Earl Hugh Grosvenor became the seventh Duke of Westminster and inherited a £9bn fortune after his father passed away.

Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, Britain’s third richest man, died on 10 August of a heart attack, aged 64.

Death duties are normally charged at 40% on assets over £325,000. The £9bn Grosvenor family estate is held in a trust therefore the family avoids paying the 40% rate, which has caused a large controversy.

Trusts are liable to one form of IHT as every 10 years HMRC is entitled to claim 6% of the value of the trust fund.

The Grosvenor Estate is broken into three key elements: Grosvenor, Wheatsheaf and Family Investment Office.

Grosvenor is the estates largest business and operates in property development, investment and fund management. It recorded a total return of 9% in 2015 and through indirect investment made a revenue profit of £83.3m. It currently has £11.8bn assets under management and has over 520 employees around the world.

Wheatsheaf, which was set up in 2012, invests in food, energy and water security. It looks after Grosvenor Farms which is one of the largest farms in the UK, covering 6,000 acres in Cheshire.

The Family Investment Office manages rural estates in Sutherland, Lancashire, Spain and the Eaton Estate in Chester. It also takes care of a retail business, financial investment portfolios, a fine art collection, the Westminster Foundation charitable foundation. It employs over 470 people across the four estates.

The late Duke has been described on their website as ‘a passionate country man, committed soldier, an excellent shot, a true entrepreneur and, importantly, he went out of his way to be courteous and humorous with all people, regardless of status or wealth.’

More information on the Grosvenor Estate is here.