Planning for the future brings peace of mind today. We support you through will writing, Lasting Powers of Attorney, inheritance planning and probate with clarity, compassion and practical guidance.
WILLS
Our services include:
Making your Will needs to be handled by Solicitors with the expertise and sensitivity to ensure that your Will reflects your wishes. Planning for the future can offer assurance of your family’s future protection.
Our wills and probate solicitors have expertise in estate planning, wills, probate, trusts and lasting powers of attorney. We provide expert advice on the preparation of your will, estate administration, estate planning, tax planning, trusteeships, powers of attorney and Court of Protection applications. If you have made a will, we will review it for you to assess whether it needs to be changed to account for a change in circumstances.
Many people think making a will and estate planning are one and the same. In reality, making a will and estate planning have slightly different meanings.
Making a will refers to preparing the legally binding document that sets out how your assets should be dealt with after your death. Estate planning is a broader term for the preparation needed to make sure your wishes can be carried out as smoothly as possible. That begins with making a will, but it does not end there.
A will may be challenged in limited circumstances, including where there are concerns about validity, undue influence, capacity, lack of proper execution, or where someone may have a claim for reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
If we store your original will, it will be kept securely. After your death, your executors are responsible for administering your estate, which may include collecting assets, paying liabilities and tax, and distributing the estate in accordance with your will.
PROBATE
We minimise the stress following the death of a family member or friend.
We provide a sympathetic, personal and efficient service to guide you through each stage of obtaining probate.
You may require probate if you are the executor of somebody’s will and are responsible for handling the deceased’s property, money and possessions. If you do not feel able to do this, or if the estate is complicated, it may be sensible to work with a probate specialist.
The standard inheritance tax nil-rate band is currently £325,000. A residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 may also apply where a qualifying residence passes to direct descendants, although this can be tapered for estates over £2 million. The rules are subject to exemptions, reliefs and future changes, so specific advice should be taken.
The probate process can take some time and varies depending on the complexity of the estate. It typically takes 8 to 16 weeks to obtain a grant of probate from the HM Courts & Tribunals Service, although straightforward applications can be quicker and more complex cases may take longer. Once the grant has been issued, administering the estate usually takes 6 to 12 months, but this can extend beyond a year for larger or more complicated estates (for example, those involving property sales, disputes, or overseas assets).
Intestacy
If the deceased did not make a will, we are able to search the National Wills Register, Certainty.co.uk to ensure that no Will can be found.
If there is no will, we can advise you on the complex laws of Intestacy and guide you through the administration process.
Lasting Power of Attorney
Allows you to choose the people you want to make decisions on your behalf if you were to lose mental capacity and become unable to make such decisions.
A Lasting Power of Attorney is completed in advance of you losing mental capacity and will minimise the distress for yourself and your loved ones if this ever happened.
There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney:
Benefits of making an LPA
We would always recommend that you create an LPA for the future whilst you are still able to as once you have lost mental capacity then your loved ones would have to go through a more costly and lengthy procedure of making a deputyship application to the Court of Protection.
Ordinary Power of Attorney
An Ordinary Power of Attorney allows you to appoint an Attorney to deal with your financial affairs whilst you still remain mentally capable. You may wish to complete an OPA if you need somebody to deal with your affairs relatively quickly, for instance, this may be needed if you were to go abroad for a period of time. We are able to complete this quickly and efficiently to make things as easy as possible for you.
Court of Protection
The Court of Protection can appoint a deputy to make decisions, usually about property and financial affairs. Personal welfare deputyships are less common and are only made where the court considers them necessary.
If you would like to discuss your options with one of our dedicated Wills and Probate solicitors, please contact our Wills and Probate team for advice tailored to your circumstances.
As members of Certainty Will Registration Service, our wills service will register your Will free of charge on The National Wills Register. Your Will remains confidential but having it registered means that it can be easily located by…
Plan in advance who you want to appoint as an Attorney to make decisions on your behalf Stipulate how you want your Attorney to make decisions Minimise the distress for yourself and your family and friends if you were…
Relating to Wills and Probate, an Ordinary Power of Attorney allows you to appoint an Attorney to deal with your financial affairs whilst you still remain mentally capable. You may wish to complete an Ordinary Power of Attorney if…
If a loved one loses the mental capacity to make their own decisions and they do not have a Lasting or Enduring Power of Attorney (pre-October 2007) then we can make an application on your behalf to the Court…