Wills
Planning for the future isn’t always easy but it’s better to do so than leave it to chance. But can you believe that over 70% of the UK population does not have a current Will that is an accurate reflection of their financial circumstances and their personal choices at the time of their death? Making a Will creates certainty, reduces worry and gives you peace of mind knowing exactly how your money, property and possessions will be dealt with after your death?
Making a Will or updating an existing Will doesn’t take all that long, nor should it ever be a traumatic event. From start to finish the process is usually only a week, unless you have complicated affairs or unless you need specialist tax advice. Making a Will is important if you are a home owner, parent or a grandparent. We will ensure that your wishes are expressed appropriately so as to benefit those who are closest to you, and those that you would wish to make provision for, such as friends or charities.
Tax planning is a vital consideration when making a Will. In the tax year 2007/08, Inheritance Tax is paid at the rate of 40% on the excess of an estate worth over £312,000 although no tax is paid on gifts to a spouse nor to charities. With the value of a modest house in England and Wales now being over £250,000 you really don’t need many more assets to have the potential for paying Inheritance Tax upon your death. With our expertise we can minimise the tax payable by simply planning ahead, and taking advantage of a husband and a wife’s (or both civil partners’) nil rate bands.
Your Will will guide those who are left behind and will save worry and heartache at a time of great emotional stress. Making a Will is usually the first step to take in structuring your affairs in order to minimise your liability for inheritance tax.
Lifetime planning
Planning for the future is very important. Often we leave things to fate. Peace of mind is something that is hard to place a value upon.
In addition to advising on inheritance tax issues, here are just some of the things that we can advise you on:
- Powers of attorney – the appointment of a person of your own choosing to administer your affairs in the event of mental incapacity
- Living Wills. A living Will can record your wishes in relation to certain medical procedures that are, or are not to be employed, in order to prolong your life, should its quality be in decline or should you be unlikely to recover to undertake independent living
- Inheritance tax planning. When trying to minimise the inheritance tax payable on your estate by your beneficiaries, there are a number of options depending upon your circumstances. Subject to your particular situation and the size of your estate and other factors, we can provide you with a list of options and their pros and cons
- Trusts. A trust is a fund which contains assets that are controlled either by you and/or a nominated third party for the benefit of a specific individual. Trusts are governed by complex legal regulations and sometimes separate tax rules. A trust can be set up at any time in the lifetime of an individual to become operative immediately, or later upon your death. Find out more about what a trust can do for you
- Guardians. If you have young children you should consider appointing guardians to take care of them, should you die whilst they are still young. This is usually done when making your Will.
Probate
When someone close to you dies, somebody has to deal with their estate and affairs. A person’s estate is considered to be made up of the money, property and possessions that they had the time of their death. The process of probate involves collecting in any money owed, settling any debts, including outstanding taxes, and dividing the estate amongst the respective beneficiaries.
All assets in an estate will remain frozen until the Probate Registry gives authority to the personal representatives. If there is no Will then it is up to the most appropriate member of the family to act on behalf of the estate.
If there is a Will, the estate will pass to the people named in the Will; if there is no Will then certain rules known as the Rules of Intestacy will apply.
We pride ourselves in offering a cost effective and sympathetic service to our clients, the majority of whom find that our expertise is invaluable in guiding them through the form filling and procedures involved in applying for probate. We can help you determine the size of an estate for probate and inheritance tax purposes; we can prepare the application for the Grant of Representation on your behalf and help you lodge the required forms with the relevant organisations to collect monies due to the estate and settle any outstanding debts.
We can arrange for the transfer or sale of any shares and work with our residential property and estate agency team to handle the sale of any property or land owned by the deceased.
