Will Writers and Will Makers of distinction

Your Will is probably the most important document you’ll ever own.

Not only can it help safeguard your family and all the valuable things that you spend your life working so hard for, it’ll also make sure that they go to exactly the people you want them to.

If you don’t have a Will, your assets will be distributed by the authorities according to the Laws Of Intestacy.

We’ve got over 10 years professional experience behind us and over that time we’ve drafted thousands of Wills – many of which have already passed through Probate. Meaning that you’re in extremely safe hands.

Making your Will is easy. We don’t baffle you with legal terminology and we have a clear charging structure. Simply call us on 0800 093 2286 for more information or to arrange a convenient time to meet one of our consultants. Alternatively click here for our contact details.

An LPA is a legal document which allows you to choose someone now that you trust to make decisions on your behalf about things such as your property and affairs or personal welfare at a time in the future when you no longer wish to make those decisions or you may lack the mental capacity to make those decisions yourself.

A Personal Welfare LPA allows you to plan ahead by choosing one or more people to make decisions on your behalf regarding your personal healthcare and welfare.  These personal welfare decisions can only be taken by somebody else when you lack the capacity to make them for yourself; for example if you are unconscious or because of the onset of a condition such as dementia. The Attorney(s) you appoint to make personal welfare decisions will only be able to use this power once the LPA has been registered and provided that you cannot make the required decision yourself.  You can give the attorney the power to make decisions about any or all of your personal welfare matters, including healthcare matters. This could involve some significant decisions such as giving ore refusing consent to particular types of health care; whether you continue to live in your own home, perhaps with help and support from social services, or whether residential care would be more appropriate for you. If you want your attorney to have the power to make decisions about “life-sustaining treatment” you have to expressly give your chosen Attorney(s) the power to make such decisions on the LPA form. You can also give your Attorney(s) the power to make decisions about day-to-day aspects of your personal welfare, such as your diet, your dress, your daily routine. It is up to the Donor which of these decisions he/she wants to allow the Attorney(s) to make.

A Property and Affairs LPA allows you to plan ahead by choosing one or more people to make decisions on your behalf regarding your property and financial affairs.   You can appoint a property and affairs Attorney to manage your finances and property whilst you still have the capacity as well as when you lack the capacity. For example, it may be easier for you to give someone the power to carry out tasks such as paying your bills or collecting your benefits or other income.  This might be easier for a lot of reasons; you might find it difficult to get about or talk on the telephone, or you might be out of the country for long periods of time. The decisions you could hand over to your Attorney(s) could include paying your bills, collecting your benefits or selling your house.

We are highly experienced in preparing Lasting Powers of Attorney for clients with a variety of requirements and expectations.

Each year a staggering 40 to 70,000 family homes are sold simply to cover the owner’s care fees. Capital assets (family home, savings etc) intended as inheritances for children are often decimated over short periods once the care fees have been paid. Yet with professional advice and pre-planning this is entirely avoidable.

‘Giving away’ a home to children fails to protect the home owner and provides no guarantee that the home will not be taken into account for financial assessment. It also opens the possibly that the home may pass to unintended parties through divorce, bankruptcy or if a child dies before a parent.

We provide a solution to this complex area. Written by a leading Estate Planning Solicitor it is an entirely new form of trust that provides a greater degree of protection and flexibility than almost any other type of plan currently on the market. A unique solution, which places the owner’s home into the protection of a trust that becomes owned by the trustees (usually the home owner’s children), it ensures the following:

• A home will not be taken into account for financial assessment purposes in the event of the former owner requiring residential care.
• The former owner retains the right of residence, in the home, for the remainder of their life and cannot be evicted in any circumstances.
• The former owner retains the ability to sell the home and buy a new property of their choice.
• The former owner can sell the home and draw an income from the proceeds placed in trust.
• On the former owner’s death (or second death if the trust is for a married couple) the property, or proceeds of sale, passes to the chosen beneficiaries without the need for probate; saving both time and money.

Professional advice is essential in this highly specialised area. Please contact us to arrange for specific guidance appropriate to your individual circumstances.

WHAT TO DO WHEN SOMEONE DIES

There are many things to organise when someone dies and it is easy to forget vital steps or become overwhelmed..

Things to be aware of before you start:

• Every death must be registered with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
• If you have a cheque in the Deceased’s name or in joint names, get them reissued in your sole name.
• An Executor is legally obligated to act in the interests of the Deceased. If you are unwilling or unable to act as an Executor or appoint a Professional Executor such as Kings Court, you should complete a renunciation form.

For plain-speaking help and advice on Probate, talk to our Probate Support Team.

WHAT IS PROBATE?

Probate is the process to establish ownership of an estate – the property, assets and possessions of a deceased person.

When someone dies Intestate, i.e. without a Will, Probate is still legally required, although the process is known as Administration.

Each Probate case is different and the time it takes will depend on its complexity, the types of assets, legal or tax complications, as well as other factors.

