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The Life of Brian Riley, Epilogue

Brian's Life is finally over. He has died suddenly, age 76, a frail man finally exhausted from looking after Judith, who has been ill from various complaints over the last few years. He died shortly after receiving the news that his beloved Judith, 73, had terminal cancer. Before he died he confided to his son Andrew that the care she needed, practically 24 hours a day, was wearing him out, and he worried about what would happen to her should he die.

Andrew is married to Laura, 36 and they have three children, Arthur 15, Brian 9 and Ellen 2. His brother Stephen lives with his wife Catherine and they have a son James aged 7. Their sister Phylis moved to Australia and is married to Bruce. They have four children aged 14, 12, 9 and 2. Andrew has kept in contact with his brother and sister, but the family apparently distrust Bruce.

Brian's death has caused some consternation because he was just about to change his will to ensure that the money went directly to the grandchildren.

His gross estate has been valued at £1.8 million made up of investments and a surprise find of two valuable paintings found in the attic. Judith's estate is worth £100,000; they took professional advice about estate planning but failed to do anything about it. The will currently leaves everything to Judith.

1. What do you think of the huge imbalance in Brian's and Judith's estates - purely from the planning point of view?

2. Is the IHT position on Brian's death complicated?

3. What post death planning could be done to mitigate the tax position now and on Judith's death?

4. What arrangements could be made to ensure that Brian's estate is passed on to the grandchildren, as he had wished?

Review of previous planning

REMEMBER You should not use any information contained on this page as the basis of any action until you have discussed matters with your financial adviser.