate for IHT. From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits are expected to be included in the value of your estate. For many Essex families with a property and a pension, this could be the single biggest reason to review their plan now rather than later, because it may pull an estate into the 40% band that previously sat below it.

Your estate is distributed under the intestacy rules, which follow a fixed legal order — not your wishes. An unmarried partner may inherit nothing, regardless of how long you were together, and the outcome for blended families is often not what people expect. A will lets you decide who inherits, appoint guardians for children, and make the whole process far simpler for those you leave behind.

A will only takes effect after death. A Lasting Power of Attorney protects you while you're alive but unable to manage your own affairs — through illness, an accident or age. There are two types: property & financial affairs, and health & welfare. Both are registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. Without one, your family may have to apply to the Court of Protection, which is slower, costlier and stressful at an already difficult time.

It can, when done correctly. You can give away £3,000 each tax year under the annual exemption, and larger gifts are usually free of IHT if you survive seven years (the potentially exempt transfer rule), with taper relief reducing the tax between years three and seven. Any benefit is plan-dependent — gifting needs to fit your wider plan and your own financial security, so a specialist will look at it in the round rather than in isolation.

Many people don't — and a good specialist will tell you so. But trusts can be genuinely valuable in the right circumstances: protecting assets from a beneficiary's divorce or creditors, providing for a vulnerable or young beneficiary, or controlling when an inheritance is received. Some trusts have their own tax treatment, such as the relevant property regime, so they should only be used where the benefit clearly outweighs the cost and complexity.

This site connects you with regulated, vetted specialists; we don't provide regulated advice ourselves. The professional you're matched with handles your will, LPAs and planning, gives you a fixed-fee quote upfront, and is accountable for the advice. You're free to walk away after the initial review with no obligation.

Estate planning law is the same across England and Wales, but local property values matter a great deal to your IHT position, and many people prefer a specialist who understands their area. We match you with someone suited to your circumstances in Essex, with the option of meeting locally or reviewing things remotely, whichever suits you.