Wills & Trusts
Safeguard your
hard-earned assets
Make your will a priority.
We certainly will.
Whether you want to ensure your loved ones are provided for or you want to avoid paying more inheritance tax than you need to, our will and trust services have you covered.
Make a will to name your children's guardian
Protect your partner if you're unmarried
Avoid paying more inheritance tax than you need to
Say who you want to look after your pets
Ensure your children are provided for financially
Safeguard your family home
Create a legal will if you're recently married
Protect your digital assets
Provide for your dependents, including your step-children
Head off family disputes
Decide who you would like to settle your affairs
Support a charity
Single Will
Suitable for an individual making a Will, this type includes:
- The appointment of executors.
- Noting any gifts.
- Nominating a beneficiary who will receive the remainder of the estate after all other beneficiaries have received their inheritance and all debts have been paid (residual beneficiary).
Mirror Will
A Mirror Will produces two Wills which are nearly identical and which both leave assets to the same beneficiaries. The most common example would be a couple who leave everything to the survivor of them, and then to their children.
Joint Property Trust Wills
Keeping your family home in the family
A property trust will, sometimes referred to as a protective property trust, can provide greater peace of mind if you own a property and wish to best protect its value for future generations.
What is a Property Protection Trust Will
- It is an enhanced Will that offers some protection for the property by ensuring that on the first death, that share is protected from interference by third parties. That share will also be protected from assessment for care home fees should the surviving owner require care in the future.
- It’s designed to enable joint owners to be more flexible with their share of the property enabling them to pass it to someone other than the joint owner.
- If the current joint owner remarries or decides to gift their share to someone else then your share is fully protected for your beneficiaries.
- This means that if the surviving owner needs residential care or gets into financial difficulties, then the first share of the property is protected and will not be assessed or at risk.
What does it mean for the surviving partner?
- The surviving owner has the right to live in the property for the rest of their life. They cannot be evicted by the trustees (your chosen people who manage the Trust).
- The surviving owner can sell the house if they wish to and buy another, but any profit will be split equally between them and the trustees.
- The surviving owner usually controls the Trust with at least one other person, typically another family member.
Severance of Tenancy
Reduce the threat of third-party elements
Without adequate estate planning your estate could pass outside of your choice of beneficiary.
What is a Severance of Tenancy?
- Normally, when people buy a property together, they purchase as Joint Tenants, meaning that they both own the whole of the property. When a Severance of Tenancy occurs they become Tenants in Common instead.
- Becoming Tenants in Common means you each own a percentage of the property – usually 50% each but you can define the portions into unequal shares if you wish, for example, if you have put a disproportionate amount of funds into the purchase of the property.
- More often than not the application is done mutually by both parties, however this is not necessary and can be done by one party alone as long as the joint owner is notified. This is useful when divorce proceedings are considered and there is a need to avoid your share of the property transferring automatically to your spouse if you should die before the financial situation is resolved.
What are the benefits of a Severance of Tenancy?
- A Protective Will Property Trust is only effective if the tenancy is severed.
- If joint owners have contributed unequal funds towards the purchase of a property and the tenancy is severed into defined portions, the proceeds of sale will pass to the right beneficiary under the terms of the owner’s Will.
- If a Severance hasn’t taken place and one of you dies, the property will automatically transfer to the other owner – severing the tenancy avoids the automatic transfer to the joint owner and your share can be protected for someone other than your partner.
- When there is a Severance and a Protective Will Property Trust – if you die and your joint owner change their mind about their choice of beneficiaries this will not affect your decision thereby protecting your chosen beneficiaries.
- No one likes to think about their spouse re-marrying after they have died but it could happen and in doing so any existing Will they had would become void. The new partner would inherit whatever your spouse owned should they predecease them, meaning your estate could pass to your spouse’s new partner and not your children. Severing a tenancy is the start of you protecting your share of your property for your loved on
Whatever your will and trust needs, we’ll ensure the right solution for your needs.