probate - practice

Our Wills & Probate matters are supervised by a solicitor with many years of post qualification experience to ensure that your Will is drafted professionally. We understand the importance of your decisions and their lasting effects. Our lawyers and support staff in the probate department offer practical, empathic, considerate and sensitive advice to ensure that your estate is distributed accurately according to your wishes.

probate - why you should make a Will 

Have you ever thought what would happen to your estate if you passed away tomorrow, without making a Will? Does any family member or dependant know what assets you own, such as savings accounts and life insurance policies, where all your bank accounts are held and who you may owe money to or what your last wishes were?  Planning ahead now and getting everything in order makes it easier for your loved ones after your death, otherwise the circumstances can cause unnecessary confusion, heartache and financial hardship at a time of mourning.

By putting your affairs in order you can provide for your spouse, children and other family members.  You can significantly reduce or eliminate your inheritance tax (IHT) ultimately saving your estate thousands of pounds by simply having a carefully drafted Will in place. With the increase in house prices many households have risen above the threshold when IHT is triggered, which at present is £325,000. Anything above this figure will be taxed at 40 percent.  Without a Will your money and property will not be passed on according to your wishes after your death. This can leave your family and dependants with very little or even nothing and in such circumstances the government may be the main beneficiary (cestui que use).

Also, if you have young children under 18 years of age you can set up trusts for them in a Will. This is very important if you re-married, as the children of your first marriage may not get anything if you died without a Will. If you were cohabiting at the time of your death your partner would receive nothing and they would have to go to court to make a claim against the estate, which can be a very daunting experience.

dying intestate - the rules

If you die without making a Will, you die intestate. This means that your assets will be divided according to the rules of intestacy rather than your wishes. 

Under the rules your estate will be administered by your closest surviving next of kin in the following order:

• spouse or civil partner
• children or their issue (if over 18) if your child has died before you
  
• parents
  
• brothers or sisters or their issue, if any of them have died before you
  
• step brothers and sisters or their issue (as above)
  
• uncles and aunts or their issue (as above)
  
• step uncles and aunts or their issue (as above)
  

If you have no relatives your friends will get nothing and the government will take everything after all your debts are cleared and your funeral is paid for.

We can arrange for your wishes to be incorporated into a Will detailing everything you could want and how you may want it carried out after your death, from making specific gifts to loved ones and friends to the details of your funeral arrangements.

We all tend to hear nightmare stories where loved ones have been left with nothing after the death of a beloved because they died intestate. However we never seem to make time to prepare our own Will’s. As a result of this it is estimated that 60 percent of the population in UK die intestate. You need to make sure you are not one of those unfortunate people by contacting us so that we can help put your mind at ease.

Contact us through our online contact form absolutely free and we will reply to your email straight away.