How We Calculate Your Estimate

For married couples, we use the full combined nil-rate band (£650,000) and residence nil-rate band (£350,000). For widowed users, we assume your late spouse's full unused allowances transfer to you.

The transferable nil-rate band is based on the percentage that was unused at your spouse's death — not a fixed amount. If your late spouse left assets to anyone other than you, the transferred percentage may be less than 100%, and your actual allowance may be lower than shown.

The exact percentage of unused nil-rate band available to you, using the original estate paperwork or grant of probate. This is typically one of the first things checked in a professional IHT review.

We apply Business Property Relief at 100% to the value you enter, within the per-individual £2.5 million allowance that applies from April 2026.

Not all business assets qualify at 100%. AIM-listed shares qualify at 50% only from April 2026. Investment holding companies and certain property businesses may not qualify at all. If your interests include a mix, the actual relief could be lower than shown.

Which assets qualify, at what rate, whether the two-year ownership condition is met, and how the allowance interacts with Agricultural Property Relief.

We model your gifts as a single combined value in one taper band. If you have previously made gifts into a trust where tax was paid at the time, we do not credit that tax in the estimate.

The calculator automatically applies the £3,000 annual gift exemption to reduce the chargeable value of your gifts. This may cause small differences if you compare against tools or simplified examples that do not apply the exemption.

HMRC processes each gift individually, in chronological order. Earlier gifts use the nil-rate band first, which affects the tax on later gifts. The taper relief rate also differs depending on when each gift was made. For complex gifting histories, the actual tax could differ from the figure shown.

The precise liability for each gift by mapping every chargeable transfer chronologically, applying the correct taper band to each, and crediting any lifetime tax already paid.

We calculate the residence nil-rate band based on the current value of your main home, subject to the £2 million taper.

If you have downsized from a more valuable property or sold your home since July 2015, a "downsizing addition" may be available that preserves some or all of the allowance that would have applied to the original property. This could reduce your liability below the figure we show.

Whether the downsizing provisions apply to your property history and, if so, the value of any additional allowance available.

We calculate your liability at the standard 40% rate. If you indicate an interest in charitable giving, we show the potential saving from leaving at least 10% of your taxable estate to charity, which would reduce the rate to 36%.

The 36% rate requires a specific level of charitable giving relative to your taxable estate and is not automatic. Executors may also elect to apply it on a component-by-component basis.

The exact charitable legacy required to trigger the reduced rate and whether a component election could be beneficial.

By default, we include your pension funds within your estate. The government has confirmed that from April 2027, unused pension funds will be subject to inheritance tax. We provide a toggle to exclude pensions under current rules.

The final legislation has not yet been enacted. The exact treatment may depend on your pension scheme structure, whether you have a defined benefit or defined contribution arrangement, and your individual circumstances.

How your specific pension arrangements will be treated under the enacted legislation and whether any planning opportunities exist around drawdown strategy or pension structure.

A portion of your liquid assets is held back as a cash reserve before any capital is allocated to planning strategies. The percentage is based on your profiling answers — your stated priorities, age, health, and motivation. A minimum planning reserve floor of £25,000 for individuals or £40,000 for couples is applied regardless of percentage. Where your total liquid assets fall below this floor, no capital is deployed into strategies and the results focus on non-capital approaches such as will structuring and property planning.

The reserve exists to ensure you retain accessible capital for emergencies, care costs, and day-to-day living. The floor values are approximate and do not replace a detailed cash flow analysis. Your actual reserve requirement depends on your income, expenditure, existing provisions, and personal circumstances.

The appropriate reserve for your circumstances based on a full income and expenditure analysis, existing provisions, and your personal risk tolerance. The adviser may increase or decrease the reserve from the level shown in your report.

All strategy amounts are illustrative. They represent how your deployable capital could be allocated based on your profile and estate composition. Where the minimum reserve floor has been applied, strategy amounts marked with capital figures would require adviser confirmation before implementation.

The calculator cannot assess suitability, affordability, or appropriateness for your individual circumstances. The amounts shown are starting points for a conversation with a specialist — not recommendations.

Which strategies are suitable, the appropriate amounts to commit, and how the strategies interact with each other and with your broader financial plan.