What To Do When You Inherit Money
A windfall — and a crossroads
When you receive an inheritance, it can feel like a fresh start. But it can also bring weighty responsibility: managing money while dealing with grief; ensuring you don’t squander what you’ve been given; navigating taxes, investments, family expectations or legacy planning.
At Lucent, we help you use your inheritance with clarity and confidence — not emotion or guesswork.
Why Choose Lucent for Your Financial Planning?
Our financial planners, with the support of our wider team, work tirelessly to ensure our clients receive the highest standards of advice and care. We are proud of the reviews we receive on third party sites.(Numbers updated Dec 2025)
Inheritance — Opportunity or Risk?
Receiving a lump sum or assets can truly change your financial picture. But without planning, it can also become a source of stress, poor decisions or wasted potential.
Here’s what you need to watch out for:
- Sudden wealth ≠ financial security. Too often, inheritances are spent fast — holidays, property, lifestyle — and the long-term potential is lost.
- Tax, estate and legal uncertainty. In the UK, the estate may be subject to inheritance tax (IHT), and benefits, pension death-benefits, property, cash, and shares may have different rules.
- Inflation, investment risk, future needs. Leaving money idle — or making poor asset-allocation choices — could erode its value over time.
- Emotional spending pressure. Guilt, memory, grief-driven generosity — all real, all likely to erode wealth if unchecked.
- Missed opportunity for long-term security, legacy or freedom. Many people receiving money don’t pause to consider what it could mean for retirement, children, property, legacy or protection.
An inheritance isn’t a bonus — it’s a responsibility. Handled wisely, it can secure your future; mishandled, it may vanish quickly.
What a Thoughtful Inheritance Plan Should Do for You
A well-designed inheritance-strategy provides:
- A clear picture of your full financial position — what you inherited, your existing assets/debts, and what’s yours vs what needs settling (tax, probate, estate obligations).
- A tax-aware plan — understanding whether IHT applies, what’s paid from the estate vs what comes to you, how to minimise future tax on income, growth or estate.
- A cashflow, income & liquidity plan — ensuring the inheritance supports your lifestyle, protects against risk, leaves flexibility, and avoids reckless spending.
- A wealth-preservation + growth strategy — appropriate investment, asset diversification, protecting against inflation, risk and long-term goals (retirement, children’s future, legacy).
- Protection and legacy planning — wills, trusts (if relevant), estate arrangements, future-care considerations where needed, and ensuring asset transfer aligns with your wishes.
- Behavioural guardrails & emotional support — helping you avoid impulse decisions, guilt-driven or emotionally biased spending, ensuring you act with clarity, not haste or grief.
Handled well — inheritance becomes a tool. Not just fortune, but foundation.
How We Help — A Clear, Compassionate 5-Step Inheritance Strategy
We take the complexity off your plate — you just decide what matters most.
1. Initial Financial Consultation
We discuss everything: what you inherited (cash, property, pension, investments, business), existing assets & debts, lifestyle, goals, family or financial dependants. Free, no-obligation.
2. We assess taxes, estate obligations & potential liabilities
Inheritance Tax (IHT), future tax on income or gains, estate size, beneficiary structure, pension death-benefits, property — we help you see what’s clean, what needs managing, and what needs protection.
3. We Build a Tailored Plan
Whether it means creating a secure income stream, investing for growth, protecting capital, or structuring wealth for future generations — we design a plan aligned with your needs and values.
4. We Implement & Co-ordinate What Needs Doing
Opening investment accounts, setting up protection or trust or estate structure, coordinating pension or property transfers, ensuring legal and tax compliance — we help you or manage it all.
5. We Review, Adapt & Support Over Time
Life changes — goals, family, market conditions, laws. We revisit regularly to ensure your inheritance remains a foundation, not a fleeting windfall.
Who This Page Is For
- Beneficiaries of a recent inheritance — cash, property, pension, business value, investments.
- People who’ve received a lump sum, but aren’t sure what to do with it — want to avoid common pitfalls (spending, poor allocation, taxes).
- Those who want their inheritance to support long-term goals (retirement, children’s education, property, legacy), not just immediate comforts.
- Individuals wary of making decisions under emotional stress — want support, clarity, and peace of mind.
- Anyone concerned about tax, legacy, estate, protection or long-term security after inheritance.
.webp)
Why Clients Entrust Their Inheritance to Lucent
✅ Independent, holistic advice — we don’t push products; we align with your values, goals and risk tolerance, considering tax, legacy, protection and growth together.
✅ Empathy first — we know inheritance often arrives after loss, with emotions and pressure. We treat it with sensitivity, clarity and care.
✅ Clear, jargon-free guidance — we explain in plain English what’s at stake, and what you can choose to do.
✅ Long-term partnership — not a one-off “help you spend this money” call, but a commitment to grow, protect and review over time.
✅ Practical, actionable plans — not platitudes — from cashflow modelling to tax, investments, protection and estate planning — everything connected.
See What Our Clients Say
We’ve helped hundreds of clients across the Midlands achieve financial peace of mind, freedom, and happiness.
Here’s what a few of them have to say...
"I'm really happy with their service! They took the time to understand my unique situation and goals, ensuring every recommendation aligned perfectly with my needs."
"From the very first moment of meeting, we were made to feel so welcome. We felt so relaxed and at ease. We felt staff were honest and trustworthy and talked in a way we understood."
"Steve understands our objectives, listens to our needs and what we require. He advises us how to best achieve our goals and encourages us to go ahead with our retirement. We are very happy with the current progress."
"We have used Lucent for several years and found them outstanding advisors. Steve Rowe is an outstanding example of how a brilliant advisor can turn around even the most sceptical client."
"Keely has been excellent in explaining so we clearly understand our pensions and investment options. The outcome has exceeded our expectations, the service we have received from Keely Woods has been exceptional."
"We have been with Steve for over 10 years. We have got to treat him as a friend now. Steve has guided us through some tough times on the way to retirement, we have always trusted his judgement."
"Steve has also stepped in with advice that has saved a significant amount in taxation over the past year and helped me in readiness for retirement."
"Luke has listened and understood our needs and provided very thorough explanations of our options to enable us to make a very informed decision."
"From the very first moment of meeting, we were made to feel so welcome. We felt so relaxed and at ease. We felt staff were honest and trustworthy and talked in a way we understood."
"Steve I would like to thank you for your support, understanding and advice. You have provided us with clear and concise details enabling us to make informed decisions."
"It took me a while to find the right financial planners, I wanted someone who was interested in doing the best for me and not just interested in what I would be worth to them. I definitely found that and more at Lucent."
"Keely has removed the “fear” from managing my financial assets - an important outcome for me. I am also happy with the outcomes in terms of the performance of investment decisions that I have made."
"Luke has provided a plan, based on investment advice, that allows us to meet our objectives. We have retired and our lifestyle has actually improved!"
Ready to make the most of your inheritance?
Contact Lucent today to help you manage your windfall and secure your financial future.
- Have you inherited more than £500k in assets or cash?
- Are you seeking advice on how best to invest your inherited wealth?
- Do you want to plan your legacy now that you’ve inherited significant assets?
- Would you like guidance to minimise tax implications on your inheritance?
If you answer yes to the above, get in touch.
FAQs
Take time to process everything. Then focus on paying off high-interest debts and work with a financial adviser to plan for the long term.
We’ll provide personalised advice on investing, saving, and growing your inheritance, while also managing any tax implications and securing your financial future.
Not all of it. It’s smart to keep a portion in an emergency fund while investing the rest in a way that aligns with your goals and risk tolerance.
Still have questions?
If you've got a question we haven't answered, we'd love to hear from you.