Having watched last nights Panorama program there will be a lot of angry people out there. The program highlighted the gradual change in how the government are shifting responsibility away from the state to the local authorities on how and who should be funding peoples long term care. Every year there are over 70,000 homes sold to fund long term care. This is a shocking situation when people have worked all their lives to pay off their mortgage and all they want to do is leave it to their children. Mark my words this situation is only going to get worse. There is a £30 billion black hole in long term care funding and the governmentt want us to pay for it.
The program highlighted the fact that most peoplee should have been funded anyway and Local authorities are changing the care from medical to residential care which is means tested.
If you plan your estate correctly then you can stop this happening. People need to do this years in advance of someone going into care. This can simply be done by changing the way you own your property from Joint Tenants to Tenants in Common.There is a full explanation on our web site at http://www.estplan.co.uk/protecting.htm
If anyone wants any more information please give me a call on 0161 480 4441
Monday, March 06, 2006
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Writing your Will on line
Having looked at the many and varied on line Will sites there is a constant theme running throgh them. They are all trying to portray a "easy" or "simple" approach or 5 minute this and ten minute that. This tends to lull the user into the fact that Wills are a simple thing to do. Well yes they are if you have the right information and its going to achieve what you want it to.
Having seen many home made and on line made Wills from all sorts of clients this does concern me. Most of them allow you to print out the Will there and then. No intervention from a qualified Will drafter to ensure the clients are doing the right thing for their particular circumstances.
There is one very good site that allows you to complete all the instructions on line and then it is checked for you and then they print and bound the documents and send via the post.
Take a look at www.willcare.co.uk
Having seen many home made and on line made Wills from all sorts of clients this does concern me. Most of them allow you to print out the Will there and then. No intervention from a qualified Will drafter to ensure the clients are doing the right thing for their particular circumstances.
There is one very good site that allows you to complete all the instructions on line and then it is checked for you and then they print and bound the documents and send via the post.
Take a look at www.willcare.co.uk
Thursday, March 02, 2006
What to look for in a Will writer
Firstly lets clear a few things up. Anyone can write a Will there is no legal requirement for a solicitor to do it. You can write your own but beware - there are many pitfalls in home made wills and they can be challenged or fail all too easily. This is your estate we are talking about so don't take it lightly.
A good will writer will be a member of The Society of Will writers or The Institute of Will Writers if they are not why not? These are the governing bodies of the industry. Also they should have Professional Indemnity Insurance preferably £2,000,000 per case. If notdon'tt deal with them as if anything goes wrong your family need to be recompensed for any loss.
Do they know what they are doing. Will writing is a bit like the Mortgage market was 10 years ago. Anyone can set up as a will writer and operate out of their back bedroom. They may be storing your wills at home, they may have noinsurancee so becarefull.
Always ask for proof ofmembershipp and ask forprooff of Insurance if they cant give you thesedon'tt deal with them.
Also are the selling on price. We have all seen the adverts "Get your Will for £19.99" nonsense. If you think about it how can anybody run a proper business and provide a quality service for £19.99.
For a properly drafted Will you should be looking at approximately £80-£100 for a Single will and £120-£150 for a set of Mirror Wills.
Dont go for the cheapest. When a problem does arise unfortuneatly you wont be there to sort it out and your family could end up loosing out financially.
Enduring Powers of Attorney
What are they?
Who needs one?
How do I get one?
What are the pitfalls?
What are they?
An Enduring Power of attorney or EPA is a Legal Document that you can write at any time in your life whereby you can determine who can intevene in your finacial affiars should you become incapable of managing them your self. As the name suggests the power of attorney endures through either physical or mental incapacity. All EPAs must have the same wording (although the layuot maybe different) and will always contain
1) Part A which are the guidance notes on how to use the document
2) Part B which lays out the Donors details (the person giving the power) and the attorenys details
3) Part B (cont) is where the donor signs the document in front of an independant witness
4) Part C there is a part C for each of the attorneys to sign. You can have a maximum of 4 attornies per EPA and the either act joiuntly or jointly and severally
Who Needs one?
Anyone who is concerned about manageing their affiars should they become incapabale especilly if they have joint assets with their spouse or partner.
How do I get one?
You can get an EPA drafted by a qualified wioll writer or Solicitor. Estate planning solutuons can complete one for you either face to face or over the telephone. www.estplan.co.uk or you can one done on the internet at www.willcare.co.uk
What are the pitfalls?
Most people dont realise the power of these documents. You should always include restrictions in an EPA so they are not abused. They should always include a clause that states that the document will not be valid unless you have lost the capacity and it has been registered at the Court of Protection
New Tax Guides
Visit our new Tax Guide Book Shop
Estate Planning solutions have just lauched a new tax guide book shop. here you will find lots and lots of extremely usefull tax guides from Iheritance Tax to Overseas property tax guides. all books can be either downloaded or recieved in hard format. Please comment on what you think the book shop looks like
Heres the link http://www.taxcafebooks.co.uk/index.php?id=11012
Don't Let the Tax Man steal your childrens Inheritance
If you have been reading the national press lately (especilaly the Daily Mail and The Express) there is a huge outcry about people having to pay Inheritance Tax on their estate if they have assets above £275,000 including the family home at a whopping 40%.
