If you have not made a Will then the Intestacy Laws determine what happens to your estate. This might not be what you would like to happen. If you are married with children then the surviving spouse will not necessarily get everything. This can also be the case where there are no children but there are brothers or sisters of the deceased. If you are not married the estate will not pass to the surviving partner. There can be Inheritance Tax (IHT) implications. You can appoint guardians for minor children and express wishes about funeral arrangements. References to marriage include civil partnerships. You can avoid problems by letting us make your Will. How do we achieve this? MAKING A WILL We ask you to tell us in your own words what you want to happen to your estate We look at your financial situation generally to see if IHT planning is advisable. We discuss with you the different provisions you can make in the Will. Some you may not want to include but it is important to have a record of this. If your Estate is disputed ( and this happens more and more frequently) you will not be available to say what you wanted! We prepare and send you a draft Will. We also let you have Explanatory Notes, tailor made for your Will and in plain English, explaining what every clause means If there is anything you do not understand or if you want amendments we discuss these with you Once when you are happy with the draft we prepare the top copy and make sure it is signed correctly (failure to do this makes the Will invalid) PROBATE AND INTESTACY When a close family member dies it is a very distressing time. The procedure for obtaining Probate (where there is a Will) or Letters of Administration (on Intestacy) are complex. We can take the strain out of this. We take your detailed instructions from the person entitled to deal with the estate (the Personal Representative) We notify all concerned including banks, insurers and statutory bodies and get the details of the values of assets and liabilities We prepare the Revenue & Customs forms (this has to be done even for small estates). We go through this with the Personal Representative If IHT is due we arrange for this to be paid from Bank or Building Society assets. We prepare the Oath that has to be sworn and arrange for this to be done and lodge the papers with the Probate Office. Once the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration are received the estate can be administered. If the estate is simple we ask the Personal Representatives if they want to save costs by doing this personally If the Personal Representative wants us to deal with the administration (which we are happy to do) then we send copies of the Grant to all who need to see a copy We call in any money that is due to the estate and pay any liabilities. If we hold money for any length of time it is put in a designated deposit account and all interest received belongs to the estate We prepare a Report on the estate and Estate Accounts which are sent to the Personal Representative. Once the Report and Accounts are approved we distribute the estate in accordance with the Will or Intestacy Rules and register any property transfers with the Land Registry TRUSTS People are generally frightened at the thought of a Trust and think they are not for them. However there is nothing to be concerned about and many people are trustees without realising it. When two or more people buy a property together a trust is established although there may not be a formal trust deed. Trusts are arrangements whereby the people who have the legal ownership of an asset (i.e. they can deal with the asset) do not have the beneficial interest which belongs to someone else They can be used to protect the assets of, for example, the elderly or disabled children from being treated as assets for the purposes of means tested benefits They can be used to give one person the benefit of the interest or use of an asset during their lifetime but preserving the capital for someone else. An example would be letting an ex-spouse to have an income or use of a house during their life but then the capital or property goes to the children Another example is the "Bank of Mom & Dad". Frequently parents will assist a child financially in buying a home. The parents want to ensure that in due course the money will be available to be shared by other of their children. A Trust is the answer It is not possible here to discuss all the possibilities. If you think you might need a Trust we will be happy to discuss your situation further and advise you Our approach is similar to preparing a Will. We draft a Trust Deed and Explanatory Notes and once you are happy that you are doing the correct thing we prepare a final copy for signature

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