Wills / Inheritance Tax / Probate & Trusts

(a) Wills

It is very important that everyone over the age of 18 makes a Will. However great or small your assets are if you die without making a Will you can leave your next of kin with serious problems.

Do not rely on the Administration of Estates Act, which will operate if you die without a Will. Like so many Acts of parliament its provisions are complicated and not at all user friendly.

Also if you have young children you need to appoint the people you would wish to be their guardians.

A simple Will can be prepared at a cost of £78 inclusive of VAT.

We are members of the National free Wills Network. You can visit their website at www.nationalfreewills.net

(b) Inheritance Tax

The current personal exemption for Inheritance Tax for an individual is £325,000. It is now possible for spouses to transfer any unused Nil Rate Band from one spouse to the other. A surviving spouse, potentially, can now have an estate worth £650,000 before paying Inheritance Tax. We can review Wills that have been prepared incorporating Inheritance Tax planning. We can also advise clients who have assets in excess of the Inheritance Tax threshold.

(c) Probate and Trusts

It may be appropriate for you to leave some of your money on Trust. We can advise you about this and draft the necessary Trust documents.

Our charges for winding up estates are very competitive. We aim to complete the administration of most estates within 6 months of death. Obviously for larger estates where IHT is payable it can take longer but we would arrange for interim distributions to beneficiaries in such cases.

You can instruct us to manage Trusts which are made by life time gifts or set up under Wills. We can arrange independent financial advice from Stock Brokers or Independent Financial Advisors.

To make an appointment telephone on 016973 42121 and ask for Maria Wright or Dorothy Steel or send an email to us.