Wills and Trusts

Many people mistakenly think that making a Will is expensive and long-winded. This isn’t necessarily the case. Our trusted business partners are here to advise you of your options and act swiftly on your behalf to ensure your wishes are met. The end result will be that your assets will be taken care of, and your loved ones will have financial security in the event of something happening to you.

There are many good reasons to make a Will and everyone should have one – regardless of age, health or financial status. Documenting your wishes formally is the only way to ensure that your estate is distributed in the way you wish and also protects your children if they are under the age of 18. Sharron Smith, our Will Writer & Asset Protection Consultant, explains why it’s crucial to make a Will in this short video.

Key reasons to make a will

You may be able to reduce the amount of inheritance tax that your beneficiaries may be liable to pay.

If you don’t have a Will that stipulates who you would want to look after your children in the event that you and your partner die, your children may be taken into foster care while the courts decide who they should live with.

Making a will is very important if you co-habit with a partner but aren’t married, as you don’t have the same legal rights over each other’s assets as a married couple.

Finally, if you have recently got married, and you previously had a Will, it will no longer be valid and you will need to have a new one prepared.

Should you lose mental capacity, for example through illness or an accident, no family member has the legal right to make decisions on your behalf unless you have made a Lasting Power of Attorney.

There is a widely-held misconception that a husband, wife or child over the age of 18 can make decisions regarding finances or welfare if their parent or spouse is unable, but that’s not the case unless you’ve appointed them legally. If a Lasting Power of Attorney hasn’t been put in place, it can take many months to be given “deputyship”, which is decided by the Office of the Public Guardian, meaning that a spouse or family member acting on your behalf will have to deal with a costly and time-consuming legal process at a time that is already stressful and upsetting.

This can be avoided by appointing someone to have Lasting Power of Attorney over your affairs.

There are two different types of Power of Attorney; the first, Property and Financial, which relates to your finances and Health and Welfare which enables the attorney to make decisions regarding your medical treatment and care.

Preparing a Lasting Power of Attorney needn’t be daunting or costly. Our trusted business partners are here to guide you through the process. To find out more, contact us for an informal chat.

Many people assume that only those with significant wealth can benefit from setting up a Trust, but that’s certainly not the case.

For many, a Trust is a cost effective and legal way of protecting assets against the potential expense of care in later life. For example, if you own a property you may be able to afford the cost of private care, should this become a necessity. However, you can structure your affairs to enable you to get the most financial support possible. Trusts can also help to protect assets for children in the event of remarriage following divorce or separation, to avoid the potential of ‘sideways disinheritance’.

It needn’t be complicated or costly to arrange a Trust to protect your assets, and our trusted business partners are here to advise an appropriate course of action for your specific circumstances. To find out more, why not contact us for an initial informal discussion.

Yet with efficient tax planning in place it’s possible to legally reduce the amount of inheritance tax they will pay, if not avoid it altogether. There are a number of steps you can take to put an efficient strategy in place with regards Inheritance Tax, including ensuring that your Will is correctly written and planned, transferring assets through the use of lifetime gifts and creating a tax- efficient fund to enable the beneficiaries of your estate to meet any Inheritance Tax liability without impacting on the assets you’ve bequeathed them.

To find out more about how our business partners can potentially assist with your individual requirements, why not contact us for an initial informal discussion.