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Page 6 of 7 · 59 articles
A death benefit is exempt whatever the premium. A maturity payout is exempt only if the policy clears three separate tests, and two of them were added recently enough that a lot of published guidance still misses them.
A UK life insurance payout that is not written in trust generally lands in your estate, where it can be taxed at 40% and has to wait for probate. Putting the policy in trust is usually free, usually done at application, and routinely skipped.
The residence nil-rate band adds up to £175,000 to what you can pass on tax-free, but only if you leave a home you once lived in to a direct descendant. Estates over £2 million lose it £1 for every £2.
The new tax regime has been the default since AY 2024-25, and it does not allow 80C or 80D at all. Whether the old regime is still worth choosing is arithmetic, not opinion: here are the AY 2026-27 slabs, rebates and limits to do it with.
Section 80D is two allowances, not one: a limit for your own household and a separate limit for premiums paid for your parents. Both double where the insured is a senior citizen, and both vanish if you are in the default tax regime.
Intestacy rules are fixed, public and indifferent to what you intended. A surviving spouse takes the first £322,000 and half of what is left; an unmarried partner takes nothing at all. Here is how a life insurance payout gets caught by those rules, and how it avoids them.
The 2026 elective deferral limit is $24,500 and the IRA limit is $7,500. Here is what changed from 2025, who qualifies for each catch-up tier, and how the income phase-outs actually work.
The 2026 HSA limits are $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage. Three new rules take effect this year, including bronze exchange plans and direct primary care.
The standard Medicare Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026 and the Part B deductible is $283. Here is the full cost table, who pays more, and how the 2.8% COLA offsets the increase.