Receiving an inheritance

First, take your time

An inheritance usually follows a bereavement, and very few of the decisions in front of you are genuinely urgent. One of the most useful things we do in the early weeks is separate what actually needs attention now (deadlines, executor duties, accounts that must be dealt with) from what can, and often should, wait. Money held sensibly on deposit for a few months while you think clearly is not a mistake; a decision made in haste frequently is.

From a sum of money to a plan

A lump sum is not a plan. We advise on the transition from one to the other: what this capital is for, over what timescale, and how it should be structured tax-efficiently, making use of the right wrappers and allowances, and invested in line with your own objectives rather than the arrangements of the person who left it to you.

Where you already have pensions, ISAs and investments of your own, we integrate the inheritance with them so that everything works as a single, coherent portfolio with a single point of contact.

Rarely just cash

Inheritances arrive as property, investment portfolios built to someone else's design, inherited pensions, and holdings accumulated over decades. Each has its own tax treatment and its own case for keeping, restructuring or selling. We review what you have received on its merits and advise on what belongs in your long-term plan, with no obligation to preserve arrangements that no longer make sense.

Charlwood Wealth does not provide legal advice. Where probate, estate documents or trusts are involved, we work alongside your solicitor so that the legal and financial sides are handled together rather than in isolation.

Thinking one generation ahead

Receiving wealth is also the moment to think about passing it on. An inheritance can change your own estate position overnight, and decisions taken early (how the capital is held, in whose name, and with what intentions) can make the eventual transfer to your own children considerably smoother.

How these relationships begin

Many of the families we serve first came to us at exactly this moment, and stayed for the generation that followed. There is no charge for an initial conversation, and no expectation that you arrive with anything decided.