WILL WRITING SERVICE

"No-one wants to die"
–Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple

Most people do not make a Will: and if you ask why that is, some of them will acknowledge that they do not want to think about it. Ever.

There are lots of reasons why you should make a will.

Here are a few:

  • To make life easier for your family
  • To provide certainty
  • To pass on control of you assets to someone you trust (an "executor")
  • To protect children
  • To free up your mind to enjoy life!
Pets

YOUR PETS

Who will look after them

A will is about responsibilities. If you own a pet, you should consider what should happen if you die leaving your pet surviving you.

You may have already made arrangements for someone to take care of your pet. It would be helpful to say so in your will and let the executor know that any medical records for your pet should be handed to this person. You could also leave a sum of money to help fund any short-term care costs until your pet can be safely transported.

We can help you formulate the right words to cover your wishes in your will.

Digital fingerprint

DIGITAL INHERITANCE

Digital Assets

Are often family photographs, artwork, video, emails, a website or ‘blog’, music and healthcare records.

Digital assets can be stored on an iPad/tablet, mobile phone or a laptop/PC.

Devices and social media are constantly evolving.

You may wish your Facebook account to be closed after your death, that photographs and/or personal documents be transferred or deleted. It is likely you will choose someone who understands social media and online accounts to access the data and deal with it as you wish, this does not have to be your executor.

When Probate is granted it becomes a public document therefore passwords/data should not be included.

We can help you complete a note to leave with your will setting out what you want to happen.

PROBATE AND INTESTACY

Probate means getting court approval to deal with what you own as set out in your will.

Intestacy means dying without a valid will and involves getting a Grant of Letters of Administration. This can take longer than a Grant of Probate. It also means following government rules on who gets what. These rules are changed from time to time. We can deal with all these things. Rachel is experienced in wills and probate work, and in claiming available tax reliefs. The timely transfer of assets and the way in which wills are written can affect the tax outcome as the law stands today.

For solicitors: Should you have a conflict of interest or require an independent solicitor to replace an executor or to collect in the estate assets whilst the parties resolve their dispute, please email Rachel at rachel@rachelconn.co.uk

POWER OF ATTORNEY

This usually means a Lasting Power of Attorney for Property and Affairs. It is a form of agency, allowing a person(s) to manage your finances for you. The forms can be downloaded from the website of the Office of the Public Guardian.

We are able to prepare and register these documents for you. If you already have an Enduring Power of Attorney, we can advise you on its validity. We also prepare General Powers of Attorney which do not need to be registered.

To sign any kind of power of attorney requires mental capacity. If that is lacking, what happens?

COURT OF PROTECTION

If someone becomes mentally incapable and has no valid Enduring or Lasting Power of Attorney, then he or she needs a Deputy appointed by this Court to take care of their finances for them. There are more fees involved here, and the Court will supervise the Deputy at a level it will set. The Court exists to protect those who are vulnerable by reason of an inability to manage their own affairs through mental incapacity. Medical evidence of that incapacity is needed.

We can make an application for you, and deal with the subsequent preparation of annual accounts, as required by the Court.

TAX AND INHERITANCE

There are several kinds, and the ones that concern us most in estate planning and wills are inheritance tax (IHT) and capital gains tax (CGT). They are not mutually exclusive and it is possible to end up paying both.

If you have an accountant we prefer to work with him or her: there is no point paying two sets of fees if that is not necessary. Your accountant is likely to have information about eg cost values which can help us to work out future tax liabilities and how to reduce them.

The solution for you may be a trust, or a gift, or a revised will. Tax does not stand still, which means that your tax planning needs to be reviewed regularly.

We like simplicity, and it is important that you understand any tax planning we suggest, and who will control assets in that process.

We can prepare trust and estate tax returns for you, and file them electronically.