Around 70% of people pass away without writing a will, some believe they are too young, where others believe that the process is too difficult or expensive.
Probate is the legal process of handling a person’s belongings, savings, investments and property in accordance with their final wishes.
A Trust Fund can run for up to 125 years but can be closed down or changed by the Trustees at any time. Most assets can be placed into trust or your home.
There may come a time when you are unable to manage your financial affairs or personal welfare, owing to some form of incapacity and you will need someone to act on your behalf.
We work hard all of our lives to provide for our families and leave something behind, would you want almost half of your hard earned assets to go to the tax man?
Planning for your ‘Golden Years’ should be considered as early as possible and we can help you both with the planning in terms of Pensions and Financial Investments
The vast majority of people put off making a Will for a variety of reasons, either believing that the people they would wish to inherit will automatically do so, or because they don’t think it is relevant to them at this particular time.
Around 70% of people pass away without writing a Will, some believe they are too young others believe that the process is too difficult or expensive, some even believe that a DIY will kit is sufficient.
The reality is that you can put off making a Will until it is too late and this poses all sorts of problems for the people left behind and could mean that some or all of your inheritance either goes to the wrong person or to the state.
Probate is the legal process of handling a person’s belongings, savings, investments and property in accordance with their final wishes. Probate processes are the responsibility of the executors named in the Will. These are usually family or friends, but some people appoint professional executors to carry out the entire probate process for a fee.
We can help, if named in your Will as such then you will be made aware of the charge, if not there is a fixed fee which would be quoted in advance of any work being carried out. This service is considerably cheaper than a bank or a solicitor, guaranteed.
The correct will and death planning, including the use of trusts, can ensure you have the most tax efficient planning and can also protect your chosen beneficiaries from several 3rd party threats.
Multiple trusts could be considered to provide autonomy to your chosen beneficiaries, so they can be in control of their ‘own’ trust.
Asset protection trusts are fairly commonplace where assets are transferred to trust in your lifetime but you still benefit from the trust. ‘Probate’ trusts can be useful to avoid probate delays in certain circumstances. Probate trusts can be useful to avoid Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) restrictions when acting under Power of Attorney. Holding assets in trust can ensure that they do not add to your beneficiaries’ estates and impact on their own IHT. Holding assets in trust can ensure that, if your children/chosen beneficiaries were subject to divorce proceedings, what you intended them to receive could be better protected from divorce settlements. If your children/chosen beneficiaries are subject to creditor claims/bankruptcy, the trust could provide more protection from such claims. Probate trusts can be useful to avoid 3rd party threats in certain circumstances, albeit deliberate deprivation must always be considered and success cannot be guaranteed.
Probate trusts are not used for Inheritance Tax (IHT) advantages, because the person who transfers assets to them continues to benefit. For IHT mitigation, lifetime planning could be considered.
Investment Trusts can also be set up during your lifetime, by opening a Trustee bank account and appointing professional Trustees, it is possible for financial investments to be held within the Trust.
There may come a time in your life when you are unable to manage your financial affairs or personal welfare, owing to some form of incapacity and you will need someone to act on your behalf.
Even when we are young, we can find ourselves incapacitated owing to illness or injury and it can be invaluable having a reliable person, who is able to manage your personal affairs and remove the anxiety of having unpaid bills, at a time when you most need peace of mind.
By creating an Attorney in advance ensures that if the worst were to happen, you can rest assured that both your financial affairs and personal welfare are in safe hands.
What will happen if I do not have a Lasting Power of Attorney?
If you do not have an LPA, an application has to be made to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship order. This has 3 main problems:
Inheritance Tax is paid on an individual’s estate when they die. At present, the tax is levied at a rate of 40% on all of your assets (including property, vehicles, investments and savings). Inheritance tax is usually paid by the Executor or administrator from the funds in the estate.
We work hard all of our lives to provide for our families and leave something behind, would you want almost half of your hard earned assets to go to the tax man?
Fortunately, this tax liability can be mitigated with careful planning under the guidance of a qualified professional. We will review your entire estate by completing a financial review, if there is a risk of inheritance tax we will look at Trusts; gifting; life assurance and business trusts.
With the improvements in healthcare, people are starting to live longer than ever before. What this means is that more of us will need to consider care fees at some point in our lives.
Residential care homes are costly and if you have not made provision for this, the burden is passed to those closest to you.
Planning for your ‘Golden Years’ should be considered as early as possible and we can help you both with the planning in terms of Pensions and Financial Investments, but also in protecting the assets you have acquired with the use of lifetime Trusts.
None of us want to see the forced sale of our family home in order to pay for our care fees, so take action now to protect yourself and your family.
