Hello David. I can help you make sense of your estate — what's in it, who's interested in what, and how the rules might affect your family. Ask me anything in plain English. I'll always show you where my answer comes from.

Possibly a little — but less than many people fear. Here's the honest picture using your figures:

Your allowance of £500,000 is the £325,000 standard allowance plus the £175,000 home allowance, because you're leaving your home to your children. Only the £60,000 above that is taxed — not the whole estate.

The good news: there are legal ways to reduce that £24,000. For example, leaving 10% of the taxable estate to charity lowers the rate on the rest from 40% to 36%. Planning like gifts and trusts could bring the bill down to around £5,600.

It's a rule designed to encourage charitable giving. If you leave at least 10% of your taxable estate to a registered charity, the Inheritance Tax rate on everything else drops from 40% to 36%.

For your £60,000 taxable amount, a gift of about £6,000 to charity would qualify. The charity receives the gift, and the rate on the rest falls — so the cost to your family is smaller than the headline gift suggests.