Wills & Tax Planning
When you die your property, financial and personal affairs must be dealt with. By making a Will you can ensure that your specific wishes for the division or disposal of your property, money and other personal possessions will be carried out by whoever you entrust the task to.
We can help with:
- Estate Planning
- Making a Will
- Tax Planning
- Estate Administration
Wills
Contrary to popular belief, making a Will is relatively straightforward and should not be put off as being unimportant. A Will helps to simplify the administration of your estate and remove some of the stress and worry your family may experience at a time of bereavement. It can also help to reduce the cost of dealing with your estate and careful planning can minimise inheritance tax liabilities.
A Will can ensure that any children you may have are provided for, especially if you are separated or single. If you are married or living with a partner you can also specify how they will benefit after your death.
If you die without making a Will, the rules of ‘intestacy’ would apply. One or more of your family members would apply to administer your estate and it will then be distributed to your relatives in accordance with the law. This could mean that the people you wish to benefit from your assets do not do so, because they are not entitled to them under the law. The intestacy rules may also result in complex trusts being set up which can be costly to administer.
If you already have a Will we can make minor changes by means of short supplementary documents called ‘codicils’ to reflect your new circumstances. However, after a major life change such as divorce or moving house we recommend that you arrange for a new Will to be prepared. Marriage or civil partnership will revoke a Will put in place prior to the marriage or civil partnership so following either of these events a new Will must be put in place to avoid the intestacy rules applying. The absence of a Will does not mean that your spouse or civil partner will inherit everything – they may not.
Click here to see our Rules of Intestacy Flowchart
Tax Planning
Placing assets into a Trust during your lifetime can help to minimise your Inheritance Tax liability. Any assets held in a Trust do not form part of your estate when you die and may escape Inheritance Tax, if sufficient time has passed since you placed the assets into the trust.
Assets which you put into Trust under the terms of your Will can also be shielded in a second family situation without depriving your family of access to those funds as and when they need them. This is a way of passing family money down the generations free of tax.
It is also possible to place any Death in Service Benefits (which may flow from a pension scheme membership) and Life Policy Proceeds, into a Trust Fund. By placing these interests in a Trust you are ensuring that they do not form part of your estate on your death and will therefore not be subject to Inheritance Tax. As the benefits are usually only paid out in the event of your death (i.e. you would not benefit from them directly) this is a good method of reducing your inheritance tax bill.
If the value of your assets is such that you will not require any tax planning or estate planning, your Will should be straightforward we will apply a fixed fee. If you require tax planning advice and a more complex Will, for example making effective use of the nil rate band, we will charge on a time basis and the fee will be based on the time spent in dealing with your matter.
Our Private Client Team has extensive experience of preparing Wills and administering estates and trusts created by Wills or the intestacy laws. A meeting can be arranged at our offices, or we can visit you at home, to explain and prepare your Will or outline the process of obtaining Probate after the death of a relative. Whatever your requirements, we will handle your needs efficiently and sensitively.
