Philip Nelson

Summer seems a long time ago now as we slide slowly into autumn. Autumn brings with it a change in season, cooler mornings and shorter days. On the 30 October it also brings the Autumn Statement when the chancellor sets out plans for the country’s...

Driving from Wass to Coxwold the other day, I noticed the ‘Welcome to Hambleton’ sign had disappeared. Not, as in the past, because someone had missed the bend but rather as a sign that the new North Yorkshire Council was slowly removing the...

When estate planning is considered, the focus is usually on what reliefs are available from inheritance tax and a sometimes overlooked exemption is that of gifts to charity. There are two aspects to this. Firstly a gift to charity is exempt from inheritance...

I was discussing with colleagues the various probate and will myths we have come across over the years. The one that occurred to us and is most asked about is 'The Reading of the Will' when someone dies. Films always portray the...

Inheritance tax is often thought of as a tax that only applies on death. Its scope, however, is wider than that. Its predecessor was called capital transfer tax, which is closer to the mark. Whilst it is mainly payable on death, it is also relevant in...

‘Tax shouldn’t be taxing’ was the rather optimistic HMRC advert some years ago. Unfortunately, that is not the case and the Treasury has a habit of tinkering and adding to tax legislation which creates an ever more impenetrable concepts. ...

Dealing with someone’s estate following a death can feel like a real challenge, fortunately most of us only have to face it once or twice and therefore it can seem like a step into the unknown. The terminology and procedures are also alien and...

It is a well-known ‘fact’ that farmers never retire; there is always far too much to do to have that luxury. Many farmers we deal with are keen to pass the farm and business on to whichever member of the family is most willing, whilst keeping...

Trusts like central heating, roads and other useful items date back to the Romans but it is to medieval times we owe our current trust law when landowners heading off to crusades made their lands subject to a trust, ensuring their wives and infant children...