With Will Makers of The Midlands, you can be rest assured that your case will be handled efficiently and cost effectively, with a personal case manager keeping you informed and providing you with the support you need every step of the way.

You will also be provided with an INSIGHT account if you wish, where you can monitor how your case is progressing online, anytime you like.

WHO NEEDS PROBATE?

Generally Probate will be required to enable a person’s assets to be distributed following their death, however, each situation is unique and in some cases it may not be necessary.
Probate may not be needed when:

• all assets are in joint names and pass to the surviving joint owner.
• the person who has died has left very little (usually less than £5,000).

Despite these exceptions, it is still important to check the rules with the relevant bank, building society or other financial institution.  Even with a small estate, these limits can vary between companies, so you will still need to contact each one separately. 

Preparing for the Unexpected

If working in your business is no longer an option due to illness, a desire to retire or death, what will happen to your orphaned company? Will it be folded, sold or transferred? Will the process be frustrating or relatively simple? Take steps now to ensure that the true value of your business is realized with a minimum of fuss.

Many clients choose to detail the level of care that they wish to receive should they suffer a catastrophic medical emergency.

An Advance Directive (or Living Will) allows you to leave clear instructions for your doctors in the case of a life threatening or terminal medical emergency.

One of the primary reasons for this is to remove the decision making responsibility from friends of family.

Advance Directives are easy to arrange with your consultant and are a standard component of most Estate Planning packages.

We all know how easy it is to lose or misplace documents that are kept at home, especially if you move house. Furthermore, with over 64,000 household fires, 1,000,000 burglaries and 2,000,000 homes at risk from flooding each year the statistics are against us.

Our Document Security & Legal Services Scheme offers a substantial range of benefits. Firstly you have peace of mind knowing that your vital documentation is safe and easy to locate. You also reap the rewards of having valuable access to free Legal, Tax and Medical Helplines as well as a free annual Will update service.

Establishing a Trust in your Will can be extremely valuable in Estate Planning terms for a number of different reasons.

When it comes to protecting assets and controlling the distribution of your Estate, Trusts are essential and we provide a variety of different solutions depending upon your objectives.

Despite changes in Taxation policy in October 2007 there are still very valuable reasons for establishing Trusts in your Will and there are still Inheritance Tax benefits.

Furthermore having certain assets ring fenced in a Trust environment can ensure that your children are not disinherited through remarriage after your death, and ensure that they are protected from subsequent divorce settlements too.

Should a surviving partner become infirm and need to go into long term care funds in Trust would not feature in terms of Local Authority means testing.

In terms of saving Inheritance Tax, by putting funds into a Trust on your death you can ensure that your children benefit without running the risk of the fund creating an additional Inheritance Tax burden in the future.

In addition to Will Trusts we offer a variety of lifetime Trusts such as Discretionary Trusts (Relevant Property Trusts) and Interest in Possession Trusts. We are also able to act as a Professional Trustee so we can administer the schemes that we set up for clients.

The benefits of changing to Tenants in Common are:

1. It can help protect your whole property from being taken to pay for the cost of long term care.
2. It can ensure that your half of your house eventually goes to you children even if your widow re-marries. (A well written Will is required to ensure this, please call for further details)
3. Your surviving spouse could have more children by a new partner which would dilute your own children’s inheritance.
4. If you are declared bankrupt then your asset base is reduced.
5. You can say who your half of your house goes to in your will. (You are not able to do this if you own your house as Joint owners as the surviving owner inherits the whole house by survivorship no matter what it says in your will!)

We all know how easy it is to lose or misplace documents that are kept at home, especially if you move house. Furthermore, with over 64,000 household fires, 1,000,000 burglaries and 2,000,000 homes at risk from flooding each year the statistics are against us.

Our Document Security Service offers a substantial range of benefits. Firstly you have peace of mind knowing that your vital documentation is safe and easy to locate. You also reap the rewards of having valuable access to free Legal and Tax Helplines.

Key Advantages

• Secure storage of your Will and associated documents – meaning that irreplaceable paperwork is safe and confidential, so it can’t be invalidated by accident or viewed inappropriately by family or friends.
• Free Legal and Tax help lines – additional extras don’t come much better than this, especially if you’ve experienced just how much this sort of advice normally costs. Just pick up the phone and speak to a fully qualified legal adviser or tax adviser.
• Free Annual Update Service – It’s a bit annoying to have to pay a fee every time you want to make a simple amendment to your Will, so we’ve included a free updates in our storage service. This covers basic changes such as new address details (if you move house) and the inclusion of new beneficiaries.
• For more information on this service please contact us.

Nominating specific Guardians in your Will to look after young children is very important – and if you don’t the authorities will do so on your behalf. This is unlikely to coincide with your own wishes and may be hugely upsetting and disruptive for your children.

It can also sometimes mean that a partner (if you are unmarried) does not automatically become Guardian to children, even though they may be the father.