Every discipline of estate planning, under one considered roof.
Wills, Trusts, Inheritance Tax planning, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Care Home Planning, coordinated by the same specialists across a lifetime.
Our services at a glance.
Wills
Without a Will, the strict Rules of Intestacy apply and the law decides how your estate is distributed. A Will is the starting point of any wider estate plan.
Trusts
Trusts protect your wealth, give you control over how your assets are used, and can last up to 125 years, providing for your bloodline across generations.
Inheritance Tax Planning
Inheritance Tax is charged at 40% on anything owned at death above the Nil Rate Band of £325,000. There are legal ways to reduce this liability.
Lasting Powers of Attorney
Also known as living wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney let you appoint people to make Property & Finance and Health & Welfare decisions on your behalf should you lose mental capacity.
Care Home & Advance Life Planning
Lifetime Trusts and Family Gift Trusts, arranged while you have capacity, so decisions about care and gifts to loved ones can still be made on your terms.
Wills
Without a Will, the strict and rigid Rules of Intestacy apply, the law decides how your estate is distributed rather than you. A Will is also the first step towards reducing any Inheritance Tax that may be payable, and the foundation of the wider plan.
Key points
- Your spouse is not automatic. A spouse or civil partner will not automatically inherit all of your estate without a Will in place.
- Guardianship for children. Children under 18 could be taken into care while guardians are appointed, and siblings may be split up.
- Access to funds. Lengthy delays and disputes are possible before beneficiaries can access funds, even spouses on joint bank accounts.
- ‘Common Law’ partners. A partner you have lived with for many years, or even a fiancé, may receive nothing.
How we work together
- A conversation to discuss the concept of a Will and how it leads into wider estate planning.
- Time to consider your executor and any specific legacies you wish to leave.
- Instructions taken and the Will processed into a bound document, ready to be signed, dated and witnessed.
Marriage automatically voids a Will unless a contrary clause is included; on divorce, anything bequeathed to an ex-partner is treated as though they are predeceased. We offer a complimentary review after significant life changes.
Trusts
Trusts play an integral part in protecting your wealth, giving you control over how your assets are used and confidence that they preserve family assets according to your wishes. Lasting for up to 125 years, they can provide down your bloodline for generations to come.
Key points
- Marriage after death. If the surviving spouse remarries and leaves assets to the new spouse, the new Will may not consider your children.
- Care fees. If the family home sits in the survivor's name, its value can be taken into account and sold to pay for care fees.
- Generational IHT. Assets held on trust do not add to a beneficiary's estate, and so do not increase their own Inheritance Tax liability.
- Divorce. Assets in trust are not taken into account in divorce settlement, what you intended for beneficiaries cannot pass out of the family.
- Creditors and bankruptcy. A beneficiary's inheritance is not exposed to creditor claims or bankruptcy proceedings.
- Their own care fees. Assets on trust are not added to a beneficiary's estate and cannot be taken into consideration when assessing for care costs.
Who it is for
- Anyone who owns their home, or plans to.
- Anyone with around £100,000 or more in bank accounts or investments.
- Anyone with large pension plans or life assurance policies.
- Anyone with business or agricultural assets.
A wide range of assets can be protected, your home, money, pensions, life assurance, business assets and investments. Anything can be passed to your beneficiaries in a secure, protected trust environment, regardless of its value.
Inheritance Tax Planning
Inheritance Tax is often regarded as one of the most punitive taxes: 40% on anything owned at death above the Nil Rate Band, which currently stands at £325,000. Many families find nearly half of the inheritance intended for their loved ones is lost to it. There are a number of entirely legal ways to mitigate it.
Key points
- Regular gifts of income. If your income supports your usual lifestyle, regular gifts made from surplus income leave your estate immediately and are exempt from IHT.
- Potentially Exempt Transfers. Larger lump-sum gifts start a seven-year clock; after seven years they fall outside your estate, and taper relief applies after three years.
- Business Property Relief (BPR). Shares in many trading companies fall outside IHT once held for two years, an effective mechanism for moving value out of your estate.
- EIS / SEIS. The Enterprise Investment Scheme offers 30% income tax relief on the amount invested, deferral of CGT, and shares that qualify for BPR, relieving them of IHT after two years.
Investment advice around BPR, EIS and SEIS is provided in partnership with Ascot Wealth Management, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered no. 551744).
Lasting Powers of Attorney
Lasting Powers of Attorney (often referred to as living wills) allow you to appoint people to make decisions on your behalf if ever you become mentally incapable of doing so, through age or an unfortunate accident.
Key points
- Health & Welfare. Decisions on care home, medical care and everyday preferences, with the option to permit your attorney to accept or refuse life-sustaining treatment.
- Property & Finance. Decisions on whether to sell your home, how to manage investments, paying bills and collecting benefits on your behalf.
Who can be your attorney
- Someone close to you, whether family or a trusted friend, who you know will act in your best interests.
Both LPAs are more comprehensive than the earlier Enduring Powers of Attorney, which covered financial matters only. Without an LPA in place, loved ones must apply to the Court of Protection for Deputyship, a long and difficult process, even for access to joint bank accounts.
Care Home & Advance Life Planning
Lifetime Trusts are established during a settlor's life, with assets or money settled into them immediately. Those funds can be loaned to beneficiaries at any time, or held within the trust and invested. Alongside them, Family Gift Trusts and considered Care Home Planning form a complete framework for the later stages of life.
Key points
- Lifetime Trusts. Assets settled in during your lifetime, loanable to beneficiaries or invested inside the trust environment.
- Family Gift Trusts. Every seven years, up to £325,000 can be placed into a Family Gift Trust; once seven years pass, the gift is outside your estate for IHT. Once settled, the settlor can no longer access those funds.
- Care Home Planning. Bespoke plans for clients of any age, considering the high cost of care, including help with local authority care fees assessments.
If a medical professional deems you mentally incapable, you can no longer make a Will, create Trusts, give substantial gifts or set up Lasting Powers of Attorney, so arrangements must be made while you have capacity.
Not sure where to begin?
A complimentary conversation with a specialist is often the quickest way to understand what a plan should look like for your family.
Arrange your consultation