Royal London launches inheritance planning framework ahead of 2027 reforms
The framework aims to help advisers identify clients who could be affected by the reforms and take a more structured approach to family wealth and estate planning.
Royal London has launched an estate and inheritance planning framework to help adviser firms prepare for changes to inheritance tax (IHT) and personal representative responsibilities coming into force from April 2027.
The framework aims to help advisers identify clients who could be affected by the reforms and take a more structured approach to family wealth and estate planning.
The launch comes ahead of changes that will bring most unused pension funds and pension death benefits within the scope of IHT from April 2027.
Royal London said the framework formed part of a wider suite of adviser support, including implementation resources and practical tools aimed at helping firms prepare for the reforms and incorporate estate planning processes into their advice propositions.
The framework is intended to provide a foundation that adviser firms can adapt to their individual business models and client propositions.
It also links with Royal London’s Personalised Client Review Service (PCRS), which can help firms identify pension and ISA clients whose circumstances may warrant a review ahead of the changes.
The framework has also been designed to complement the provider’s Client Review Process (CRP), with Royal London noting that estate planning can form an extension of retirement advice.
Ken Scott, lead proposition actuary at Royal London, said: “The changes coming in April 2027 represent the most significant shift in pensions and estate planning since Pension Freedoms were introduced.
“While inheritance tax remains a consideration for a minority of estates overall, the proportion of an adviser’s clients impacted is likely to be much more significant because many have built up substantial pension wealth alongside other assets subject to IHT.
“Since Pension Freedoms were introduced in 2015, pensions have played an important role in passing wealth between generations. These reforms are prompting advisers to rethink how their clients’ pension fits into their wider plans for passing wealth to future generations.”
He added: “For advisers, this means identifying clients who may be affected, reviewing beneficiary nominations, retirement income strategies and existing estate planning arrangements, and helping families understand the practical implications of these changes.
“It’s also likely many advisers will assume a more active role in record-keeping and the subsequent estate calculation upon the death of a client.
“Advice will always be personal to the individual client, but the processes that sit behind that advice need to be structured and repeatable.
“The framework provides firms with a practical example of how they can build those processes, adapting them to suit their own business and client proposition.”
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