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FAQs
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Q1.
What is the threshold for
paying Inheritance Tax?
Answer:
If you are not married or in a Civil Partnership and
your estate (this is everything you own including your house and
business if you have one) is valued at more than £325,000 (the Nil Rate
Band (NRB) for the year to April 2010) then it will be liable to
Inheritance Tax (IHT) at 40%. For example a £500,000 estate will be
required to pay £70,000.
If you are married or in a Civil Partnership then
the proportion of NRB unused on the first of you to die can be carried
forward and utilised on second death. Meaning that the second to
die could have a NRB of £650,000 (09/10 allowances). How to claim.
Be aware that unmarried couples will not get the
carried forward allowance so it remains essential for you to make Wills
which ensure that liability to Inheritance Tax is minimised on first
death and you both benefit from your NRB allowances.
Q2.
What will happen to my
estate if I don’t make a Will?
Answer:
Few people realise what dying without
having a valid Will means to those they leave behind. In all such
cases the state decides who will inherit. For married couples with
children, except for their jointly owned assets -
- the survivor inherits the first £250,000 together
with personal effects;
- ½ the remaining assets go to the survivor with a
life interest and then to the children on attaining 18 years of age; and
- the remaining ½ to the children on attaining 18
years of age.
Those married with no children and those in a Civil
Partnership, except for their jointly owned assets -
- the survivor inherits the first £450,000 together
with personal effects plus ½ of the remaining assets;
- the remaining ½ to the deceased’s parents or, if
none, then to his/her siblings.
The situation is more draconian for co-habiting
couples, especially if the partner who dies solely owns any
property. In these circumstances the estate goes to -
- any children in equal shares at 18 years of age,
if none;
- the deceased’s parents, if none;
- his/her siblings, if none;
- his/her grandparents, if none;
- his/her aunts/uncles, if none;
- the Crown.
Q3.
How much does a making a Will cost?
Answer:
Wills are individual and personal and depend entirely
on the circumstances, wishes and concerns of the person making the Will,
the cost will reflect this.
You can make a Will online or by buying a template
for a few pounds but these do not normally allow you to fully express
your wishes and may leave loose ends and uncertainties. Worse still
the document may fail at probate, by then it will be too late for you
to be concerned but you will have left untold problems for your loved
ones to deal with. By discussion with a qualified Will Writer can
you be certain that your wishes are properly and completely expressed in
your Will.
Do check that people offering low cost Wills are
qualified, a member of a professional body such as the Society of Will
Writers and Estate Planning Practitioners and have Professional
Indemnity Insurance so that if things do go wrong your family have
somewhere to go for redress.
Having said all this, investing in a Will today will
ultimately prove to be one of the best financial investments in terms of
return you ever made
Having discussed your
affairs we will quote a fixed price to be agreed before any instructions
are taken. There is no charge for an initial consultation.
Q5.
Who should I choose as my Executors and Trustees?
Answer:
This is entirely up to you but you should carefully
consider the following:
· do
I completely trust this person? If not don’t appoint him/her.
· is
this person likely to be alive when I die? Unless there are special
circumstances don’t appoint someone from the previous generation
· does
the person have the necessary skill and experience to fulfil the role
of my personal representative and deal with my estate as I have
directed? If not make provision in your Will for a professional to
act.
It is normal to have
your spouse/partner as your Executor and Trustee and one or more of your
adult children. In normal circumstances we would suggest two
family Executors and a professional organisation that will resign if the
family do not want it to act. In our view when Wills call for
trusts to be established it is essential to name a professional Executor
and Trustee.
Q6.
How long will it take to
make a Will?
Answer:
It
depends on your personal circumstances. However, we can give you a
list of things for you and your partner to think about before we meet
then it will take about an hour for us to discover about you, your
family, your wishes and concerns, give advice and then make
recommendations. When you have decided to proceed it takes about 20
minutes to capture the necessary information to enable the documents to
be produced.
Q8.
I am not married to my
children’s mother, how can I obtain parental responsibility?
Answer:
Unmarried fathers can acquire
parental responsibility for their children in several different ways,
depending on when their children were born.
For children born before 1 December 2003, unmarried
fathers can get parental responsibility by marrying the mother, by
obtaining a parental responsibility order from the court or registering a
parental responsibility agreement with the court.
For children born after 1 December 2003, the
situation is different. Unmarried fathers can get parental
responsibility by marrying the mother, by obtaining a parental
responsibility order from the court, registering the child's birth
jointly with the mother at the time of birth or re-registering the birth
or registering with the court for parental responsibility.
Parental responsibility does not always pass to the
father if the mother dies and the parents were not married.
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