Will Services

Your Will

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 can 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.

Making your Will is easy. We don't baffle you with legal terminology and we have a clear fixed-fee charging structure. Simply call us on 01423 534524 DD or 0871 2887020 for more information or to arrange a free initial consultation.

Powers of Attorney

Following the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in October 2007, you can now draw up a legal document called a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) which enables you to appoint a person or persons to look after your affairs in the event of mental and/or physical incapacity, perhaps due to infirmity in old age, illness or accident. It’s essential that such arrangements are made while you are fit and healthy, to avoid families being left with a multitude of practical problems, since the Law doesn’t allow such arrangements to be made after the event.

You can draw up an LPA to cover the management of your financial affairs (a Property & Affairs LPA) and a second LPA (a Personal Welfare LPA) to cover the management of personal matters such as medical care and ultimately the acceptance or refusal of life-sustaining treatment.

While an LPA is a very powerful document, there are a number of safeguards to prevent its abuse:

An LPA is primarily used to appoint people to deal with your affairs after the onset of mental and/or physical incapacity. However before the document can be used, certain people (who you nominate when drafting the LPA) have to be notified and they can object if they are not happy with the reasons why the document is being brought into effect.
You can include restrictions on what the people you appoint can and cannot do and you can include advice and guidance on how you would like them to act.
When the LPA is signed, a certificate must be completed to confirm that when creating the document you understood the meaning and consequences of it.
Like your Will, an LPA can be updated or cancelled at any time should your circumstances change.

Setting Up Trusts In Your Will

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.