Autumn Budget 2026: What It Could Mean for Bereaved Families

The date, and who is delivering it

The Chancellor, John Healey, wrote to the Treasury Select Committee on 31 July 2026 confirming that the Budget will be delivered on Wednesday 28 October 2026, with the Office for Budget Responsibility publishing its economic and fiscal forecast the same day. His letter framed it as a Budget that “moves power and money out of Westminster, into every postcode in Britain” and committed to the government's fiscal rules. It said nothing about inheritance tax, probate or pensions.

What is already law — and will not be news

A lot of what gets reported around a Budget is restated old news. These are the measures already in force or legislated for bereaved families, so you can discount them when they reappear:

• Nil-rate band frozen to 5 April 2031. The November 2025 Budget extended the freeze by a year. The nil-rate band stays at £325,000, the residence nil-rate band at £175,000, and the taper threshold at £2 million. See our inheritance tax guide for 2026/27.
• Agricultural and business relief capped. From 6 April 2026, 100% relief applies to the first £2.5 million of qualifying agricultural and business property per person, with 50% relief above that; the allowance is transferable between spouses and civil partners. Our guide to the April 2026 relief changes has the detail.
• Pensions inside inheritance tax from 6 April 2027. Legislated in Finance Act 2026; HMRC published its second technical note on the mechanics on 27 August 2026. See pensions and inheritance tax from April 2027.
• Probate fee £526. Raised from £300 on 13 July 2026 by the Ministry of Justice. Court fees are not set in the Budget. See probate fees in 2026.

What is being reported — and is not policy

None of the following has been announced, consulted on, or put in a Bill. They are listed so you can recognise them when they appear in headlines, not because any of them is expected.

• A lifetime cap on tax-free gifts, or a longer seven-year rule. Predicted before the Budgets of October 2024 and November 2025; neither Budget did either. Today there is no limit on what a person can give away, and a gift falls out of the estate if the giver survives seven years. Our account of the 2025 Budget sets what was forecast against what was announced, and the seven-year rule applies exactly as it does today.
• A limit on gifts out of surplus income. Commentators have suggested capping the normal expenditure out of income exemption, which currently has no cash limit.
• Capital gains tax on death. At present, assets pass on death at their probate value with no capital gains tax on the gain up to that point. Removing that "uplift" has been floated by commentators; it has not been proposed by the government.
• Replacing inheritance tax with a social care levy. The Prime Minister has argued for an estate levy to fund social care in the past. No rate, threshold, start date or consultation has been published.
• Revisiting the agricultural and business relief cap. Farming groups have pressed for the April 2026 changes to be looked at again. Nothing has been announced.
• Capital gains tax rates. Aligning them more closely with income tax rates has been discussed in the press. Nothing has been announced.

If you are administering an estate now

Inheritance tax is calculated under the rules in force at the date of death. A Budget measure is given a commencement date by its legislation — typically the start of the next tax year on 6 April, and sometimes the day of the announcement for anti-avoidance measures. Whether a change reaches the estate you are handling therefore turns on two dates: the date of death and the date the measure starts.

Practically:

• If the death was before any commencement date, the estate is taxed under the old rules. There is nothing to wait for.
• If a beneficiary wants to redirect what they inherit — for example to the next generation — a deed of variation within two years of the death is read back to the date of death for inheritance tax. Watch on 28 October for anything said about that rule.
• Do not delay filing the IHT400 in the hope that a rule changes. GOV.UK says the account must reach HMRC within twelve months of the death, and the tax is due by the end of the sixth month after the death; interest runs from then regardless of what any Budget says.

What to look for on 28 October

The Treasury publishes the Budget document and an “Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates” at the end of the speech. The inheritance tax measures are in the tax chapter and each carries its own start date. The things to check for are: the nil-rate bands and freeze date; anything on lifetime gifts or gifts out of income; anything on capital gains tax on death; any further change to agricultural and business relief; and any adjustment to the April 2027 pension rules. We will update this page once the Budget documents are published.