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Wills
Below is some information about Wills and why you might need one. But if you simply want to talk to someone about making a Will, call us on 020 8945 0323
Introduction
What happens if you do not make a Will?
Intestacy Rules
Inheritance Tax
What is the cost of making a Will?
Introduction
A Will sets out exactly what you want to happen to your property after your death. It also can deal with other things such as who you would like to deal with all the formalities (your executor) and what kind of ceremony you would prefer.
The executor may be a trustworthy friend or relative or if you prefer, we would be pleased to act as your executives. There is no additional charge for appointing us and the charges incurred for administering an estate are based solely on the work we do (not on a percentage of the estate as with Banks).
When deciding who to leave property or money to, you should bear in mind who is dependant on you and what you need to do to protect them. Everyone's circumstances are different but common points to consider are:
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If you are married, you may feel safe in leaving everything to your wife or husband, satisfied that they will be able to look after any other dependants such as children, elderly relatives or the infirm. If you can, then that is enough, subject to one further point. if something happened to you both, who should inherit instead, your children, another relative, a friend or a charity? |
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If you are single, divorced or widowed you must still consider who is dependant on you and make provision for them. If this includes any children under 18, you should state who is to look after them until they have grown up (a guardian) and who will look after their finances (a trustee). Children under 18 must have two trustees to deal with their money. |
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If your have no dependants, who would you like to make gifts to? All to one friend or relative or charity or split between several. if split, we recommend you do this by proportion or percentages e.g. one-quarter to a named charity or 20% a particular person. |
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Do you have some items of personal, family or sentimental value you wish to give to a certain person - a ring to a grand-daughter perhaps? |
When you have worked out in your own mind who you want to give things to, please consider the following extra points:
At present any estate (that is the value of all your property at the date of death minus any debts) worth more than £312,000 faces 40% tax. This used to be 75% and what it will be in the future is unknown. Gifts to a husband or wife or Civil Partner are exempt from tax for the time being but you do need to be aware that even if you leave everything to your wife, husband or Civil Partner, tax will be payable on the second death. A little planning ahead could save tax being paid to the Government and make sure all your money went to your family or friends instead.
If you think you might benefit from tax planning advice, please let us know and we will advise you in more detail. The type of information we would need is approximately how much your various assets are worth, who you want them to go to in the end and what level of control over them you feel you need. You may not want to give a share of your house to a child if you do not feel able to trust them to co-operate with your wife, husband or other beneficiaries. If so we can advise you on the appropriate use of a Trust to achieve your objective safely.
For more information on inheritance tax click here: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/pdfs/ir45.htm
If you are not in the happy position of having enough money to worry about inheritance tax, you may have the opposite problem - not enough money to ensure your dependants are looked after. A couple with a young family will have problems if either the husband or wife dies. A wife may be left without a wage earner and a husband may be left unable to carry on full-time work due to a need to stay at home and look after the children. In these circumstances, you should seriously consider low cost straightforward life insurance.
If you are not married but live with someone and own a property together, what do you want to happen? Would you like your partner to inherit all your property including money and insurance policies or would you want to give them just your share of the home and everything else to relatives, other friends or charity.
What happens if you do not make a will?
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If you are married with no children - your wife or husband inherits the first £200,000 plus half of the rest of the estate-- over that amount other relatives can make a claim and things can become very complicated. |
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If you are married with children - your wife or husband inherits £125,000 plus a life interest in one half of the rest of the estate. The other half goes to the children in equal shares |
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If you are single, divorced or widowed, your property goes to your next of kin - who is that and do you want them to inherit it all? |
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If you are married but separated, your husband or wife would have a claim - do you want that? |
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If you live with someone but are not married to them they will normally receive nothing from your estate - not even your share of the home. |
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If you have no relatives, your property goes to the Crown. |
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If you have made a Will already but subsequently married, the Will is automatically revoked. |
Finally - without a Will you have no control over your affairs, and have to rely upon the rules made by Parliament. Even if these are satisfactory now, Parliament could change those rules at some future date.
What is the cost of making a will?
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A normal will for one person is £150 plus VAT at 17.5%
By a "normal" will we mean the kind where assets are left to a fairly small number of beneficiaries, such as a spouse, children and several friends. If a lot of people are involved or you need complex inheritance tax or estate planning advice, it will cost more.
If your circumstances are more complicated than normal and you need advice and a more detailed will, we will be happy to supply that advice and give you an estimate of the additional cost.
Normally each person should make their own independent will but if two people are making virtually identical wills e.g. everything to each other and on the second death all to the same children, then we will prepare the second will for £50 plus VAT.
Please note this discount only applies where the second will is a "mirror image " of the first will i.e. names transposed where appropriate.
The cost of more complicated Wills does depend on the type required. For example a Will making use of trusts might cost £400 for the first will and £100 for the second one plus VAT or more but that does depend more on the individual needs of the client.
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