uk.co.simplyestate/estate-planning

Official16 tools

UK estate-planning calculators + knowledge (IHT, intestacy, trusts, wills). Read-only.

UK estate-planning calculators and guidance for inheritance tax, wills, and trusts.

Captured live from the server via tools/list.

calculate_iht

Estimate a UK Inheritance Tax bill (2025/26 England & Wales rules). Models the nil-rate band, residence nil-rate band and its £2m taper, spousal doubling, the 40% charge, the 2027 pension change, plus optional debts, charity rate (36% at 10%+), transferred allowances and business/agricultural relief. Illustrative only — excludes lifetime-gift history.

Parameters (15)

estateValuenumberrequired
Total estate value excluding any pension you add separately (£)
marriedbooleanrequired
Married or in a civil partnership (combined/doubled allowances)
leavingHomeToDescendantsbooleanrequired
Does a main home pass to children/grandchildren? Enables the residence nil-rate band
homeValuenumber
Value of the main home (£) — caps the residence nil-rate band
includePensionboolean
Include unused pensions (the rules from 6 April 2027)
pensionValuenumber
Unused pension value to fold in (£)
includeDebtsboolean
Deduct debts/liabilities first
debtsValuenumber
Mortgage, loans and funeral costs (£)
leavingToCharityboolean
A share of the estate is left to charity (10%+ cuts the rate to 36%)
charityPctnumber
Share of the net estate left to charity (%)
transferredAllowanceboolean
Claim a late spouse's/civil partner's unused allowances
transferredNrbnumber
Late spouse's unused nil-rate band (£), capped £325,000
transferredRnrbnumber
Late spouse's unused residence nil-rate band (£), capped £175,000
includeReliefboolean
Qualifying business/agricultural assets get simplified relief
reliefAssetsValuenumber
Value of qualifying business/agricultural assets (£)

compare_pension_2027

Show the Inheritance Tax impact of the April 2027 change that brings most unused pensions into the estate: the IHT before vs after, and the extra tax. Exposure only — models nothing about pension products or what to do with a pension (that is FCA-regulated advice).

Parameters (6)

estateValuenumberrequired
Estate value excluding pensions (£)
homeValuenumber
Main home value (£) — caps the residence nil-rate band
leavingHomeToDescendantsbooleanrequired
Does a main home pass to children/grandchildren?
marriedbooleanrequired
Married or in a civil partnership
pensionValuenumberrequired
Unused pension value (£) — counted only in the 'from 2027' scenario
pensionToSpouseboolean
Pension would pass to a spouse first (educational note only)

who_inherits_intestacy

Apply the England & Wales intestacy rules (dying without a will, rules from 26 July 2023): who inherits and how much. ALWAYS returns the warnings — e.g. a cohabiting partner inherits nothing, and jointly-owned assets usually pass outside these rules by survivorship.

Parameters (6)

maritalStatusstringrequired
Legal status at death (only marriage/civil partnership counts)
hasChildrenbooleanrequired
Any biological or legally adopted children (stepchildren don't count unless adopted)
estateValuenumberrequired
Estate passing under intestacy (£) — sole-name assets, minus debts
jointlyOwnedValuenumber
Approx value of jointly-owned assets (£) — passes by survivorship, outside these rules
hasPartialWillboolean
A valid will covers some assets (partial intestacy)
hasForeignAssetsboolean
Property/accounts held abroad — local succession law applies

compare_trusts

Recommend which UK trust types are worth discussing for a goal, with an HONEST note that always accompanies the recommendation (e.g. no trust simply avoids care fees — deliberate-deprivation rules apply with no time limit). Each trust lists what it does NOT do. 'No trust may be needed' is a valid answer.

Parameters (1)

goalstringrequired
What the person is trying to achieve

will_readiness_check

Score estate-planning readiness against a checklist. Pass `answers` as a map of item id → true/false (ids: has_will, will_recent, executors_named, guardians_named, lpa_property, lpa_health, wishes_recorded, assets_listed; advanced: pension_nominations, digital_assets, business_succession, foreign_assets, life_insurance_trust). Missing or false items count as gaps. Returns a band: covered / gaps / urgent.

Parameters (3)

answersobjectrequired
Map of checklist item id → true (in place) / false
hasChildrenbooleanrequired
Household includes children under 18 (enables the guardianship item)
includeAdvancedboolean
Include the advanced/often-forgotten items

estimate_probate_cost

Estimate the cost of probate in England & Wales: the HMCTS application fee (£300 where the estate is over £5,000; no fee at £5,000 or below — the same with or without a will), sealed-copy costs, and — on the professional route — typical fee ranges across the UK market (NOT the firm's fees; most professional fees attract VAT on top). Guidance, not advice.

Parameters (4)

estateValuenumberrequired
Gross estate value (£) — home, savings, investments, minus debts
includesPropertybooleanrequired
Estate includes a house or flat (enables the IHT-instalments note)
hasWillbooleanrequired
A valid will exists (grant of probate); without one, letters of administration
professionalRoutebooleanrequired
true = with professional help (adds typical UK market fee ranges); false = applying yourself

check_need_probate

Check whether a grant of probate (or letters of administration) is LIKELY to be needed in England & Wales, from what the person owned and how they owned it. Returns a guidance verdict — likely / maybe / unlikely — with per-asset reasons and next steps. Indicative only: every bank and institution sets its OWN probate threshold and decides asset by asset, so the honest answer always includes asking each one directly.

