Background

Richard and Carol, now in their 50s, received unexpected news when a great uncle in Devon passed away.

Unbeknown to them, uncle Bob had been a diligent saver all his life and had consequently left a considerable legacy to Richard. Whilst obviously upset about Bob’s death, they were extremely grateful for the inheritance they were left with; it was large enough to be life-changing.

What did BlueSKY do?

During the wind-up of uncle Bob’s estate, Richard and Carol were given the opportunity to keep the funds with uncle Bob’s existing wealth managers, a national firm of discretionary asset managers.

However, having thought about the relationship they wanted with a financial adviser, Richard and Carol felt that their best interests would be better served by a well-respected local firm that they could build a strong relationship with.

We assessed the capital the couple had received and created a strategic financial plan to help them use the money to make their own aspirations a reality.

The results

On reflection, uncle Bob’s situation taught Richard and Carol a couple of valuable lessons about how they should approach their own life.

Firstly, Bob ended up paying a significant amount of unnecessary inheritance tax, which would easily have been avoided with more planning.  Secondly, and most poignantly, uncle Bob had lived a very frugal life; in reality, he had the opportunity to have done so much more.

Consequently, Richard and Carol are determined not to pay too much inheritance tax themselves and, most importantly, do the things that they want to do before they are no longer able to. With a thorough financial plan in place, they feel confident that they will be able to do so.