Has the Inheritance Tax (IHT) allowance doubled recently?

We are asked this question a lot and the quick answer is no.

Life would be easier if this was the case however we now have a rather complicated and convoluted way of calculating IHT when the last of a married couple dies.

The chancellor has allowed for a surviving spouse to leave their late spouse's allowance as well as their's if the late spouse left everything to them. The allowance has not been doubled at all for any single people or unmarried couples.

This has now made the use of discretionary trusts within wills a bad idea.