Three things your clients may call you about this week …

How banks are cashing in on the inheritance tax boom Banks are "pickpocketing" bereaved families caught between "byzantine" inheritance tax (IHT) and probate rules, according to this Telegraph article. This is because they are increasingly being forced to take out expensive loans to gain access to their inheritance - or fund death duty bills themselves. The piece says the problem is not new but increasing house prices are dragging more estates into the IHT zone - the taxman received a record-breaking £5.2bn in IHT receipts in 2017/18, some £400m up on the previous year - and the govern...