The Emergency Budget - How Does It Effect Tax Planning? 08/07/2010
There has been a huge amount of analysis of the budget in the press and online but we have seen surprisingly little analysis of what the future now holds and of those important items that are less inclined to grab the headlines.
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No Contest When it Comes to Making or Reviewing Your Will 11/03/2010
The High Court has recently published statistics showing a significant rise in the number of court proceedings brought by claimants unhappy with the inheritance they have been left by family and friends.
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Power of Attorney Frequently Asked Questions 05/02/2010
Although Powers of Attorney have been around for many years in one guise or another there are still many people who are unaware of the tremendous benefits they offer.
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Inheritance tax reliefs and exemptions 29/01/2010
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Instructions for the preparation of my Will 01/01/2010
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Where There is a Will There is a Way - To get it Wrong 01/11/2009
You may have seen adverts for ‘legally drafted wills’ for as little as £49. You may even have been accosted in a shopping centre by ‘professional will writers’ offering incredibly attractive deals to sort out your affairs.
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My Will does not include page numbering. Is it valid? 01/09/2009
We have been asked this question recently. It has arisen because it seems a rumour is circulating that since February 2009 all Wills have to be signed on each and every page, and that each page has to be numbered.
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Why We Would Recommend Making a Lasting Power of Attorney 01/08/2009
A power of attorney is a document whereby someone (the Donor) authorises one or more other people (the attorney(s)) to do things on the Donor’s behalf. As a general rule a power of attorney ceases to be valid when and if the Donor loses mental capacity. A Lasting or Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA or LPA) is a power of attorney which remains valid regardless of the mental capacity, or lack or mental capacity of the Donor.
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Practical Property Issues 01/05/2009
What practical steps should an Executor take in relation to any property in the deceased’s Estate?
You have been appointed Executor of an Estate which includes property – so what responsibilities do you have in your role as Executor towards that property? Part of an Executor’s duty to the beneficiaries of the Estate is to protect the assets, and there are some very important initial steps you should take to safeguard property.
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What happens to your assets if you die without leaving a valid Will? 01/02/2009
The Rules of Intestacy
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Why Make a Will? 01/11/2008
Most adults in this country do not make a Will so why is that we recommend that you have a Will? It is true that for a great many people not having a Will is not a problem, however, it is equally true that for many people not having a Will can cause major problems.
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Trusts for the Disabled 01/11/2008
A special form of non-interest in possession Trust is a Trust for the disabled. Such a Trust is, in reality, a discretionary Trust specially formulated to assist disabled persons, without prejudicing any rights and benefits that disabled persons may be entitled to from the government or local authorities.
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Elderly Client Issues 01/09/2008
Commonly asked questions regarding elderly clients
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Information required to obtain grant 01/09/2008
Before application can be made for the Grant of Probate, or Letters of Administration, it is necessary to establish the gross and net value of the estate. To do this valuations (market values) must be obtained in respect of all assets including personal items and household contents (both in the UK and abroad), and liabilities (to include the funeral and family mourning) as at the date of death.
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Protective Trusts 01/09/2008
Protective trusts (or spendthrift trusts, as they are sometimes known) are a hybrid category of trust, sharing the characteristics of a life interest trust and a discretionary trust.
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Life Interest Trusts 01/09/2008
It is a right to receive income or have the use of property for life. Where a life interest trust subsisted prior to 2006 or is created by Will then as far as inheritance tax is concerned, a life interest is neutral. The underlying value of property is in effect treated as if it were part of the estate of the person with the right to its use or income. If the Trust was created by way of a lifetime transaction after 2006 the inheritance tax treatment is different and the trust may be subject to tax on it’s creation at up to 20% and thereafter at 6% every 10 years. As a consequence of this the creation of these trusts during lifetime is less common unless the trust created is below the Nil Rate Band for inheritance tax.
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Definitions and Meanings 01/09/2008
Definitions and meanings of words & expressions used during the administraton of an estate.
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Executors and Trustees 01/09/2008
Frequently asked Questions
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Discretionary Trusts 01/09/2008
A discretionary trust is one whereby the person creating the trust (normally called “the settlor” but where the trust arises under a Will may also be referred to as “the Testator”), creates it in favour of a group of people (lawyers normally refer to these people as “the class of beneficiaries”. These people may or may not be related. The Trustees of the Trust are then given the discretion to determine how much (if anything) different members of the class of beneficiaries is to receive and how they should receive it. This trusts can be created either during that person’s lifetime or on their death through their Will.
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Frequently asked questions - Giving away your home 01/09/2008
If I give my house away can I still treat it as my own?
