The 2027 Pension IHT Shock | Skybound Wealth

The speculation is over. The planning window is open.

For the last decade, the pension has been one of the most inheritance-tax-efficient wrappers in the country. Funds left in the pot generally sat outside your estate and passed to family largely IHT-free. Thousands of families - entirely sensibly - built their estate planning around it.

The Finance Act 2026, which received Royal Assent in March 2026, changes that. From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits are brought into the value of the estate for Inheritance Tax at 40% above your allowances. Trustee discretion will no longer be enough to keep most of them outside the IHT calculation.

And for families where the member dies after 75 there can be a second layer: beneficiaries already pay income tax on withdrawals from an inherited pension. From April 2027 the two taxes can stack - in a worked example where allowances are used elsewhere and the beneficiary pays 45% income tax, a £1m pension could leave the family with £330,000 instead of £550,000. An effective combined rate of 67% in that scenario.

This webinar is built to answer one personal question: what do these changes mean for your pension, your estate and your family - and what is worth doing before April 2027?

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Walk away knowing what to review next.

What actually changes on 6 April 2027. The new rules in plain English - what counts as ‘unused’ pension, which allowances still apply, and why the residence nil-rate band taper matters for estates near £2m.
The double-tax problem. The worked example the headlines haven’t shown: how IHT and income tax stack on the same pot after age 75, and what the real effective rate looks like.
What stays protected. Spousal exemption, charity, death-in-service benefits and the nil-rate bands - what isn’t caught, and where the reassurance is genuine.
The six planning levers. From spousal sequencing and lifetime gifting to beneficiary drawdown and life cover in trust - the conversations advisers are having with families right now.
Whether your retirement spending order needs to flip. Why ‘spend ISAs first, preserve the pension’ may no longer be the right sequence - and how to think about whole-of-wealth modelling.
Who should review their position first, and why timing matters. Three situations where this belongs at the top of the review agenda - and why some levers reward starting in 2026, not 2027.

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UK families with pension wealth and decisions to make.

This webinar is for you if...

You hold a SIPP, drawdown pension, consolidated workplace pension or transferred final-salary benefits.
You are over 75, or you are planning for a parent, spouse or family member with significant pension wealth.
You have preserved your pension as part of your estate strategy because it was considered IHT-efficient.
You have children or grandchildren you want to pass wealth to as efficiently as possible.
Your estate is near or above £2 million, where pension wealth could increase IHT exposure and affect the residence nil-rate band.
You are unsure whether your current wills, nominations or estate plan still work after April 2027.

If two or more of these apply to you or your family, this is a planning conversation worth having now - not in the weeks before the rules take effect.

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Two specialists. One hour.

Craig Stokes brings the financial-planning lens - how families should sequence decisions across pensions, estates and retirement income. Shil Shah brings the tax mechanics - what the Finance Act 2026 actually says and how the numbers work. Together they turn a complex rule change into a practical plan.

Craig Stokes

Managing Director UK & Private Wealth Adviser.

Craig leads Skybound Wealth’s UK business and advises families on retirement, estate and whole-of-wealth planning - helping clients structure what they have built so it passes on the way they intend.

Shil Shah

Group Head of Tax.

Shil leads tax across the Skybound Wealth group, specialising in the interaction of pensions, estates and personal taxation for UK-connected families. He works with advisers and clients on the modelling that turns rule changes into decisions.

Craig Stokes

Managing Director UK & Private Wealth Adviser.

Shil Shah

Group Head of Tax.

The rules land in April 2027. The planning window is open now - and some of the most effective moves take time to put in place. If pension IHT is on your radar, this is the conversation to have before the year is out.

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