Under the 1975 Act, a testator (a person who makes a Will), dies domiciled in England and Wales. They could be presented with a claim for reasonable provision from the following: The spouse or civil partner of the deceased; A former spouse or former civil partner who has not remarried or formed a subsequent civil …
Broadly speaking, a Trust is an arrangement under which property i.e., land, cash, investments or some sort of rights such as copyrights, is held by a person or organisation on behalf of one or more people. The people holding the property are called “the Trustees” and the people on whose behalf the property is held …
Who needs to use the Court of Protection? The short answer to this is someone who has not already arranged a Power of Attorney. In our experience this falls into two camps; the apathetic and people are who are in denial about their own potential frailty. It is this latter group where financial advisers & …
Year on year, the number of cohabiting (living together) couples continues to grow, with the proportion of people getting married slowly on the decline. As of November 2019, there were 3.5 million cohabiting couples in the UK. In this article we debunk some common myths about the rights of cohabitating couples. As the dynamic between …
Understandably, many couples like to keep things straightforward when it comes to making a Will. Typically, they will want to just leave everything to their spouse or partner when they pass away. This is so they can make sure that their partner can continue to live in their home and access their finances. They probably …
One of the most common questions we are asked by clients is ‘what options are available to me once a loved one has lost their mental capacity without a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in place’ We want to highlight both why it is important for someone to put an LPA in place and to …
For those of our clients who pay an annual servicing fee we would like to remind you of the benefits of your ongoing arrangement with us and at the same time encourage you to review your Wills & Estate Planning needs, this is so your Wills can continue to reflect your wishes and current legislation, …
Probate is a subject very few individuals deal with or are even aware of. We would like to help you understand what Probate is, when its required and what it means to the people you leave behind. What is Probate? Probate is the process for dealing with the estate of someone who has died, which generally …
Britain’s paid out the highest ever amount of inheritance tax (IHT) to HMRC in 2017-18, with the latest figures showing the bill totalled £5.2billion, in 2018/19 that figure increased to an even higher bill of £5.4billion. Data shows that most of the inheritance tax payments come from estates worth between £500,000 and £1million. In 2016-17, …
Every day we make decisions about our lives. The ability to make these decisions is called mental capacity. If someone has difficulties that mean they cannot make decisions anymore, they will need help managing their finances. Accidents, strokes, brain injuries and Parkinson’s disease can also affect someone’s ability to make their own decisions. Handling …
