Tristan Noyes points out that spousal bypass trusts are a useful tool for inheritance tax and succession planning purposes, outlines how they work, and considers whether they could become more popular in the coming years.
When I first mentioned a spousal bypass trust (SBT) to my wife, she thought I was trying to write her out of my will! Of course, this was not the case – in basic terms, an SBT simply transfers funds that would typically go to your spouse into a trust which they, and others, can benefit from.
Say I have 4x death-in-service benefits from my job and I earn £150,000 per year. If I die, my wife (or whichever beneficiary I nominate) would receive £600,000. This would immediately increase their IHT estate above the nil-rate band and increase the potential inheritance tax (IHT) exposure on their death.
Instead, I could create a discretionary trust for the benefit of
