Brits urged to seek inheritance tax advice

British consumers have been urged to seek advice from experts on the best way to avoid facing unnecessarily high inheritance tax bills when they come to bequeath their estate.

Keith Thomas, director of investment services at the independent financial advisory firm Blackadders, insists that there are ways for UK consumers to prepare for the impact of inheritance tax and that seeking advice can help the process.

As an example of how the effects of inheritance tax can be mitigated, Mr Thomas points out that gifts of up to £250 can be made to each of an individual's grandchildren during the course of a tax year.

"Some people will say they don't care about inheritance tax, as its only going to affect the beneficiaries, but others do all they can to avoid inheritance tax," he said.

"Nowadays there are an increasing number of mistakes that do fall within the inheritance tax legislation, simply because of the increase in values of houses, but individuals do need to take advice."

Last month, the Conservative MP John Redwood proposed the abolition of inheritance tax in the UK to his party's leader David Cameron.