From April 2027 most unused pension funds will count towards your estate for inheritance tax. For equity partners at Scottish law firms, that is not a footnote. Your pension is often your single largest asset. For years the sensible position was to contribute as much as you could, leave it untouched, and let it pass outside the estate. That position is about to change, and most partners I speak to have not yet had a proper conversation about what it means for them. There is a second problem.

Most financial advice in Scotland is built on English assumptions. Legal rights, the rules of succession, confirmation. These are not details. They change what a plan should look like. An adviser who plans as if probate applies north of the border is planning for the wrong jurisdiction.

I work specifically with equity partners at Scottish law firms across Edinburgh, Fife and Dundee. Usually people with £500,000 or more of investable wealth, income above £250,000, and an estate concentrated in pension, profit share and property.

Why partners?

Because I spent several years inside the financial planning team of a Scottish law firm, working with partners on their own affairs. I know how partnership income works and what profit share does to a tax position. I have taught regulation, investments and pensions on the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Dundee for nearly five years. I teach the people who will one day sit across the table from you as trainees.

My process has three stages.

A discovery meeting designed to be useful whether or not we work together. A planning stage built on how your arrangements are actually structured, with a cashflow model rather than numbers on a page. Then ongoing review.

Some of my longest-standing clients took over a year of conversation before any business was done. That suits me. Partners make decisions carefully, and the process respects that.

If the 2027 change is on your mind, or you simply want a clear picture of your estate position under Scots law, send me a message. A conversation commits you to nothing.