Business assets must have been owned for two years prior to death to qualify for Business Property Relief. BPR.
A full explanation of BPR can be found at the governmentt’s Inland Revenue website www.hmrc.gov.uk, go to the section called Inheritance tax and then look for HMRC Inheritance Tax: Customer Guide and you’ll find a list of […]
Posted on September 6th, 2007 by Stephen
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One question consultants of LSUK get asked is “I don’t want ‘so and so’ to benefit from my Will, how can I go about it?” The answer is almost simple, but not quite.
Firstly, there are people you can’t fail to include in your Will. Firstly, take children under the age of eighteen. The law […]
Posted on August 27th, 2007 by Stephen
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Should you and your wife/husband/partner each have your own Will?
Yes, but first, what are joint wills?
There was a time when couples could write ‘joint wills’ (just one will for two people) and people often express this wish. However, this is usually just confusion on the use of legal words; what most people want are separate […]
Posted on August 23rd, 2007 by Stephen
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The people of UK are great charity supporters. Around 7 out of 10 people in the UK support charities, yet less than 1 in 20 remember one in their Will.
You don’t have to make a tricky choice between family or charity. It’s easy to consider both. You can state either a fixed amount, or a […]
Posted on August 9th, 2007 by Stephen
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Nowadays, there are many treatments, which offer patients with serious or terminal illnesses the chance to live longer. These treatments include chemotherapy, being fed through a tube or being kept alive on a life support machine.
However, in some cases, these treatments may offer little or no chance of recovery and they may have side effects […]
Posted on August 2nd, 2007 by Stephen
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Depending on which statistics you accept, 70 or 75% of the adult population do NOT have a legally valid Last Will & Testament. Many people are actually concerned about this ‘irresponsibility’ when their personal arrangements in all other aspects of their lives are exemplary.
So why is it that people don’t make a Will? It’s not […]
Posted on July 24th, 2007 by Stephen
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The simplest way to avoid inheritance tax (IHT) is to make gifts while you are still alive.
Every tax year you can give away £3,000 of assets and they will not count towards your estate for IHT. If you do not use up the full exemption in one year you can carry it forward, but for […]
Posted on July 19th, 2007 by Stephen
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You don’t like anyone telling you how to run your life. Good for you. So why let the state decide what happens to your assets when you die? If, like seven out of ten people, you die intestate - without making a will - the law decides who will get what; in some cases the […]
Posted on June 4th, 2007 by Stephen
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We’re all quite adept at putting our heads in the sand, but leaving a list of your assets and liabilities is the least you can do to make things easy for the executor - the person you appoint to sort out your estate and make sure your wishes are carried out after your death. Many […]
Posted on May 21st, 2007 by Stephen
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