Built by someone who does this for a living
CheckMyIHT was created by Dean Gillam, a practising financial planner. It was built in the evenings and weekends around a simple frustration: the people most exposed to inheritance tax are usually the last to find out what they could have done about it.
Every part of the platform, from the calculation engine to the Planning Guide, was designed and built by someone who works with these actions and these clients every day. This is not a marketing exercise dressed up as a tool. It is a serious planning experience that respects both the complexity of the subject and the intelligence of the user.
Why it exists
Inheritance tax sits at the meeting point of three difficult things. It is emotionally charged, it is genuinely complex, and left unplanned it quietly destroys capital that took a lifetime of work to build. Most people respond by not looking at it, accepting tax on death as something that simply happens to them.
CheckMyIHT exists to replace that resignation with clarity. It shows you your position, explains it in plain English, and sets out the recognised actions that apply to your circumstances, so that whatever you decide to do, you decide it well informed.
The scale of the problem is growing. The Treasury is on track to collect almost £9 billion in inheritance tax this year, a record for the fifth consecutive year, and government forecasts show receipts reaching £15 billion by 2030. The nil-rate band has been frozen at £325,000 since 2009. From April 2027, under the Finance Act 2026, pensions will be included in the taxable estate for the first time. The change could pull an estimated 50,000 additional families into scope.
Yet the vast majority of affected families have never spoken to a specialist. The barriers are well documented:
CheckMyIHT addresses all four in a single journey.
What it is, and what it isn't
CheckMyIHT is a structured inheritance tax assessment and planning tool. It is educational. It does not give regulated financial advice, it sells no products, and it earns nothing from any action you take.
It profiles your planning preferences, matches you to the actions most relevant to your position from a library of eighteen, and sizes each one proportionally to your estate with illustrative savings. Then it generates your personalised Plan: a multi-page document you can take away, discuss with your family, or hand to an adviser.
Calculate. Your estate, your allowances, your estimated liability, in minutes.
Profile. Your planning preferences and the actions matched to your position.
Plan. Your personalised Plan, delivered to your inbox, with a hand-picked specialist available when you are ready.
What makes it different
Kept honest
Every assumption behind the numbers is published openly. Announced but unconfirmed rule changes are always described as exactly that. Your figures are calculated on your own device, and anything you choose to share with us is automatically deleted after 90 days. CheckMyIHT is registered with the ICO.
The Planning Guide
Beyond your personalised Plan, CheckMyIHT publishes a comprehensive Planning Guide: a detailed reference covering every major IHT action, with worked examples, edge cases, and practical considerations. The Guide is designed to give you genuine understanding, not just awareness. It is the depth behind every action card in your Plan.
What happens next
If after using the calculator you decide you want to explore your options with a qualified professional, we can connect you with an IHT specialist. Every specialist on the platform is hand-picked by us, assessed against strict criteria, and known to us personally. They receive your full Plan before the first conversation, so you are not starting from scratch.
There is no obligation, no fee from us, and no pressure. It is simply an option if you want it.
Get in touch
If you have a question, a concern, or feedback you would like to share, you can reach us at contact@checkmyiht.com. We read every message.