wills - an introduction

wills an introduction

An Introduction to Wills Why make a Will?

Protect children

Many people find the thought of making a Will unpleasant and difficult – perhaps this explains why only one third of the UK population actually has one. But facing up to this task now will help avoid the much greater difficulties that your loved ones may face if you were to die without one.

A Will can be structured to protect young children by including appropriate trusts so that they do not receive their entitlements at an early age. A well drafted Will can also help protect your family against claims on divorce or bankruptcy, thus ensuring that your wealth is protected for future generations. Careful drafting of your Will should help to defer, mitigate or avoid the possibly devastating impact of inheritance tax on your estate, so that it is your family who benefits rather than the taxman.

Your wishes Making a Will is the only way to ensure that your estate passes to those who you want it to, rather than according to the fixed statutory intestacy rules. This is essential for unmarried couples, since each partner has no legal entitlement to the estate of the other. But for married couples too, reliance on the intestacy rules is unlikely to achieve a satisfactory outcome. For example, it is commonly assumed that even without a Will a widow or widower automatically inherits the estate of his or her spouse, but in fact under the intestacy rules the provision for a spouse is more limited. Particularly where they have children.

2

Our services Our team are highly experienced in Will drafting and tax/estate planning.

With professionalism and sensitivity, we can help you to ensure that your family’s needs are taken care of should the worst happen.

• Executors and trustees: we will provide guidance to you in selecting the right combination of people who are familiar with your family circumstances but who also have the necessary skills and expertise to look after your estate and assets for the benefit of your family.

• Guardians: if children are orphaned it is essential that you have chosen someone appropriate to look after them.

• Vulnerable beneficiaries: many families include people who need protection, such as young children, disabled or aged relatives, beneficiaries who are simply “not good with money” or those who are facing divorce or financial difficulties. These issues are often best dealt with by means of appropriate trusts incorporated into your Will. Trusts are also invaluable in complex family situations, for example where there are children of more than one marriage.

• Tax and estate planning: we can calculate your inheritance tax exposure and recommend ways of mitigating your tax liability, both by careful lifetime planning and by structuring your Will efficiently, in order to maximise the benefit for your family.

property relief which can reduce inheritance tax on your business assets by up to 100%.

• Overseas assets: we can advise you about the optimum method of dealing with offshore assets such as holiday homes. Being part of two international networks of leading law firms - we are able to tap into expert local advice worldwide.

• Life and pension policies: as part of our service we can review your life assurance and pension arrangements, working with your other advisers to ensure that all available assets are structured and utilised as efficiently as possible for the benefit of your heirs.

• Powers of attorney: we can advise you how to appoint people to make decisions for you concerning your personal welfare and/or financial affairs, in the event that you are no longer able to do so.

• Domicile and residence: we are experienced in dealing with clients who have a foreign connection, for example those who are domiciled outside the UK, and structuring their affairs to make use of any UK tax advantages arising out of their residence and/or domicile status.

• Business arrangements: if you are a shareholder or partner in a business, your Will can be structured to maximise business

3

Private Client Team Services for individuals include: • wills and inheritance tax planning

Liz Palmer Partner: Head of private client T: +44 (0)20 3755 5645 E: liz.palmer@howardkennedy.com

Michael Lewis Partner T: +44 (0)20 3755 5572 E: michael.lewis@howardkennedy.com

• efficient administration of estates • creation and administration of trusts and charities • trust and estate dispute resolution • marriage and cohabitation (pre-nups/postnups/cohabitation agreements)

Robert Craig Partner T: +44 (0)20 7344 5421 E: robert.craig@howardkennedy.com

Simon Malkiel Partner T: +44 (0)20 3755 5587 E: simon.malkiel@howardkennedy.com

• relationship breakdown (divorce/ civil partnerships dissolution and financial settlement) • our specialist children’s unit dealing with residence and contact, adoption and surrogacy, international child abduction and children disputes

John Annetts Partner T: +44 (0)20 3755 5362 E: john.annetts@howardkennedy.com

Emily Mailer Partner T: +44 (0)20 3755 5584 E: emily.mailer@howardkennedy.com

• residential property • employment law advice • reputation management and defamation • personal injury

No.1 London Bridge London SE1 9BG DX 144370 Southwark 4 Tel: +44 (0)20 3755 6000 Fax: +44 (0)20 3650 7000 www.howardkennedy.com