Planning for later life is vital if you want to minimise your tax burden, protect your assets and make sure that your loved ones will be provided for. Despite this, decisions are often left until the last minute. Even if your retirement is many years away, it is never too early to make a Will and to consider the most effective ways of managing your estate.
As a lawyer who specialises in Estate Administration, Sarah Lamb is given information in many different forms by family members when someone dies. Some still have paper copies of bills, bank statements and so on, but increasingly records, and in some cases assets, are digital. She explains here what people can do during their lifetime […]
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The Association of Lifetime Lawyers has declared 4-10 March as Update Your Will Week for 2024. This is on the back of their research showing that almost half of the adults in the UK still don’t have a valid Will; 10% have started making one but not completed it, and 43% of those who say […]
Read More… from Is Now The Right Time to Make Or Update Your Will?
Upon death, a person’s estate will be valued for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes to include all of their assets and take into account any outstanding liabilities. Account will also be taken of any lifetime gifts that a person may have made. Certain gifts made in the seven-year period prior to a person’s death will also […]
Powers of Attorney enable people you trust to look after your affairs if you are unable to handle them yourself. If you haven’t yet put a Power of Attorney (POA) in place, or you are relying on an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA), are you sure that you and those closest to you are protected […]
Pre-COVID, various surveys showed that over half of the UK adult population does not have a valid, up-to-date and professionally prepared Will, including more than 10% of the over 75s. This suggests that many are still failing to look ahead and to plan how they can minimise administrative and financial difficulties for their loved ones […]
With sharp rises in food and energy bills coupled with a hike in mortgage rates and petrol costs, it is no surprise that the younger generation will be hit the most with the worst cost of living crisis in the last 60 years. It goes without saying that we are all in some way affected […]
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As a parent I know that providing certainty for your child or children is of paramount importance. Although our own mortality can be a scary prospect, it is important that we ensure that the certainty we offer whilst we are alive is extended to our children in the (hopefully unlikely) event of our death before […]
There are several ways of having a Will written. The main thing to consider when choosing a method of Will writing is, is it going to be valid? Whilst most are concerned with the content of the Will itself, many do not know what constitutes a valid Will. All too often we see that ‘do […]
New Year, New Changes – as of 26th January 2022, the probate application fee will be increased to £273. This will be a flat fee applied to professional and personal applications for England and Wales, under the amendment to the Non-Contentious Probate Fees Order 2001 published in December 2021. The Ministry of Justice have highlighted […]
One of the questions we are regularly asked by clients is whether they can/should transfer their property to others (most commonly, their children) or alternatively, into a trust, as a way of either avoiding inheritance tax or having to sell the property to pay for care home fees. In short, the answer is no. In […]
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