Last Will & Testament

A Last Will & Testament is a written legal declaration that sets out how you want to distribute your estate after you die. It contains the names of one or more persons who you have appointed to deal with all of your affairs. You can also state who you would wish to act as legal guardians for children.

A Will is one of the most important documents that you can ever sign. Whatever your circumstances, a Will enables you to safeguard the security of your loved ones and is the only way to ensure that your money, property and other possessions are distributed according to your wishes.

If you die without a Will the ‘Laws of Intestacy’ determine what happens to your estate, which means that you cannot be certain that your spouse, partner or even your children will receive everything you would wish.

Lasting Powers of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that enables you to plan ahead and set out in advance what you would like to happen should you become unable to make decisions for yourself in the future. This is achieved by you naming a person or persons to make decisions on your behalf (your Attorneys).

There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney:

1. Property and Financial Affairs:

This type allows Attorneys to make decisions about property and finances, such as managing bank and building society accounts, dealing with utility companies and the sale/purchase of property.

2. Health and Welfare:

This type allows Attorneys to make decisions about health and personal welfare issues such as where to live, day-to-day care and medical treatment.

An Attorney is appointed to make decisions as if they were you. He or she must act in your best interest and have regard to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice.

A Lasting Power of Attorney must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before it can be used and this can be done either by you or the Attorney(s). An unregistered Lasting Power of Attorney will not give your Attorney any legal powers to make decisions on your behalf.

Home Protection Scheme

The Home Protection Scheme is designed for homeowners, usually those who live on their own, and involves the transfer of your home into a trust.

In practice there may be a number of reasons why transferring your home to a trust may offer valuable benefits, one of which is the option to ensure the home that you have paid for over the years passes to your family as you intend it to.

Under the terms of the trust you may continue to live in your home for the rest of your life or until you decide that residence is no longer required or not appropriate. Despite the fact that the trust now owns your home you still retain the benefits and flexibility of home ownership. For example, if in the future you wish to move to a smaller property you retain all rights of residence in the new property.

What are the benefits?

The principal benefits of establishing the Home Protection Scheme include: 

1. Ensuring that your home will pass to those individuals you wish to benefit at a time selected by you
    – for example, when you die.

2. To speed up the administration of your estate and avoid the need for a Grant of Representation.

3. It may avoid the value of your home being included in a local authority means test for residential or
    domiciliary care. 

Before establishing the Home Protection Scheme we recommend you consider your individual circumstances and let us carry out a thorough review of your affairs. In addition we recommend that you should always discuss your plans with your immediate family.

Ownership of Property & Severance of Joint Tenancy

Most couples own their homes as “beneficial joint tenants”. This means that the property belongs to you and the other owner jointly. You do not own a specific share in the property and you cannot give away your share of the property in a Will. If you die, your interest in the property passes automatically to the other owner.

The alternative way of owning property is called “tenants in common”. Owning property as tenants in common means the property belongs to you jointly but you also own a specific share of its value. You can give away, sell or mortgage your share. If you die, your share of the property passes to the beneficiary in your Will.

The process of changing ownership from “beneficial joint tenants” to “tenants in common” is achieved by a Severance of Joint Tenancy.

Living Will

A Living Will is a legally binding option for people wishing to retain control over future medical decisions. It is not concerned with financial affairs.

Usually, it gives specific details with regard to medical treatment should someone be incapable of communicating their wishes. It can request that a person is kept alive for as long as possible or it can request that life sustaining treatment is refused. It is legally binding as long as, at the time of signature, the person involved:

• is deemed mentally capable of making the decisions contained within the Living Will;
• understands what will happen in consequence of the Living Will;
• makes clear what future treatment is requested with regard to medical circumstances that may later arise;
• makes the Living Will voluntarily and not under the influence of someone else.

The Living Will can be as detailed as desired: it can specify that antibiotics be avoided or that tube feeding or resuscitation not be attempted in case of an emergency. On the other hand, it may say that all life sustaining treatment should be attempted, even if it offers little chance of survival. However, unlike a refusal of treatment, a request for every possible therapy is not legally binding on the medical team. But at least they will know that the person wants every possible opportunity to recover from their illness even if the chances are slim.

Secure Document Storage

A Last Will & Testament and other legal documents are extremely valuable so it is therefore vital that they are kept in a safe and secure environment. We arrange the secure storage of documents via The Society of Will Writers, where for a small fee, all of your documents, including the Title Deeds to property, life insurance policy documents etc, can be safely stored.

A Certificate of Safe Custody is issued to you, along with ‘Custody I.D. retrieval cards’ that are intended for your executor’s/close family. After all, it is just as important that those closest to you know where your important documents are kept.

Probate Services

We are able to provide friendly, efficient and professional help to Executors and Administrators of deceased persons’ estates at a competitive cost which means that the beneficiaries receive more of their inheritance sooner. This help can either be supporting you in fulfilling your responsibilities to the extent required by you or taking full responsibility for the administration of the estate.

As Executor or Administrator you must deal with the deceased person’s estate in accordance with the provisions of their Will. You need to exercise extreme care when taking on the role of Executor. You are not merely acting for the deceased person but you are taking over all their financial affairs. If not dealt with correctly you could find yourself personally liable for their debts and any losses involved.