Family Wealth & Legacy
Gifting to children
& grandchildren.
With confidence.
Help the people you love, at a time when it matters—while keeping your own future in view.
From a first home to school fees or a longer-term legacy, I help you explore what you can afford to give, when to give it and how it fits your wider financial plan.
Discuss your family’s plans →Explore your options ↓More than a tax decision
A meaningful gift.
A considered plan.
You may want to see your children benefit during your lifetime. Or support grandchildren while keeping the wider family position fair and understandable.
The starting point is your own financial resilience. Through cashflow modelling, I can explore a gift alongside future spending, inflation, investment uncertainty and the possibility of living longer than expected.
Explore cashflow modelling →“The starting point is understanding what you can comfortably afford to give. The tax planning follows from that.”
My approach to family giftingRussell Hammond · Chartered Financial Planner & Chartered Investment Adviser
What would you like to make possible?
Support that fits their next chapter.
A first home
or a fresh start.
Explore a house-deposit contribution or support at a major life event. Consider the amount, timing and whether a gift or a properly documented loan better reflects your intentions.
Education
and opportunity.
Plan contributions towards school fees, university or training. Match your support to the expected commitment and consider what happens if your circumstances change.
A longer-term
family legacy.
Think beyond a single payment: who should benefit, when they should receive help, and how this sits alongside existing gifts and the intentions in your Will.
Choosing how to help
Different routes.
Different trade-offs.
An outright gift
A direct transfer can suit a clear, immediate purpose. You need to be comfortable giving up ownership and access to the money.
Discuss how the gift should be recorded, the recipient’s circumstances and whether legal advice is needed, particularly for a property purchase.
Regular family support
A series of contributions can spread the commitment and help with ongoing costs. Plan for affordability rather than assuming today’s surplus will always continue.
Where gifts are intended to qualify for the normal-expenditure-out-of-income exemption, the conditions and supporting records matter.
A trust or family structure
A trust may be worth exploring where the intended use of money, the beneficiaries’ ages or the timing of distributions calls for a more structured approach.
Trusts involve legal responsibilities, administration and their own tax rules. A Family Investment Company is another specialist option in some circumstances, rather than a default solution.
Explore trust and estate planning →Reviewing assets you already hold
Your gifting plan should start with the assets available to you. Cash, investments and existing offshore bonds can raise different questions about access, ownership and tax.
If you hold an offshore bond, I can assess whether assigning suitable policy segments deserves consideration within the wider plan, with specialist advice where required.
Read about gifting offshore bond segments →UK tax considerations
Know the rules.
Avoid the assumptions.
£3,000 is an exemption—not a limit.
The annual IHT exemption is £3,000 per donor in total, not per child. Unused exemption can carry forward one tax year. Larger gifts are possible; their treatment depends on the circumstances. HMRC: gifts and exemptions.
The seven-year rule needs context.
Non-exempt outright gifts to individuals are generally potentially exempt transfers. Surviving seven years normally removes them from IHT, provided no benefit is retained. Earlier gifts and exemptions matter if death occurs sooner. HMRC: working out tax on gifts.
Taper relief reduces tax due on a gift where applicable; it does not gradually reduce the gift’s value. HMRC: taper relief.
Gifts from income have conditions.
The normal-expenditure-out-of-income exemption requires gifts to form part of normal expenditure, come from income and leave sufficient income to maintain your usual standard of living. There is no fixed monetary ceiling. Keep evidence of income, spending and gifts. HMRC: the exemption’s conditions.
Other taxes and structures matter.
Gifting investments or property can raise Capital Gains Tax issues; selling assets to fund a cash gift can also create a tax liability. HMRC: Capital Gains Tax.
Some trusts can face entry, ten-year and exit IHT charges. An ordinary outright gift and a transfer into trust should not be treated as interchangeable. HMRC: trusts and IHT.
This is a UK-focused overview. Overseas residence, assets or beneficiaries may require advice in other jurisdictions. The tax position should be checked before implementing a gift.
Putting the planning into context
Three families.
Three different starting points.
Hypothetical examples for illustration. These are not client outcomes or recommendations.
A house deposit
“Could we give
our daughter £150,000?”
A retired couple want to help now. I would model the proposed gift against their retirement spending and reserves, stress-test less favourable outcomes and discuss documentation with their solicitor.
The question is whether the gift leaves a resilient plan, rather than whether their current bank balance covers it.
School fees
“We’d like to help
two grandchildren.”
Grandparents are considering an ongoing commitment. I would explore the likely duration, rising fees, available income and capital, and the flexibility needed if their own spending increases.
Any claimed tax exemption would need to be assessed against the actual funding and records.
Fairness across the family
“One child needs help now.
The others may need it later.”
A parent wants to support children at different life stages. I would discuss the purpose of each gift, previous support and how to coordinate the plan with their Will and legal advice.
Fairness may mean a clear shared intention, rather than identical payments on the same day.
How I can help
From a generous intention
to a practical plan.
01 · Establish affordability
Understand your assets, income, spending and priorities. Explore the effect of gifting on your own future, including less favourable scenarios.
02 · Compare the routes
Consider the recipient, purpose, timing, tax and degree of control you want, coordinating with your solicitor or accountant where appropriate.
03 · Document and review
Agree how the arrangement will be implemented and recorded. Review ongoing commitments as part of an agreed service when circumstances change.
Questions families ask
Gifting, explained.
Can I give my children more than £3,000?
Yes. The annual exemption is not a cap on what you may give. Larger gifts require consideration of affordability, available exemptions and the inheritance tax rules. A gift should be assessed in the context of your wider plan.
Do I always have to survive seven years?
No. Some gifts qualify for exemptions immediately. The seven-year period generally relates to non-exempt outright gifts to individuals. Trust transfers and gifts where you retain a benefit require separate consideration.
Should I use a trust rather than give money outright?
That depends on the purpose, beneficiaries, timing and your priorities. A trust can introduce additional administration, costs and tax considerations. I can explore the financial planning alongside legal advice, without assuming a trust is needed.
Can I help with grandchildren’s school fees?
Yes, this can be explored as a planned family commitment. Consider the duration, rising costs and what you can sustain. The funding source and any intended tax exemption should be checked before payments begin.
How do I know what I can afford to give?
Cashflow modelling can help explore a proposed gift alongside future income, spending and different assumptions. It is an illustration rather than a guarantee, but provides a clearer basis for discussing the trade-offs.
Help your family.
Keep your future in view.
Whether you have a particular gift in mind or simply want to understand your options, I’d be delighted to discuss what you want to make possible.
General information only; not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change. Investments can fall as well as rise in value. Cashflow projections are illustrative and do not guarantee future outcomes. Specialist legal and overseas advice may be needed.
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