Will I lose my late husband's inheritance tax allowance on our home if my estate tops £2M?

My husband died in 2013 and left everything to me. When I die, all my assets will pass to our children, which in theory gives us a combined inheritance tax-free allowance of £1million.That would come from inheritance tax nil rate bands of £325,000 for both of us, plus £175,000 each from the residence nil rate band.However, our home is now worth about £1.7million and my savings, investments and Sipp would take me over the £2million mark at which the residence nil rate band starts to be removed.Is it only my residence nil rate band that is tapered away, while my husband’s remains intact from his death.? Or will his unused residence nil rate band be whittled away too and I risk ending up in an expensive inheritance tax (IHT) trap? Henrietta Grimston is a Chartered Financial Planner at wealth management firm SaltusSophie Warburton, of This is Money, replies: Inheritance tax is levied on some people's estates after they die. There is no IHT charged on assets left to a spouse or civil partner, but the surviving partner's estate will become liable for it when they die.Your estate is the total value of everything you own when you die, including savings, investments, property and possessions, minus any outstanding debts. Inheritance tax is charged at 40 per cent on an estate above the £325,000 tax-free threshold known as the nil rate band.The individual nil rate band can be doubled up to a joint total of £650,000 for married couples and civil partners, who can pass any unused allowances to each other.A further allowance known as the residence nil rate band raises the threshold by £175,000 each if you leave your home to a direct descendant, which must be a child or grandchild. This creates an extra £350,000 for a married couple, to deliver a potential maximum joint inheritance tax-free total of £1million.However, the own home allowance starts being removed if your estate breaches £2million, at a rate of £1 for every £2 above the threshold. Currently, unspent defined contribution or personal pension pots passed on at death fall outside of your estate for inheritance tax purposes. However, this will change next April when they become liable for inheritance tax, which will drag many more people's estates into the IHT net.You are worried that this will tip you over the important £2million mark and want to know what happens to your husband's residence nil rate band, which was passed on unused in full 13 years ago. We put your question to a professional financial planner. Ask a financial planning question If you have a financial planning or advice question, ask our experts by emailing financialplanning@thisismoney.co.uk. Please include as many details as possible. We will do our best to cover it, but cannot answer all or correspond privately. Nothing constitutes regulated financial advice. Questions may be edited for brevity or other reasons. Henrietta Grimston, chartered financial planner at wealth manager Saltus, said: The residence nil rate band is transferable, but the transferred allowance is not exempt from tapering. This means that, unfortunately, the fact your husband died in 2013 and left everything to you does not mean his unused residence nil rate band is protected from tapering when you eventually die. If the first estate was less than £2million then the full allowance can be transferred, giving a potential combined residence nil rate band of £350,000. However, if the second estate is more than £2million, this will be subject to tapering.For an estate worth £2.5million, this will mean a tapered residence nil rate band of £100,000 (reduced by £1 for each £2 over the £2million threshold). For an estate in excess of £2.7million, the whole residence nil rate band is lost.This is why there is such big concern around the changes to the pension rules; because it is two-fold. Not only does the pension now come into the estate for inheritance tax purposes, but many people could also find their residence nil rate band starts to taper as a result.> M+ analysis: Some pensions could soon be taxed at 91% on death – this is what you can do now to protect yourself Help with financial advice and planning Financial planning can help you grow your wealth, sort your pension, or make sure your finances are as tax efficient as possible.Key reasons that many seek financial planning involve investing for retirement and inheritance tax planning.Services such as Unbiased can match you with a financial professional according to your needs:> Find a local financial adviser* Products featured are independently selected by This is Money's specialist journalists. If you open an account using links which have an asterisk, This is Money will earn an affiliate commission. We do not allow this to affect our editorial independence.