Protect Your Wealth
by Michael Fogg
the surviving spouse remarries and the Will they made with their original spouse is revoked by this marriage (this is an area of the law governing Wills which is often overlooked and can cause some difficulties after the Testator passes). In some cases, a variation of a ‘Single Will’ or ’Mirror Will’ may be a sensible solution, potentially with some additional protection for some or all of the assets being left. This could take the form of one or more Trusts. Alternatively, I may suggest a different way of legally capturing a client’s wishes and ensuring that their assets are passed to their chosen beneficiaries. As a solicitor I am often asked for advice on a variety of areas of the law. These questions range from contract disputes to employment problems, personal injury and property matters with a variety of other questions added in. I do my level best to help everyone who asks me anything, although quite often the questions fall outside of my area of expertise. Therefore, this month, I thought I’d give a breakdown of what I specialise in as a ‘Private Client’ lawyer.
Will Writing Making a Will is usually a very simple thing to do. Anyone over the age of 18 can do so, and it is almost always advisable to put a Will in place. However, well over 50% of adults in the United Kingdom do not have a Will, and this can have negative consequences on their death. I advise clients on the most appropriate Will, or Wills, to suit their needs. This could include a simple ‘Single Will’ for one person, or a simple ‘Mirror Will’ for two persons, leaving everything to each other and then to their ‘alternative’ beneficiaries. I advise on any risks which are easily avoided and which could otherwise take a lot of their hard-earned money out of the family. I also advise on the risks of ‘sideways disinheritance’, where
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Settling Assets into Trust In addition to using a Trust to take effect after they have died, many clients are also interested in placing some of their assets in Lifetime Trusts. Unlike Will Trusts, which are created after death, Lifetime Trusts (also known as Land Management Trusts or Wealth Security Trusts) are created immediately. I advise on the pros and cons of taking this step, for example by settling a property (either their home or an investment property) into the legal ownership of a Trust. Clients may be surprised, for example, to discover that they may need to pay some rent to the Trust to maximise its tax efficiency if they continue to live at the property. I also advise on the limits to what a Lifetime Trust can do. For example, a client cannot use a Trust to “hide” their assets for Estate Planning purposes, as there are rules which HM Revenue and Customs have to offset some assets placed in Trust with Inheritance Tax paid in the future. Likewise, should they need to receive professional care, either at their home or by moving into a nursing home, their contribution to these fees is based on the value of your assets. Should they put some of their assets into a Trust, a Local Authority (“LA”) might decide that this is a ‘Deliberate Deprivation of Assets’. If they do, the value of the Trust property could be included
