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Scenario Modeller

Your estate, your structure, your IHT.

An interactive illustration of how the inheritance tax calculation differs across the three Will form structures: straight gift, life interest, and spouse-then-discretionary; under inputs you provide. Computed in your browser. Defaulted to the April 2027 regime. Nothing leaves your device unless you ask to email yourself a copy.

What this is, and what it isn't

This is a calculator. It applies the current UK IHT rules to the inputs you provide and shows how the resulting numbers differ across the three Will form structures. It also identifies which patterns of input commonly appear alongside each structure.

This is not legal advice. Whether a particular Will form fits your circumstances depends on factors a solicitor would explore with you in conversation. Your family dynamics, future intentions, asset-protection priorities, tax-residence questions, the wording of any existing trusts, anti-avoidance interactions, and more. The modeller cannot assess any of these. Cascade Legal Ltd (trading as Arvéla) is not an SRA-regulated firm. Advice on Will form choice, IHT planning, and structure-specific implementation comes from a regulated solicitor, through Arvéla's chosen legal service provider via the configurator or an advisory call, or via another solicitor of your choosing.

Use the modeller for orientation: to understand the size of the IHT question for your inputs, the categories of planning that exist, and the patterns commonly associated with each Will form. Do not use it as a substitute for personalised advice.

Scenario reference: SM-XXXX-XX-XXXX

Your planning priorities

These inputs commonly appear alongside particular Will form structures. The modeller uses them to highlight which structure your inputs most closely pattern-match. The modeller does not assess whether that structure is right for your circumstances. That is a question for a regulated solicitor.

Jointly held assets held by both of you together

Main residence£450,000
How is the property held?
Joint tenants pass by survivorship to the surviving spouse. Tenants in common gives each spouse a distinct share that passes under their own Will. This enables life-interest and other planning structures.
Joint savings and bank balances£75,000
Joint investments (non-ISA)£50,000
Joint life second-death cover — pays on the second death£0
A joint life policy that pays out on the second of you to die, commonly used to fund IHT on the second death. Often pre-written in a trust so the proceeds sit outside the estate (this is what the "active planning" toggle assumes).

Person A's own assets held individually

Defined contribution pension(s) — in estate from April 2027£200,000
Defined contribution only (SIPPs, personal pensions, workplace money-purchase schemes). Final salary / defined benefit pensions promise an income, not a pot. They are not part of your estate for IHT in the same way and should not be entered here.
ISAs and individual cash savings£50,000
Sole investments£25,000
Other personal assets (vehicles, art, etc.)£15,000
Life insurance — single life, or joint first death where this person dies first£100,000
Death in Service benefit (lump sum)£50,000
Employer-provided lump sum paid on death in service. Falls into the survivor's estate unless routed through a bypass trust. A common planning lever.

Person B's own assets held individually

Defined contribution pension(s) — in estate from April 2027£150,000
Defined contribution only. Final salary / defined benefit pensions should not be entered here; see Person A's pension helper note above for the reason.
ISAs and individual cash savings£40,000
Sole investments£15,000
Other personal assets£10,000
Life insurance — single life, or joint first death where this person dies first£100,000
Death in Service benefit (lump sum)£50,000

Lifetime gifts, business assets, and other exposures

Lifetime gifts in the last 7 years£0
Gifts in the 7-year window use up the nil-rate band before other assets, in chronological order.
Business / agricultural assets (potentially BPR/APR-qualifying)£0
Trading business and agricultural assets may qualify for 100% Business Property Relief or Agricultural Property Relief. Investment companies and property-holding companies generally do not. Note: the relief is applied in the "with planning" view.

IHT under each Will form

The "without planning" row shows the IHT the calculation produces for your inputs under each structure today. The "with active planning" row shows what the calculation produces when common planning levers are applied: bypass trusts for life cover and Death in Service, a partial pension drawdown-and-gift assumption, and BPR relief on qualifying business assets. Whether any of these levers is right for you, and how to implement them in practice, is a matter for advice from a regulated solicitor. The detail of each lever sits behind a paid Companion subscription or in advisory engagement.

A reminder on what the numbers above are. They are the output of a calculation against the inputs you provided, applying the current UK IHT regime as defaulted to the April 2027 pension treatment. They show how the calculation differs across the three Will form structures. They have not assessed whether any structure is right for you. That assessment is legal advice, which Cascade Legal Ltd (trading as Arvéla) does not provide. Advice on Will form choice and IHT planning comes through a regulated solicitor; see the configurator path (where Arvéla's chosen legal service provider issues the engagement letter) or book an advisory call to discuss your circumstances with a solicitor directly.

Your situation

    Self-serve
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    Arvéla · Scenario Modeller

    The numbers shown are computational outputs based on the inputs you have provided and the current allowance regime (NRB £325,000, RNRB £175,000, taper threshold £2,000,000, April 2027 pension change as default). They illustrate how the IHT calculation differs across the three Will form structures. They are not a recommendation, are not tailored advice, do not account for the full nuances of your circumstances, do not consider anti-avoidance interactions, and do not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Cascade Legal Ltd (trading as Arvéla) is not an SRA-regulated firm. Advice on Will form choice, IHT planning, and structure-specific implementation comes from a regulated solicitor; see Your Legal Services for the firms Arvéla works with.

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