By giving your home to another person or persons you are giving away your legal title to it. The house will belong to them absolutely and will become part of their estate. It will be subject to their Wills, their matrimonial affairs and disputes. It will be theirs to mortgage, or sell as they wish. It may also give them a liability for Capital Gains Tax purposes.
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What Happens When Somebody Dies? 01/04/2008
When somebody dies, the first and most noticeable effect is that all, or substantially all, of their affairs and assets are frozen and little or nothing can be done about them until one has obtained either a Grant of Probate or a Grant of Letters of Administration.
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How a Basic Mirror Image Will Works 01/04/2008
How your will works.
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Tax planning Wills for Couples 01/03/2008
It used to be the case that the conventional Will for a married couple provided that everything passed to the survivor, the problem with this was that in effect the Nil Rate Band (NBR) of the first party to die was thrown away. Since about 1992 the focus of most tax planning in Wills has been to find a way to preserve the NRB of the first party to a marriage so that when the second party dies there would be two NRBs available rather than one. The main vehicle for this sort of tax saving was the Nil Rate Band Discretionary Will Trust (NRBWT) usually coupled with a loan facility for the surviving spouse. At a stroke the TNRB has in effect removed the need for such complicated tax planning.
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Pre-Budget Report 01/10/2007
How do we rate the changes to inheritance tax?
So what has the Pre Budget Report done for inheritance tax? It has made the nil rate band - that is the part of your estate that can pass free of tax to your children - transferable between husband and wife. Widows and widowers can now claim their spouses’ unused nil rate band as well as their own. This means that married couples and civil partners have now ‘doubled up‘ the amount of assets they can give away free of tax from £300,000 to £600,000, and this will rise to £700,000 by 2010.
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How often should I review my will? 01/08/2007
Our general advice is that Wills should be reviewed at least once every 5 years, however this is a generalisation and in practice the regularity of review depends very much upon your individual circumstances. The aim of this article is to try and give some guidelines, both general, and specific to the last few years, as to when you should be looking at your wills.
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Nil Rate Band Discretionary Will Trust and the Case of Phizackerley 01/04/2007
A number of people have expressed concerns to us about the possible adverse impact of the above Case on Nil Rate Band Discretionary Trusts included in their Wills.
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HMRC erroneously charging interest on SDLT 01/10/2005
It has come to our attention that HM Customs and Revenue have admitted that they have been erroneously charging interest on late payment of SDLT.
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Surrey Law Firm Supports Panorama's Warning Over Will Writers 13/08/2010
Camberley, 9th August 2010 - Ruth Keighley, a member of the Surrey Committee for Solicitors for the Elderley and a Wills & Probate lawyer at Herrington & Carmichael LLP is warning that families are potentially putting themselves at risk by using unregulated, uninsured will writers.
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Pre Budget Report and Capital Taxation 15/12/2009
The Pre-Budget Report failed to give any indication as to where Capital Taxation is heading. The only item of any significance was the freezing of the IHT threshold at £325,000. Not only does this follow the current Government's habit of increasing taxation by failing to raise thresholds, but the recessionary effects on property and share prices mean that for the present at least this is unlikely to increase the number of people affected by the tax.
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Has Mr. Darling shot the Tory IHT fox? 17/10/2007
What has the Pre-Budget Report done for inheritance tax? Newspaper headlines, apart from accusing Mr. Darling of stealing Tory policy, have reported this as doubling the tax-free threshold for inheritance tax. Sadly, It is not quite that simple. It has made the nil rate band - which is the part of your estate that can pass free of tax to your children - transferable between husband and wife. Not only that, it has backdated this so that where for example a husband died ten years ago then his widow can use his nil rate band when she dies. But there are some important qualifications.
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New Inheritance Tax Rules have Wide Ranging Affects 14/06/2006
Does your Will and Trusts need reviewing?
Camberley 16th May – Gordon Brown's Budget last March announced far-reaching changes to the inheritance tax treatment of trusts. The changes were detailed in a Budget Note (BN25) under the innocuous heading "Aligning the inheritance tax treatment for trusts". These changes, which are designed to close tax avoidance loopholes, will affect new and (from 2008) existing trusts and are likely to cover all but the simplest of Wills.
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Elderly Health Care Funding NHS Eligibility Criteria Unlawful? 10/03/2006
Camberley 10th March 2006 – Many people, particularly the elderly who are being cared for in nursing homes could be entitled to the full cost of their care being met by the NHS. If the patient’s needs are primarily of health then the NHS should pay for all of their care. This was confirmed in a Court of Appeal judgement when a tetraplegic lady challenged her local health authority and won.
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