The Martin Lewis Podcast Inheritance tax masterclass: how much is due & smart ways to reduce it! Energy price spike – what it really means
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Mar 5, 2026 Lucy Spencer, financial-planning partner who advises on gifting and pensions, and Harriet Brown, tax barrister and CIOT fellow, join to unpack inheritance tax rules. They cover thresholds, spousal transfers that can create large couple allowances, lifetime gifts and the seven-year rule. They also discuss the 2027 change bringing pensions into estates and practical record-keeping tips.
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Inheritance Tax Affects A Minority Of Estates
- Only about 5–6% of estates currently pay inheritance tax, and even after pensions are included in 2027 it will likely remain a minority.
- Martin Lewis uses these figures to reframe IHT as a targeted issue, not a universal tax doom for most households.
Use Marriage To Maximise IHT Allowances
- If you're married or in a civil partnership, leave assets to your spouse to avoid IHT and inherit their unused nil-rate allowances when they die.
- This can boost a couple's combined IHT-free amount to around £1 million versus much less for unmarried partners.
Marriage Versus Cohabiting Has Big IHT Consequences
- If unmarried, don't assume leaving everything to a long-term partner avoids IHT; transfers between unmarried partners don't get spousal exemptions.
- Martin illustrated an unmarried couple with £1m assets paying about £242,000 IHT versus zero if married.