Making sure your power of attorney is correct

Your professional consultant that helps you with the drafting of your power of attorney will ask you a number of questions that are designed to ensure that you know exactly what you’re doing, that you’re making your own choices and that you complete the paperwork correctly.
After we’ve talked about a power of attorney (called a […]

Local Authority Powers

A client has asked us the following question about care home fees and how the local authority decides who pays:
Could I have some feed back on the limit of the Local Authority (LA) powers to claw back fees against property owned by the daughter and only child of an elderly lady.
Approximately two years ago […]

Save tax and write your will

There’s a lot of available information online about what taxes you need to pay and ways you can save paying taxes.

A good place to start is the Daily Mail’s online money website.
If you go to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/frame-money.html then on the left in the personal finance section, click on ‘Tax & Wills’, you’ll find lots of helpful […]

What about my life’s little treasures?

Regularly, we meet clients who have a long list of gifts (for long distant relatives) that they haven’t really given enough thought about.
‘What should I do?’ is the usual ask.

They don’t mean the ten thousand pounds or euros sat in a building society account (do you remember building societies?). They don’t mean their Porche or […]

Power of attorney - what is it?

Lasting Power of Attorney (England & Wales)
Continuing & Welfare Power of Attorney (Scotland):
Who will manage your affairs should you become incapable due to an accident, stroke, dementia or Alzheimer’s? Who will sign cheques, documents and withdraw money from your account to pay the bills?
Unless you have a Power of Attorney in place you may end […]

Bucket List

This is the title of a film staring the great Jack Nicholson and the legendary Morgan Freeman. The Bucket List is brilliantly written; the screen play takes us through the last stages of two men’s lives. They are both dying and are into the last few months of their lives, although they don’t know exactly […]

Common law marriage Will writing

It’s said that almost four million people choose to live together without being married in England and Wales.
Many couples believe that after two years of living together they automatically have rights know as a common law marriage; giving them the same rights as married or civil partnership couples. This simply isn’t true and hasn’t been […]

What to do after death

What to do and how to behave after someone dies are circumstances we’re not usually involved with until the situation arrives, often unannounced.
The BBC publish an excellent booklet called ‘Losing Your Partner’
It takes you through:
• Initial shock
• Immediate practicalities
• The emotional aftermath
• Friends and family
• Widowed with young children
• As time passes
• Rebuilding your life
• Re-examine your life
• Helping someone who has been bereaved
• Useful […]

Protective Trust Will

When people make a standard Will, they usually leave everything to the survivor and then to their children. It may come as a surprise to know that your children could end up with very little or even nothing at all. This may happen if one or both of you need residential care.
Although people are living […]

Inheritance Tax Planning Will

When people make a standard Will, they usually leave everything to the survivor and then to their children. It may come as a surprise to know that your children could end up with a substantial tax bill which will require to be paid to the government prior to them actually inheriting from yourselves.
It has been […]