What happens if I can't look after myself anymore?
By making an Enduring Power of Attorney Deed, you can
appoint members of your family or friends to act on your behalf.
This document allows their powers to continue after you have lost
the ability to do these things yourself.
The deed is flexible and allows you to decide when your attorneys
would be able to act for you. By filling in one form you will
have the peace of mind that no matter what happens, someone will
be able to look after your affairs for you.
If you die without making a Will (known as being intestate),
the inheritance of your money and property (your estate) is decided
by laws called the Intestacy Rules. These rules only make provision
for spouses (or Civil Partners) and blood relatives. The rules
do not let your estate pass to unmarried (or unregistered) partners,
friends or charities. It is also more expensive to administer
an intestate estate, so the people that do benefit will not get
as much.
By making a Will you will be able to:
Use Tax exemptions available after your death, more of your
money will go to the people you want it to go to.
Choose who will be your executor to deal with your estate
Leave your estate to partners, friends, family and charities.
If someone or something is important to you, leaving them something
in your Will is a nice way to be remembered.
If you have not made a new Will or married your old Will is
still valid and will take effect, but it might not reflect your
current circumstances. Children may have grown up, friends may
have died or fallen out. You might have a lot more or a lot less
money than you did when you made your last Will.
It is a good idea to update your Will every 5 years to make sure
it is up to date and reflects your life now, and will make the
best use of your estate when you die.
Any existing Wills would no longer be valid after your
wedding. A new Will can be drawn up before your wedding which
states that it will not be revoked when you get married, this
gives you the opportunity to make a provision for your new Husband
or Wife and review the other gifts you will make.
If you do not make a Will then your spouse will receive a proportion
of your estate, at the moment this is £120,000 if you have
children and £200,000 if you don't, they will have to share
everything else with the other members of your family who are
entitled to inherit from your estate.
I am registering a Civil Partnership what effect does this have?
When a couple Register as Civil Partners the law regarding
Wills and Inheritance treats the Partners in the same way as married
couples so the effect of registering your partnership will be
the same as that of a marriage and will revoke any Wills made
before you registered your partnership.
I live with my partner but we're not married should I make a Will?
If you are not married to, or registered with your partner,
it is a very good idea to make a Will providing for them.
If you do not make a Will and you die then your partner will not
automatically inherit anything. Only blood relatives and spouses
and civil partners are entitled. Your partner might be able to
make a claim against your estate if you provided for them when
you were alive, but this is a stressful and costly process, and
is likely to reduce the value of your estate, which means that
the people who do inherit will get less than you wanted them to.
If you make a will you can ensure that your partner is provided
for. You can also take advantage of your tax allowances and make
sure your money is used effectively.
Top I am getting divorced how does this affect me?
When a marriage is dissolved or a Civil Partnership is
terminated, any gifts to the former spouse or partner will be
treated as if the spouse or partner has died.
It is a good idea to make sure that the share originally intended
to go to them, will be distributed the way you want.
When you die your estate may be liable to Inheritance
tax (IHT). Anything passing to a spouse or civil partner will
be exempt from IHT.
Everyone receives an allowance for IHT, if your estate is under
the allowance no IHT is payable, if your estate goes over the
allowance, the amount over will be taxed at 40%.
The current allowance is £275,000, if your estate is over
this amount it is a good idea to make a Will that brings your
estate as close to the allowance as possible to reduce the amount
of IHT that will be payable.
Try not to worry. There are certain things that need
to be sorted out, but we can help.
After a death someone will be appointed as an executor or administrator
to gather in that person's money and assets, pay any debts and
distribute the money to the beneficiaries. We can act on behalf
of the executors and do most of the work for you.
We will keep you informed as the administration of the estate
goes along. Top
What is a Trust?
A trust is a way of managing your assets so that they
benefit the people you want them to. Trustees (picked by you)
manage the trust fund and you can make instructions so that they
know who to pay money to and when.
You can make a trust when you are alive or in your Will. Trusts
are a very flexible way to manage your assets.
