Why you shouldn’t take shortcuts with LPAs

Posted by Claire McCraith Apr 14th, 2011, in Wills, Probate and Trusts

While reading a recent issue of the Which? magazine I was intrigued to read an article on Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA).

The article set out various advantages of making a LPA and encouraged the reader to make an LPA.

An LPA is a legal document which allows you to appoint a person, or people you trust, to look after your affairs should you ever be incapable, either physically or mentally, of doing so.  It can be restricted to your business affairs or it can include your personal affairs too.

While I fully agree with the many advantages of making an LPA the article discussed, I was concerned when it was suggested that forms could be downloaded from the internet for completion without professional advice. (more…)

Current Inheritance Tax position

Posted by Claire McCraith Jun 17th, 2010, in Wills, Probate and Trusts

Alistair Darling’s last budget in April froze the Inheritance Tax Allowance (IHT) of £325,000 until 2015.  So should there be any inflation and/or should people’s estates increase in size, this will mean that more tax will be payable to the government.

Currently 40 per cent IHT is paid on an estate over £325,000. However, there is no tax payable when an estate is left to a spouse or civil partner and on the death of the surviving spouse or civil partner any unused IHT allowance can be claimed.  Therefore, for a married couple or registered civil partners the allowance is £650,000 before 40 per cent tax becomes payable.

For example, if we look at Mr & Mrs Smith.  Mr Smith dies and his estate consists of the following assets:

- Interest in house £200,000
- Bank accounts and investments £50,000
- Ferrari £120,000 
- Total estate passing to Mrs Smith is £370,000. 

There is no tax payable because his estate is passing to his spouse.

Mrs Smith dies a few years later and her estate is valued at £645,000. There will be no IHT payable.

Prior to the election the conservatives were saying that they would raise the IHT threshold to one million pounds, but the new coalition Government has indicated that Chancellor George Osborne will be leaving it as it is in his emergency budget on June 22^.

The Peter Sellers’ Trap

Posted by Claire McCraith Mar 15th, 2010, in Wills, Probate and Trusts

Don’t let what happened to Peter Sellers’ estate happen to your estate.
Peter Sellers died in 1980 aged 54.  A recent article in the Daily Telegraph stated that a newly discovered legal document suggested that Peter Sellers and his estranged wife Lynne Frederick (who had only been married for 2 years), had entered into a “marital settlement agreement” in which Lynne Frederick was only to have received £370,000 plus their Los Angeles home but, because Peter Sellers died prior to the Decree Absolute being granted and because he hadn’t altered his Will, Lynne Frederick inherited his entire estate of £4.5 million.  Peter Sellers’ three children from previous marriages received only £750 each.
Lynne Frederick died in 1994 and her estate (which largely consisted of Peter Sellers’ estate), went to her daughter who was not born until 4 years after Peter Sellers’ death.
So to avoid your estate ending up in a similar ‘Trap’ don’t delay in making alterations to your Will should your circumstances have changed.

When someone dies – What happens next?

Posted by Claire McCraith Aug 10th, 2009, in Wills, Probate and Trusts

I thought that it might be useful to outline briefly what happens when someone close to you has died.  The first question I am often asked is, “What happens next?” “What needs to be done?” (more…)