Intestacy rules may face reform The amount of money a spouse receives if their partner dies without making a will could increase, the government announced today. Intestacy rules may face reform Families falling into Labour's 'double tax trap' High property prices mean middleclass families are being saddled with huge inheritance tax bills Labours Double Tax Trap How trusts can protect wealth A financial expert explains how to use trusts to minimise tax and secure your family's future. Tax Expert Dean McCarthy Explains how Trusts Work Inheritance Tax Tactics Ask the expert: Inheritance tax tactics This week's expert is Chas Roy-Chowdhury The Ask the Expert column gives readers a chance to have their financial questions answered. This week, Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation at the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) helps a your money reader with an inheritance tax (IHT) question. Inheritance Tax tactics Sisters Loose Inheritance Tax battle Sisters lose inheritance tax case The Burden sisters will consider an appeal Two elderly sisters have lost a legal battle to win the same inheritance tax rights as married and gay couples. Judges at the European Court ruled against the women, from Wiltshire, by a majority of four to three, but with strong dissenting judgements. Joyce Burden, 88, and her sister Sybil, 80, were "bitterly disappointed", said Emma Stradling, their legal executive. The sisters have lived together since birth but if one of them dies the other will face a large inheritance tax bill. They fear the one left will have to sell their family home to pay it. Discrimination They decided to take action in the wake of the Civil Partnership Act 2004. It granted the same rights to gay and lesbian couples that married couples enjoy, but not to family members. If a husband or wife dies then the estate passes to the surviving spouse without them being forced to pay tax. The Burden sisters say this amounts to discrimination under the terms of the European Convention of Human Rights. The sisters will now consider an appeal to the Grand Chamber. The procedure for appeal allows any party to a case, within a period of three months from the date of a judgement, to apply to the Grand Chamber for permission to appeal. If that permission is granted, the Burden sisters will have a further hearing of their case. Sisters Loose Inheritance Tax Battle Living Wills ammendment defeated The living wills amendment to the Mental Capcity Bill proposed by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has been rejected by MPs. Changes to living Wills Pensions and Wills If you are unmarried your partner will not recieve any of your pension unless you have nominated them. make sure you have written your Will Inheritance tax burden could top £2.9bn The Treasury is raking in £1billion a year more in inheritance tax than when Labour came to power, it has emerged. This year, grieving relatives could be forced to pay out £2.9billion on the assets of their loved ones. The number of those affected has more than doubled since 1997. Inheritance Tax increases Mitigate Inheritance Tax By passing onto grandchildren you can skip a generation for inheritnace tax prposes Inheritance tax mitigation Bad News for Homeowners?? Inheritance tax has long been assumed to be a rich man’s problem, this is no longer the case. This is potentially bad news for the 1.4 million UK homeowners who now fall within the clutches of this tax.... Tony Gimple at MSN Money says... Protect the Value of Your House Inheritance tax (IHT) is an increasing worry in the UK. So if you want to preserve the wealth represented by your house - an asset that has probably taken you many years to pay for, with mortgage interest relief no longer available - what do you do? read more at bbc.co.uk... Provide For Your Family With a Proper Will You are run over by a bus and you haven't made a will. Where does that leave your loved ones? In a terrible mess... says Teresa Hunter of The Telegraph Why You Should Make a Will No one likes to think about their own death. But making a will ensures your family won't have to spend months trying to sort out a complicated financial and legal situation if you die. read the full article at bbc.co.uk...

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