Inheritance tax planning asks something real of you. Your money, your control, sometimes your sense of security. This book explains what it actually involves, so you can decide whether it is right for your family.
In eleven chapters, the book opens with the question everything else depends on, then works through what your answer means for your money, your control, and the people you would be doing it for.
Advice begins once you have decided to plan. This book is about the decision itself: what it costs you, what it gives your family, and whether it is a trade you want to make.
Before any strategy, any structure, any product. Most planning skips this. This book insists on it.
Giving assets away, setting up trusts, losing flexibility: planning has real costs. This book tells you what they are, so you can weigh them properly before committing to anything.
Not everyone should do full estate planning. This book helps you work out whether you are one of them, and feel good about whichever answer you arrive at.
"Most people think inheritance tax is a cost to them. But they've died by the time it is paid, so it isn't, really."
Peter Ditchburn, author
You know you probably should do something. You're just not sure it's right for you, or whether the costs and complications are worth it. This book gives you everything you need to make that call yourself, without sitting through a sales pitch to get the information.
Peter is Managing Partner at Deep Dive Estate Planning and has spent his entire career advising private clients and trusts, moving from banking and mortgages into full bespoke financial planning. He graduated from Newcastle University in 2007 with a degree in Mathematics and Statistics.
In 2014 he became Chartered and a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society. In 2022 he was accredited by the Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA). He has been awarded VouchedFor Top Rated status every year since 2019.
His specialist areas are financial planning at retirement and beyond: pensions, investments, estate planning, and inheritance tax.
I had been trying to get my affairs in order using well known and big name companies for years, but achieved very little over a five year period. Costly and very frustrating. Since being introduced to Peter, various meetings took place and within months we had achieved and implemented a significant part of my estate planning. I highly recommend the team from Deep Dive Estate Planning.
Peter and his team guided our family through the often bewildering maze of estate planning, with an ability to explain the complexities in clear terms we could all understand. He dealt promptly, sensitively and effectively with an unexpected turn of events. The timing was unexpected, but Peter's planning had provided for that eventuality, and as a result we could focus our energy on other priorities, without the additional stress of worrying about the financial consequences.
My wife and I had the absolute pleasure of working with Peter Ditchburn at Deep Dive Estate Planning. From start to finish, Peter was charming, efficient, and incredibly knowledgeable, making what could have been a daunting process feel effortless. He took the time to understand our needs, explained everything clearly, and ensured our wishes were recorded swiftly and accurately. His ability to combine expertise with a warm, personal approach made the entire experience not only seamless but also reassuring.