11th December 2015

Canada Life Death Benefits & Legacy Planning

With the introduction of the pension freedoms back in April the rules around death benefits were changed in terms of the tax treatment and the flexibility, as to whom benefits could be left to. These changes have opened up the opportunities for IHT planning and put into doubt the relevance of the Spousal Bypass trust. The first part of this article looks at the new rules around pension death benefits from uncrystallised and crystallised funds including both drawdown and annuities.

The second part of the article will look at the benefits and drawbacks of using spousal bypass trusts and beneficiary’s drawdown, as well as other opportunities for using pension planning to mitigate IHT and will be available in next week’s Bento.

Further articles from our ican Technical Services Team are available on our dedicated website.

Protection, Pensions