We all have to face the reality of life and death. Not all of us address the legal implications of this. You should ignore them at your peril.
Wills
Don’t make the making of a Will the last thing on your mind.
Dying without a Will can cause serious problems and unwanted stress for surviving relatives.
Whether you are single, married, divorced, cohabiting, young or old different circumstances throw up different legal issues that you will need advice on when making a Will.
Our highly experienced team will work with you to assess the current and future situation of you and your family and we will make writing or reviewing your Will a straightforward process.
Probate & Administration of Estates
When you die you will probably leave behind your property, personal possessions and variables (your Estate). Without a Grant of Probate where you have a Will in place on death or Letters of Administration (where there is no Will) no one can do anything with your Estate as no one has any legal authority to act on your behalf and interfere with your assets. In your Will you would have appointed Trustees and Executors to act on your behalf and where there is no Will a close relative or family member will often nominate themselves to deal with your affairs as Personal Representative. These are the people who may need our advice and assistance.
Our specialist legal team will guide you through what needs to be done in order to handle the “winding up” of the Estate with great sensitivity and understanding at what is inevitably a very upsetting and sometimes confusing and stressful time.
As part of our service we will consider whether there is also a need to minimise the tax liabilities on your Estate and those of your beneficiaries by careful tax planning. This may involve Deeds of Variation or Family Arrangements.
Sometimes there may be disputes between beneficiaries, Executors or those who want to make a claim against your Estate and we can advise should such circumstances arise.
Services for the Elderly
Lasting Powers of Attorney
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) enables you to choose who you would like to manage your affairs be it property, financial or other should you become unable to do so. You can define how much power you donate and you can change the measure and or terms of the power and your nomination of Attorney at anytime.
Usually a Power of Attorney comes into effect when you are unable to manage your own affairs.
We all get older but life is a lottery. When it comes to choosing who will lose mental capacity and be unable to handle their legal and financial affairs as a result it is wise to plan ahead and consider this when you are mentally fit. Our specialist legal team will give you full advice and help you to consider all your options thereby protecting your assets for you and your family.
Long Term Care Planning
No one knows whether they will have to be admitted to long term care. There are financial implications for you and your family should this occur. We will discuss with you the financial implications of such a move and also the potential advantages and disadvantages of transferring property and other assets to your family members.
Care Costs
We can help you recover care costs fees that you or a member of your family may have incorrectly paid. Have you been assessed correctly? Should you be paying? Can you reclaim?
Trusts and Tax Planning
A Trust is a fund into which you can transfer some of your assets for the benefit of others. Either you or your appointed trustees can control this Trust. Sometimes there are tax advantages. We are able to advise on the suitability and the appropriateness of a Trust being set up in your circumstances and the likely tax implications.
Inheritance Tax potentially becomes payable on your death subject to the value of your Estate. It is possible to try and minimise its impact by careful tax planning. We can advise you should any Inheritance Tax saving measures be available to you and your Estate.
