IHT mitigation: What are the options?

Thanks to current inheritance tax (IHT) rules, the taxman is able to lay claim to a sizeable chunk of the value of an individual’s estate when he or she dies. Unfortunately, the current state of affairs is unlikely to change any time soon. Before the 2010 General Election, the then Shadow Chancellor George Osborne pledged that he would raise the IHT nil rate band to £1 million, effectively removing an IHT burden from a further four million Britons. Sadly the government’s austerity plans have meant the pledge has been abandoned. Recently it was announced that the government plans to ke...