The Budget, inheritance tax – and death

November will bring the budget, and there will follow frantic activity among economists, commentators and financial advisors. Martin Lewis will undoubtedly have a budget special on Radio 5 and an extended podcast. Inheritance tax is expected to feature prominently.

Dealing with probate and inheritance tax is a complicated business. It can also be an emotional and fraught one. People prefer to pass things on to family rather than the government, which is entirely understandable. Being able to provide for your family not only in the day-to-day, but for the long term after your death is a good thing: “Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun” (Ecc.7v11). As the preacher in Ecclesiastes says, money is a shelter. However, he adds that wisdom is greater because it preserves those who have it (Ecc.7v12), which is quite surprising considering how significant inheritance was in ancient Israel.

As we sat in a now neglected garden a few weeks after her grandmother’s death, my daughter said: “It’s really true, isn’t it – you can’t take anything with you when you die”. A truth that she had known but now felt: “Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They can take nothing from their toil…” (Ecc.5v15). We all know it, but somehow don’t grasp it.