Parameters (5)

solePropertybooleanrequired
Property or land registered in the deceased's sole name
jointPropertybooleanrequired
Property owned jointly — held as joint tenants it passes by survivorship
largestBalancestringrequired
Largest single bank or building-society balance in their sole name
soleInvestmentsbooleanrequired
Shares or investments held in their sole name
allToSpousebooleanrequired
Everything passes to a surviving spouse/civil partner who owned it jointly

calculate_lpa_cost

Calculate the Office of the Public Guardian fees to register Lasting Powers of Attorney in England & Wales: £92 per LPA (applications received from 17 November 2025), with a 50% remission where the donor's gross annual income is under £12,000 and a full exemption on certain means-tested benefits (both claimed with form LPA120). Registration fees only — nothing about drafting costs or whether an LPA is right for someone.

Parameters (4)

lpaTypesstringrequired
Which LPA(s) — 'Both types' registers two documents per person
couplebooleanrequired
A couple making the same LPAs each (doubles the document count)
incomeUnder12kbooleanrequired
Donor's gross annual income below £12,000 (50% remission)
qualifyingBenefitsbooleanrequired
Donor receives certain means-tested benefits (full exemption)

estimate_care_cost

Project what care home fees could cost: typical self-funder weekly ranges (sourced 2026 estimates rounded from published averages) × 52 weeks × years, by region and care type. The educate-only means-test notes are ALWAYS included — England's capital limits and Wales's single limit are stated as facts for education; there is deliberately no 'how much could you protect' computation, because no arrangement simply avoids care fees.

Parameters (3)

regionstringrequired
Where the care would be
careTypestringrequired
Residential care or nursing care
yearsnumberrequired
Whole years of care to project (e.g. 1, 2, 3 or 5)

gift_7_year_timeline

Map lifetime gifts onto the 7-year-rule timeline: which taper BAND each gift sits in and when it falls outside the estate. An EDUCATIONAL timeline of the bands and mechanics only — NOT a personal tax computation: taper relief reduces the rate of tax, never the gift's value, and it only matters where total gifts in the 7 years before death exceed the £325,000 nil-rate band (used up oldest gift first). No personal tax figures are computed.

Parameters (1)

giftsarrayrequired
Up to 5 gifts to place on the timeline

check_deed_of_variation

Check whether a deed of variation is available — guidance-only eligibility against the s.142 IHTA 1984 conditions: the hard two-year window from the date of death (HMRC does not extend it), adult beneficiaries with capacity, and the agreement of everyone whose share would reduce. Returns yes / no / depends with blockers, goal-mapped possibilities, and an honest note that ALWAYS accompanies the result. No tax outcome is promised — whether it helps depends on the whole estate.

Parameters (4)

deathTimingstringrequired
When the person died — the two-year window is the hard statutory gate
allAdultsbooleanrequired
Every beneficiary whose share would reduce is an adult (18+) with capacity
allAgreebooleanrequired
Those affected beneficiaries all agree to the change
goalstringrequired
What the family wants the variation to achieve

check_rnrb

Check residence nil-rate band eligibility and amount (England & Wales 2025/26): up to £175,000 per person where a home you own (or owned) passes to direct descendants, doubled for a married couple / civil partners, plus a late spouse's transferred allowance — capped at the home's value and tapered by £1 for every £2 the estate exceeds £2m. Illustrative check with plain-English reasons.

Parameters (8)

ownsHomebooleanrequired
You own (or owned) a home that is — or was — your residence
passesToDescendantsbooleanrequired
The home passes to children/grandchildren (step, adopted and foster children count)
homeValuenumberrequired
Value of the home (£) — caps the available allowance
estateValuenumberrequired
Total estate value including the home (£) — drives the £2m taper
marriedbooleanrequired
Married or in a civil partnership (combined/doubled allowance on the second death)
transferredAllowanceboolean
Claim a late spouse's/civil partner's unused residence allowance
transferredRnrbnumber
Late spouse's unused residence nil-rate band (£), capped £175,000
downsizedAfterJuly2015boolean
Sold or downsized after 8 July 2015 — surfaces the downsizing-addition note (never changes the numbers)

lookup_glossary

Look up plain-English definitions of UK estate-planning terms (IHT, trusts, LPAs, probate). Omit `term` to list all.

Parameters (1)

termstring
Term or partial term to match; omit to return the full glossary

search_guides

Search Simply Estate's estate-planning guides (wills, IHT, LPAs, trusts, probate) by keyword. Returns titles, URLs and excerpts to cite.

Parameters (1)

querystringrequired
Keywords to search guide titles, excerpts and tags

get_faqs

Return Simply Estate's frequently-asked questions and answers (fees, regulation, IHT, trusts, wills/LPAs/probate). Optional keyword filter.

Parameters (1)

querystring
Optional keyword to filter the FAQs

request_consultation

Submit a request for a FREE, no-obligation estate-planning consultation on the user's behalf. Use only with the user's explicit consent and real contact details. Returns a reference id; the Simply Estate team follows up. Estate planning here is not FCA-regulated.

Parameters (6)

namestringrequired
The person's full name
emailstringrequired
A real email address (required if no phone)
phonestring
Phone number (optional)
servicestring
Area of interest
countystring
County, if known
messagestring
Brief description of what they'd like help with

Install

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "estate-planning": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://simplyestate.co.uk/api/ai/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Desktop config is stdio-only; this bridges via mcp-remote. Native remote: Settings > Connectors.