News
IWC Probate and Will Writing Services News
What is an Estate plan?
An Estate plan is essentially several legal documents brought together to guide nominated persons through decisions you have made about the end of your life. In specific terms, a Will, a Living Will and a Power of Attorney all need to be incorporated into the Estate plan. Trust documents may also be included in cases where they are needed.
The most detailed document is likely to be your Will. How you would like your assets to be distributed and details of specific gifts you wish to make, should all be mentioned in here. It should also contain details about how you wish to make provision for your funeral expenses and Inheritance Tax payment.
Children under 18 of course need to be provided for, both financially and in terms of appointing guardians. In this instance, the creation of an additional Trust document, may be appropriate.
Living Wills are a newer but valuable addition to the Estate plan. In here, should you become unable to think or communicate clearly at some point in the future, you are able to specify how you would prefer to be looked after and if you would choose for medical staff to prolong your life, should you suffer from a terminal illness or severe injury. Not something any of us enjoy thinking about but nevertheless a very important issue for your loved ones.
Finally, Power of Attorney. Again this document relates to your actual lifetime rather than post-death, and refers to a scenario where you are unable to make decisions for yourself. The Power of Attorney will dedicate a named individual to organise all of your financial and legal dealings.
At first glance, it appears that Estate planning is a long and complicated process, dealing with many issues none of us care to dwell on. However, an experienced probate practitioner and Will Writer will be able to guide you through the whole process relatively quickly, leaving no stone unturned. They will also be able to advise you on the most efficient ways of preparing for your death and dividing your Estate, to minimise Inheritance Tax and other related costs.
How to Appoint a Guardian
When writing your Will, one of the questions which arises if you have children under 18 is who will care for them after your death? Generally, it is agreed that the children will remain with the living parent. However you must consider what would happen in the awful event of both biological parents dying. Clearly, this is an unpleasant issue to contemplate as we all hope to see our children safely into adulthood and beyond. However, making appropriate provision in your Will needs to be considered and is the responsible thing to do as a caring parent.
Brothers and sisters of either biological parent are likely candidates as guardians, as they are generally of a similar age, and have children in the same generation. Grandparents can be chosen, but consideration of their age and health should be taken, as the impact on the children of losing their parents, and then their grandparents, could be very traumatic. Good friends are consulted and chosen in many cases, but it really is for you to decide who can best act "in loco parentis" and remember whoever you choose, obtaining their consent and agreement before you name them in your Will is vital.
As multiple marriages and step families are now much more commonplace, they also bring with them their own questions, should the biological parent die. The answer may be that in these circumstances, the children could be returned to the full custody of their other biological parent. Even if they have been largely brought up by the step parent, the law will generally favour custody by the biological parent if that parent wishes, which could of course be upsetting for all concerned. However, to avoid this happening, you can specify what you believe to be in the child�s best interest, be it that you want them brought up with any other children from the marriage, or, if the other biological parent has been absent for some time, you could state that you would consider it traumatic for the child to live with a virtual stranger and if needs be, a court will decide the best course of action at that time.
What are Letters of Administration
What is Intestacy? What does Intestate mean? What are Letters of Administration? Are you affected by intestacy?
The Rules of Intestacy are the rules governing the distribution of a persons estate if you do not make a Will. Before an institution gives your money to your nearest relative they will ask them to apply for the Grant of Letters of Administration. Dying intestate can cause serious problems, if you died intestate and your assets exceeded the statutory legacy amount as defind by the Rules of Intestacy, everything above this limit would be subject to tax at 40%. If you had children under the age of 18 it would be extremely diifcult for your surviving wife or husband to overcome this. In summary this means dying without a Will could create an immediate inheritance tax bill. We are sure you would not want to be remembered in that way. To find out more about the difference between Letters of Administration and Probate please read our Probate page
Medallion Stamp Guarantee
If you need the medallion stamp guarantee also referred to as the Bar coded Medallion Guarantee we can help. Introduced in America after the shocking events of 9/11 the medallion stamp guarantee was introduced to help prevent cross border fraud. The medallion guarantee is now a statutory requirement in the United States of America if you wish to transfer stocks, shares and bank account funds.
If you own stocks and shares and you wish to sell them or if you are an executor of a persons estate who had stocks and shares in the USA, in order to deal with them you will need the stock transfer forms stamping with the medaliion stamp guarantee. There are several documents we will need in order to process the medallion stamp guarantee for further details please contact us on 0800 612 6105.