It is estimeted that 34% of all households in England and wales are in the Inheritance Tax Trap purely due to the the value of the family home. This Labour government has not increased the threshold to keep pace with house inflation and took over £3 Billion in Inheritance Tax last year. This is the equivalent of 1 penny on income tax.
For more indepth information go to http://www.estplan.co.uk/inheritancetax.htm
Most people can get their estates up to £550,000 before paying Inheritance Tax purely by writing their wills the right way.
Rember " A will can achieve a lot more than you think"
It is estimeted that 34% of all households in England and wales are in the Inheritance Tax Trap purely due to the the value of the family home. This Labour government has not increased the threshold to keep pace with house inflation and took over £3 Billion in Inheritance Tax last year. This is the equivalent of 1 penny on income tax.
For more indepth information go to http://www.estplan.co.uk/inheritancetax.htm
Most people can get their estates up to £550,000 before paying Inheritance Tax purely by writing their wills the right way.
Rember " A will can achieve a lot more than you think"
So you have worked hard all your Life, paid the mortgage off and want to leave the kids an Inheritance. You better be careful. Have you thought what would happen if you went into long term care. The government have identified that there is over £450 Billion pounds worth of equity in homes in the UK owned by people over 65. Why do this survey.Becausee the government want to get their hands on your assets if you go into care. More and more people are living longer and longer. More and more people are going into care so the government have to fund this high cost form somewhere.Your house that's where.
But if you have planned properly you can save some or all of it. Simply by changing the way you own your property you can shelter most of it via your wills. How can this be. Well let me explain. By setting up what is known as a property trust in your Wills and splitting the ownership 50/50 (if you are married or with a partner) on first death the 50% owned by the decaesed is passed into a trust with the remaining spouse a beneficiary and trustee of the trust. This is set up in such a way that the remaining spouse has a life time interest and can not be removed from the property at any time. They can also move i.e. buy and sell another house but the trust always has first call on the property. This means that if the remianig spouse were to go into care then at leasts 50% of the property is protected if not all.
Please note that this does not work for Inheritance tax purposes. I will cover that in a latter article.
If any one would like to discuss this or would like more information please visit this link
http://www.estplan.co.uk/protecting.htm or call me at the office on 0161 480 4441
But if you have planned properly you can save some or all of it. Simply by changing the way you own your property you can shelter most of it via your wills. How can this be. Well let me explain. By setting up what is known as a property trust in your Wills and splitting the ownership 50/50 (if you are married or with a partner) on first death the 50% owned by the decaesed is passed into a trust with the remaining spouse a beneficiary and trustee of the trust. This is set up in such a way that the remaining spouse has a life time interest and can not be removed from the property at any time. They can also move i.e. buy and sell another house but the trust always has first call on the property. This means that if the remianig spouse were to go into care then at leasts 50% of the property is protected if not all.
Please note that this does not work for Inheritance tax purposes. I will cover that in a latter article.
If any one would like to discuss this or would like more information please visit this link
http://www.estplan.co.uk/protecting.htm or call me at the office on 0161 480 4441
I dont need a Will
Do you know what happens if you die without a Will? No well follow this link and we will show you and I think you will be surprised. Your assets may not go where you think they would. The number of times I have heard clients say "Well I dont need a Will my wifes going to get everything" Oh so wrong. If you have an estate of over £125,000 including your home you need a Will.
In the next article we will show you how to structure your estate so you can protect your property from the goverment to fund long term care.
Follow this link http://www.estplan.co.uk/why.htm
In the next article we will show you how to structure your estate so you can protect your property from the goverment to fund long term care.
Follow this link http://www.estplan.co.uk/why.htm
Welcome
Welcome to our Blog. The purpose of this site is to give people all the free information they require to plan their estates properly to ensure that Gordon Brown or any of his successors cant get their hands on any of your hard earned cash when you die.
I have been in the Will writing industry for some years and am appalled at the lack of planning people do with regards to Wills and Estate Planning.
Do you want the tax man to get 40% of your estate if you die. I think not.
With proper planning you get your Estate up to £550,000 before you pay any Inheritance tax.
Post your questions and we will point you in the right Direction.
I have been in the Will writing industry for some years and am appalled at the lack of planning people do with regards to Wills and Estate Planning.
Do you want the tax man to get 40% of your estate if you die. I think not.
With proper planning you get your Estate up to £550,000 before you pay any Inheritance tax.
Post your questions and we will point you in the right Direction.
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