Advice
A new online service was launched on the 17th July 2020 whereby attorneys will find it easier to manage and safeguard the donor’s finances and wellbeing. The Office of the Public Guardian’s new digital service will help attorneys to contact organisations such as banks and healthcare providers more easily by improving the speed that the…
The Government has introduced new legislation that is expected to come into force in September 2020 to allow people to sign and have their Wills witnessed by using video calls. It has been highlighted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasing number of people looking to write Wills, and the difficulties experienced…
The Residential Nil Rate Band (RNRB) was originally introduced in April 2017 as an additional Inheritance Tax (IHT) allowance, with the aim of allowing families to pass on up to £1m of their estate without IHT becoming payable. The RNRB allowance has been increasing each April, until reaching its maximum allowance claimable at £175,000 per…
Any Lasting Power of Attorney can be stopped while you have mental capacity, which in simple terms means the ability to make decisions. Just send a statement, called a ‘deed of revocation’, and the original LPA to the Office of the Public Guardian. You can also sack some of your attorneys if you want to.…
Severally. There’s a new word for many of us. Mainly used in legal circles, it means separately or individually. In the context of Lasting Powers of Attorney, you can nominate people you trust to make decisions on your behalf either jointly or jointly and severally. Jointly means that all the attorneys you name must agree…
Nominating someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf about your finances and property is a different kettle of fish to having them make decisions about your health and welfare. That’s why there are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA). The one regarding property and financial affairs can be activated, with your…
We are often asked about the difference between a lasting power of attorney (LPA) and a will. In simple terms, it’s a matter of life and death. An LPA is a legal document that allows people you trust to make decisions on your behalf while you are alive. A will only comes into effect after…
Losing the ability to make decisions is the stuff of nightmares. But it happens to many of us. And quite often without warning. It may be caused by a serious car crash or a stroke or a whole raft of other nasty things that life throws at us. If you do lose mental capacity, who…
Many people wrongly believe that their will is a private document viewed only by their chosen executors and their crusty old family solicitor behind a paper-strewn desk in a book-lined office. This may well be the case when the estate is small. But it all changes if a grant of probate is required. Executors must…
Surely what’s mine is mine and I can leave it to whomever I want? Oh nay, nay and thrice nay – as the late, great Frankie Howerd was apt to say. Anyone can contest a will. But it would be up to a court to decide the outcome. A cohabiting partner, missed out in the…