Financial planning through bereavement - Jo

“My husband and I had used the planning services of the advisers at Chambers Smith Financial Planning since 2004 after I had attended an Inheritance Tax seminar that they had run in conjunction with a top 100 law firm.

Chambers Smith have always been thorough and helpful, assisting with our personal finances and those of our children as well as implementing planning to lessen both our Income Tax and our IHT liabilities. When my husband passed away in 2018, they proved themselves invaluable at an incredibly difficult time.

They have taken care of every aspect of my finances, even assisting with my tax arrangements. They have advised on and set up new investments for me that match my new individual requirements, and they have supported me every step of the way.

They have greatly assisted us with reducing our Inheritance Tax liability by encouraging us to make direct gifts to our children and grandchildren so that we could see them enjoy the money, as well as setting up multiple trusts that they manage on our behalf.

Chambers Smith are not just a financial adviser – they truly care, and I have nothing but gratitude for their service.”

Dan Smith, Financial Planner

“We have acted for Jo and her late husband for over 15 years, assisting them with reducing their Inheritance Tax liability, which saved them in excess of several hundreds of thousands of pounds in tax, as well as making them more than this amount in investment gains, whilst running their personal and trust investments.

We had the utmost respect for our client who very sadly died in 2018. He had worked for two of the best-known companies in the world, both in the UK and the US. He asked us some of the most astute questions we have ever been asked by any client, and this helped us to appreciate how our clients look at things. Whilst we always try to anticipate how a client might view things, there is no substitute for the client thinking about what we are saying and then speaking up and telling us. We always appreciated that.

Following Jo’s husband passing away, we simply wanted to do whatever we could to assist Jo and to help her during what was a very difficult time. We needed to liaise between the law firm dealing with the probate, the accountant and Jo, to try to make the process as smooth as possible. We also reassessed the investments to ensure that there was sufficient income and capital to meet her needs. Our aim was to allow Jo to concentrate on the matters she needed to, knowing that we were taking care of the financial aspect.”