Estate Planning Solicitors in Manchester, Sale and Chester
Estate planning is bigger than just writing a Will. It’s about looking at the whole picture, your assets, your family, your business if you have one, and putting the right structures in place now so things work the way you want later. Our estate planning and private wealth solicitors give you a joined-up plan, not just a stack of separate documents.
Call us on 0330 111 3131 or get in touch via our online enquiry form. We’ll give you straightforward advice on where you stand and what it’s likely to cost.
What is estate planning?
Estate planning is the process of organising your assets and affairs so they’re protected, tax-efficient, and pass to the people you want, in the way you want, when the time comes. It goes beyond a Will to include Trusts, gifting strategy, Lasting Powers of Attorney, and, for business owners, succession planning.
Making sure your Will and any shareholders’ or partnership agreement work together, rather than pulling in different directions.
Protecting assets from care costs
Care fees can be substantial, and local authorities means-test whether you pay for your own care, taking your capital, including your home in many cases, into account. Deliberately giving away assets specifically to avoid paying for care can be treated as ‘deprivation of assets’, and the local authority can assess you as if you still owned them.
This doesn’t mean nothing can be done, but it does mean timing and genuine intent matter enormously. Planning made well before care becomes a realistic prospect, for reasons beyond simply avoiding fees, is on much firmer ground than something done after a diagnosis or a fall. We’ll give you an honest view of what’s likely to work and what a local authority is likely to challenge, rather than promise a result we can’t guarantee.
Estate planning for business owners
If your estate includes a business, the changes to Business Property Relief from April 2026 make this a genuinely important time to review your planning. The first £2.5 million of combined qualifying business and agricultural property still gets full relief, but anything above that only gets 50%, an effective 20% rate. We work alongside your accountant to check your Will, any Trust arrangements, and your shareholders’ agreement all point in the same direction.
It’s also worth thinking about succession itself, not just tax. Who would actually run the business if something happened to you tomorrow, and does your shareholders’ or partnership agreement say the same thing your Will does? We’ve seen cases where the two documents genuinely contradicted each other, causing exactly the kind of dispute good planning is meant to avoid.
Lifetime gifting as part of your plan
Giving assets away during your lifetime, rather than only through your Will, can be one of the most effective ways to reduce your eventual inheritance tax bill, provided it’s done with a clear head about what you can genuinely afford to give up. We’d always encourage clients to plan gifting around their own future needs first, care costs, changing health, a fall in income, rather than giving away more than they can comfortably spare simply to chase a tax saving.
When to review your estate plan
A plan made years ago may no longer fit. It’s worth revisiting after a significant change in your wealth, a business sale, a family change such as marriage, divorce or a new grandchild, or simply every few years as tax rules shift, as they’re doing significantly over the next couple of years.
Why choose Slater Heelis for estate planning
We’ve been advising families across the North West for over 250 years, and we’re listed in The Times Best Law Firms for 2026 and recognised by The Legal 500 as one of the leading firms in the North West.
Straight-talking advice: No jargon, no hedging, just a clear explanation of your options and what they’re likely to cost.
Genuinely experienced team: Alex Sealy leads our Wills, Trusts and Probate team, and several of our Private Client partners are members of STEP and Solicitors for the Elderly.
Rated by real clients: Over 1,900 five-star reviews and a 4.9 out of 5 average rating on ReviewSolicitors.
Estate planning solicitors in Manchester, Sale and Chester
We advise on estate and private wealth planning across Manchester, Sale and Chester, as well as clients further afield across the UK and overseas.
Our offices in Manchester, Sale and Chester are open for face-to-face meetings, and we work with clients across the UK and overseas, with appointments available at our other locations in London, Liverpool, Leeds, York and Sheffield when that’s more convenient for you.
Ready to put a proper plan in place?
A joined-up plan starts with an honest conversation about what matters most to you. Call us on 0330 111 3131, or get in touch via our online enquiry form.
A Will is one part of estate planning, but the wider picture includes Trusts, tax planning, powers of attorney and, for business owners, succession planning. Estate planning looks at how all these pieces work together, not just one document in isolation.
Can I give away my house to avoid care fees?
You can, but if it’s done specifically to avoid paying for care, a local authority can treat you as if you still own it when assessing what you should pay, under the deprivation of assets rules. Genuine, well-timed planning is different, and we can advise on where that line sits.
How often should I review my estate plan?
After any significant life change, and otherwise every few years regardless, particularly given how much inheritance tax rules are changing over the next couple of years.
Do I need a solicitor if my estate is straightforward?
Even straightforward estates benefit from a properly drafted Will and basic planning, since ‘straightforward’ can change quickly, a house purchase, a new relationship, or a business venture can all add complexity you hadn’t planned for.
What is Private Wealth advice?
It’s estate planning for clients with more complex or substantial assets, multiple properties, business interests, investments, or wealth in more than one country, where the planning needs to join up several areas of law at once.
Can estate planning help reduce inheritance tax?
Yes, through a combination of gifting, Trusts, reliefs and structuring how assets are held. See our inheritance tax solicitors for the specific tools available.
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