Wills & Lasting Powers of Attorney

Taking care of your future requires professional help

Wills

Statistics indicate that around 70% of Britons do not have a will. 

This is bad news for their families and good news for the Treasury.

Last year, the Treasury made £18 million out of unclaimed estates from those dying without a will and without a family to claim it and Inheritance Tax receipts totalled £5.2bn in 2017-18

 The right decisions now will:
  • protect you and your wealth
  • help benefit those you love
  • and give you peace of mind

Many people think that that if you don't make a will, the money will go to your spouse. In fact, the state decides, through intestacy rules, what will happen.

In England and Wales, if you have children (including from a previous marriage), your spouse or civil partner will receive your personal possessions, the first £250,000 and half of anything that remains, your children would receive the other half of anything that remains..
The rest is split in two. Half is put in trust, on which the surviving spouse can draw interest for their lifetime. The other half goes directly to the children. If they are under 18, it's held in statutory trust until they come of age.
Where there are no children, in England and Wales the spouse or partner can inherit a maximum of £450,000, with the balance again being divided in two with half going to your parents or, if they're dead, your siblings or their children.

Fortunately, any joint accounts or jointly owned assets, such as your home, automatically pass to the other person before these limits apply. Even then it depends on how your home is owned.
Paul Smith of Financial lifestyle Planning, says:
'Dying without a will leaves your spouse with problems at a distressing time. If there's no will, there are no executors to administer the estate, so the survivor has to apply for a grant of letters of administration before the estate can be sorted out. Until this is granted, assets, such as bank accounts, are frozen.' If you're living together and are not married or in a civil partnership, you have no automatic rights, so it's vital to write a Will.

To get your Will written quickly and professionally, please email us asap to make an appointment.

Our meetings can either be conduced face-to-face, via video conferencing or over the telephone - whichever you prefer

You  especially need to take advice if you have stepchildren or it's likely your estate will have to pay inheritance tax (IHT). Inheritance Tax is charged at 40% on everything over £325,000.  Married couples and civil partners inherit without paying tax and can use their partner's unused IHT allowance when they die, raising the limit this year to £650,000.

Lasting Power of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney is an essential legal document which helps you protect your interests during your life. Many people consider it as important as a Will and see it as one of the final pieces in the process of planning and protecting their estate.

Whilst a Will describes what happens when we die, we seldom think about who would manage our affairs, or make decisions regarding our welfare, should we not be able to do so ourselves. There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney - one for property and financial affairs and the other for health and personal welfare. Through either or both of these documents you can appoint whom you wish to manage your affairs and to make decisions regarding your medical treatment or your welfare if you can’t make decisions yourself. This could be because of illnesses such as dementia or if you have an accident which leaves you incapacitated.

The simplest way of determining whether you might benefit from this document would be to ask yourself the question "if I couldn’t manage my affairs, who would have legal permission to do so for me?" This is very different from people just wanting to help - often companies won’t speak to such people unless they have legal authority. This can only be given through a registered Lasting Power of Attorney.
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