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PA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA farmer took his own life the day before the government’s Budget after weeks of worrying about looming changes to inheritance tax, an inquest has heard.<\/p>\n John Charlesworth’s son said he believed his father wanted to “beat” the government’s proposals and “save the farm for future generations”.<\/p>\n Mr Charlesworth, 78, who went by his middle name Philip, was found dead by his son Jonathan Charlesworth, 47, in a barn on their farm in Silkstone, Barnsley, on October 29 last year.<\/p>\n At Sheffield Coroner’s Court on Thursday, coroner Tanyka Rawden recorded a verdict of suicide.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The inquest heard Mr Charlesworth had been struggling to care for his wife, who had severe dementia and cancer.<\/p>\n The hearing was told that in the months before Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget he had been “growing more and more anxious about inheritance tax and the implications for the farm”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Jonathan Charlesworth told the hearing: “I think he was under stress looking after my mum but if it hadn’t been for worries about inheritance tax he would still be here today.<\/p>\n “He wouldn’t have put us all through that for any other reason.<\/p>\n “He thought he was doing it for the good. I don’t agree with that, but he thought he was doing it for the greater good.<\/p>\n “There was a lack of information, it wasn’t actually as bad as it could have been but we didn’t know that.<\/p>\n “We couldn’t find any information, we just knew it was coming, we didn’t know how bad it was going to be.<\/p>\n “I think he woke up that morning and thought, ‘I’m not risking it, I’m not risking losing everything I’ve worked for’.”<\/p>\n He said in the months before his father’s death, “the only thing he talked about was inheritance tax”.<\/p>\n “I think he just wasn’t going to let the government beat him, that was his final hurrah,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The inquest heard that John Charlesworth had retired from the farm, which had been bought by his own father.<\/p>\n His son was responsible for the day-to-day running while he cared for his wife, who died in February this year.<\/p>\n The coroner was told he had no reported mental health issues but had been seen by a mental health team about support for his wife several days before he died.<\/p>\n His daughter Verity Charlesworth, 45, said farming was a part of Mr Charlesworth’s “life and identity”, and that he was also a grandfather of six and a keen bell-ringer.<\/p>\n Giving her conclusion, Mrs Rawden said: “He was worried about implications of new regulations around inheritance tax that would see the family lose 50% of the farm, taking his life the day before the changes were due to be announced.”<\/p>\n After the inquest, Jonathan Charlesworth said his father was a “typical Yorkshireman, typical farmer – tight with money but generous with time”, adding: “He’d do anything for anybody.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250529-103858-de9d27ef1-web-2.22.3-1\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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