Estate Planning in Devon
Devon estates are shaped by two things: a long retirement-migration trend that has pushed property values well above the national average, and a deep base of farming, fishing and tourism families whose wealth has always been illiquid. Both groups face the same question — how does an estate built in stone, soil and small business pay a tax bill that has to arrive in cash?
Devon's quiet IHT problem
South Hams and East Devon now contain some of the highest property-value-to-income ratios in the UK. Inheritance tax exposure has overtaken income tax as the largest single tax most families will ever face — and most have done no planning for it.
A four-bed in Exmouth, Sidmouth or Topsham routinely sits above £600k. In the South Hams it is rarely under £750k. Two of those, a defined-contribution pension, and a modest portfolio is an estate well into IHT territory. The Residence Nil-Rate Band tapers away above £2m and disappears at £2.35m, removing up to £140,000 of allowance from couples in those bands.
The April 2026 APR/BPR cap and April 2027 pension change between them rewrite the planning logic for almost every Devon farming family and every retired professional with a SIPP. The window to act before the rules bite is narrow — particularly because trusts, gifts and life cover written in trust all carry their own clocks.
The work is not complicated. It is, however, time-bound.
Why Devon estates are different
Devon has absorbed decades of retirement migration, people moving from higher-earning careers elsewhere in the country into a property market where their existing home now buys considerably more. That has pushed the average Devon estate value up sharply, often without the family fully registering that it has crossed into Inheritance Tax territory. At the same time, Devon's farming, fishing and tourism families hold wealth in a completely different form, land, boats, holiday cottages and small trading businesses that can be worth a great deal on paper but produce very little spare cash. Both groups arrive at the same wall. Inheritance Tax has to be paid, generally within six months of death, and it has to be paid in cash. A family that owns a working farm or a fishing business rarely has that cash sitting to one side. The recent changes to Agricultural and Business Property Relief from April 2026 have made this sharper still, since land and business assets that families assumed would pass free of tax may now carry a partial liability. We help Devon families work out, in advance, exactly what that cash requirement would be, and build a plan, whether that is life cover written in trust, a phased gifting strategy, or a change in how the business is structured, so the family is never forced to sell land, a boat, or a business simply to meet a tax bill.
Retirement migration estates
Many of our Devon clients moved here in the 1990s or 2000s with the equity from a London or Home Counties house. Twenty-five years on, the Devon house has gained again, the SIPP has grown, and the children — who probably live elsewhere — are looking at an inheritance materially diminished by tax. Planning here is mostly about extracting value cleanly while you're alive, not chasing complex post-death structures.
Farming and the APR cap
Devon's livestock, dairy and mixed farms are exactly the size that crosses the new £1m relief cap. We work with farming families on succession structures, lifetime gifting, life cover to fund the IHT bill, and — where appropriate — separating trading land from investment land before the 2026 deadline.
Holiday and second homes
The Furnished Holiday Letting changes from April 2025 affect a large number of Devon owners. Cottages in Salcombe, Dartmouth, Croyde and Woolacombe lose favourable tax treatment that materially affected both lifetime returns and IHT planning. The structure that worked last year may need restructuring this year.
Where we typically come in
Inheritance Tax Planning
The primary work for most Devon estates: pension sequencing, lifetime gifts, trusts and life cover, all built around the 2026 and 2027 rule changes.
Read more →Property Trusts
Protect the Devon home from care fees and from passing outright to a surviving spouse — especially important for second marriages and blended families.
Read more →Wills
Built around your actual assets and family — including beneficiaries who may live in London, abroad, or in another part of the UK.
Read more →Equity Release (used carefully)
Where appropriate, equity release can fund lifetime gifts that reduce the eventual estate. Used wrongly, it consumes the inheritance. We assess whether it's the right tool — and tell you when it isn't.
Read more →What we'd actually do for you
First call is free. We map your assets, identify the IHT exposure under both current and post-2027 rules, and rank the structural moves that move the needle. Where you need a local solicitor for conveyancing, a land agent for valuations, or specialist counsel for cross-border issues, we coordinate. The estate planning sits at the centre — that's our work.
Complete the Discovery first - then we'll book your free 30-minute consultation.
Common questions from clients in Devon
We farm in Devon — does the APR cap really change things for us?
If your qualifying agricultural and business assets together exceed £1m at death, yes — and almost every working Devon farm does. The first £1m keeps full relief; everything above is reduced to 50%, creating a real 20% IHT charge on the excess. We'll model this for your specific holding.
I retired to Devon from London — are you set up for that?
Yes. Many of our clients followed exactly that path. The planning is often a combination of using the Devon home efficiently, drawing pensions in the right order, and gifting earlier than people typically realise they can.
Do I need to come to your office to work with you?
No. We work nationally — and increasingly internationally. Most of our clients in Devon are seen by video call, with documents signed remotely or couriered when wet signatures are needed. The advice is the same. The convenience is yours.
Is Sean Kiani regulated?
Sean Kiani is a member of the Society of Will Writers and holds full Professional Indemnity Insurance. Estate planning is unregulated in the UK — which is precisely why credentials, supervision and indemnity matter.
What does a first conversation cost?
Nothing. A first call is free, confidential, and exists for one purpose: to find out whether your current arrangements still do what you think they do. If they do, we'll tell you. If they don't, you'll know exactly what's exposed and what to do about it.
The issues we most commonly help Devon families solve
Other UK areas we serve
Your 30 minutes. Simple. Yours.
No-obligation.
The path is simple: complete the Discovery first so we walk into the call already knowing the facts. Then in 30 focused minutes, I listen, answer your questions, and you choose if you'd like us to draw up your Inheritance Plan.
1. Start Your Discovery
Required first step. Complete the confidential financial position review so your no-obligation 30-minute consultation starts with the facts, not the basics.
2. Request a Callback
Prefer to speak first? Leave your details and we'll call you back to talk through the Discovery before you complete it.
You choose the date, time, and format - phone or online. Bring anyone you'd like.