Please, click on the questions below for more information:
To contact our Wills team:
Telephone Richard Sampson on 01722 410664 or email richard.sampson@sampsoncoward.co.uk or maria.shaw@sampsoncoward.co.uk or click on our Contact Form button below.
What happens if I do not have a Will?
Do not assume that your assets will be distributed as you wish. Frequent examples are:
- If you are married your spouse and children will share your estate but your spouse will be entitled only to a fixed statutory legacy and the remainder will be left in trust funds, partly for his or her benefit and partly for the benefit of the children. The same statutory rules also require specific people to act as the administrators of your estate. They may not have the necessary skills and there could be problems, for example if you have been married before and have children from both your first and second marriages. All of them would be equally entitled to act as administrators in your estate. There may also be complications because the statutory rules do not provide for an unmarried partner, friends or charities you may have supported during your lifetime.
- If you have no next of kin and do not leave a Will, then the whole of your estate will go to the Crown.
- If you are divorced with minor children your ex-spouse would have parental responsibility for your children on your death and would be entitled to act as administrator on their behalf.
How do I make a Will?
We will take you through the process step by step. We need details of your family and any other dependants; then we can work through the value of your estate with you, advise you on the inheritance tax payable and discuss how you wish to divide your estate.
Once all the necessary information has been obtained, your Will will be prepared and a draft sent to you for approval. In each Will executors are appointed who are the people you choose to administer your estate. They are responsible for identifying the assets and debts, realising any assets to meet any debts and distributing the balance to your chosen beneficiaries. If you have minor children, it is sensible to include in your Will the appointment of suitable persons as testamentary guardians of them. Your Will will then give details of any specific bequests or legacies of sums of money or specific items. In appropriate cases you may wish to make a trust gift where the trustees manage the assets for the benefit of a group of beneficiaries. This can be used to minimise the liability of inheritance tax.
Inheritance Tax
“The only certainties in life are death and taxes” (Benjamin Franklin).
Inheritance tax is a tax which is payable on the value of your estate at the date of your death and potentially on lifetime gifts. It is charged at a flat rate of 40% on the value of your estate over an exempt amount known as the nil rate band. The nil rate band is currently £312,000. Therefore if an estate has a value of £500,000 the inheritance tax will be £75,200, although in respect of widows or widowers who die after 8 October 2007 the nil rate band may be increased by any unused proportion of the nil rate band applicable on the death of their pre deceased spouse. Nevertheless given the value of property, an increasing number of people are being caught by inheritance tax. It is important to review this in the context of making a Will. It may be possible to reduce the incidence of Inheritance Tax.
If you own property jointly with your spouse or partner we will ask whether you are joint tenants or tenants in common. It is important to establish the appropriate form of joint ownership, especially if you wish to make particular provision with regard to your share of the property in your Will. You can only do this if you are tenants in common. Also if you wish to own the property otherwise than in equal shares, you can only do this if you are tenants in common and in such cases an appropriate trust deed will almost certainly need to be prepared.
The act of making a Will provides an opportunity for discussion as to suitable lifetime tax planning which will minimise the incidence of Inheritance Tax whether it be by way of lifetime gift or putting money into trust either during your lifetime or upon death.
I already have a Will but wish to change it.
Once your Will has been completed, you cannot make changes by simply altering it. However if you only wish to make a few simple changes this can be done by way of a codicil. If the changes you wish to make are fundamental, then it is best to make a brand new Will as this will avoid any misunderstanding between the wording of your original Will and the words you substitute by codicil and will probably be no more expensive. It is vital that you take responsibility for reviewing your Will on a regular basis to take into account changes in the law and taxation and also changes in your personal status. For example if you marry or divorce, this will have the effect of revoking all or part of your Will.
Once I have made a Will can it be challenged?
If it appears from our discussion that there are dependants whom you are not benefiting under your Will then we will advise you as to their ability to make an application against your estate after your death and how best to guard against that.
Probate
When someone dies, their money, property and possessions have to be dealt with. Any debts and tax due must be paid and then the remaining assets distributed to the beneficiaries of the Will or divided under the rules of” intestacy”. This process is called Probate. It can be complicated depending on the size and make up of the deceased estate.
We can carry out the complex process of dealing with the estate of someone who has died, provide practical guidance to an Executor of a Will or next of kin regarding determining the size of an Estate for Probate and advise on the payment of Inheritance Tax.
