Probate, Wills, Trusts And Lasting Powers Of Attorney Articles
An amazing staff recipe you will definitely enjoy! - try Elizabeth Brown's easy-to-make Lemon Posset Cheesecake...a great summer experience not to be missed
Solicitor Phoebe Tranter outlines the 7 straightforward steps that form the Probate process...from collating information, to obtaining the Grant of Probate, paying liabilities and distribution of the assets.
Rishi Sunak announced no IHT allowance increases until April 2026, but what about extending Transferable Allowances to cohabitees?
Making a Lasting Power of Attorney is for any age, not just for older people. It provides peace of mind about your health and financial affairs into the future, or those of a loved one.
In a Lasting Power of Attorney, you can appoint one or more attorneys to make your Covid vaccine decision for you, according to your wishes
This story shows how vulnerable you can be when one half of an unmarried couple dies without having made a Will, leaving the other homeless.
This quick law story concerns a husband with dementia and his wife who was frozen-out of their joint bank accounts. There's a simple way to avoid this happening...
You can still make a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) document during Coronavirus, but you need to observe the Government’s latest guidance on social distancing, self-isolating and shielding...
Even though people in England are now automatically opted-in to be considered to donate their organs, you can still clarify your specific organ donation wishes in your Will.
A Certainty Will Search notification led Lawson-West Solicitors to find a lost Will from 1995, written twenty-five years earlier, and were subsequently appointed as probate solicitors
Lawson West’s specialist Wills Solicitors, Phoebe Tranter, adds her experience of how virtual witnessing works in real life
The Government is to legalise the remote witnessing of Wills during the Coronavirus pandemic.
There's an increasing number of contested probate cases where the needs of other parties outweigh the child's claim to an inheritance from their parent.
Lawson-West Solicitors shares the importance of having a valid and up-to-date Will
It’s been nearly two years since the joining together of Lawson-West Solicitors and Brown & Co Solicitors in Market Harborough.
Probate and wills Solicitor, Phoebe Tranter, has been quoted in the national media
Many people are looking to create a Will at the moment - How can you sign your Will and have it witnessed by two people, adhering to social distancing?
How to make your Will with Lawson West Solicitors during Lockdown
Probate Registry holds-up finalising the estates of the deceased with a 4-6 week delay
With nearly 60% of all adults not making a Will, Lawson-West describes WHEN to make your Will, WHY it's important and the REASONS WHY people don't.
A report has been published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Inheritance and Intergenerational Fairness (APPG IIF) recommending the abolition of inheritance tax (IHT) in its current form.
Recent news: Lynda Rickard and her husband starved their victim, James “Anthony” Sootheran to death so that they were able to benefit from his Will, which they themselves had forged to include themselves.
You missed Will Aid month, but you can donate to charity in your Will
Delays to Probate should be over by Christmas say Probate Registry
IHT is the tax applied to a person’s estate (their money, properties and possessions) after they have died.
A Beginner's Guide to Attorneyship - Everything you need to know if you are appointed as a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).
The common understanding of a Will is a document that leaves your property and money to others when you die, but it actually does much more than that.
Lawyers Vicky Jones and Christian Jenkins support local Leicestershire charity LOROS at the Market Harborough Innovation Centre
A recent article in the Times newspaper stated that five prosecutions a week are being brought due to alleged abuse through a Lasting Power of Attorney. They also quoted a figure of over 2,000 cases a year being investigated. But although this sounds high, it is suspected that 1 in 6 Lasting Powers of Attorney will be abused.
A landmark ruling in a contentious probate case has recently been reported upon by Gordon Exall, Barrister, Zenith Chambers, Leeds & Hardwicke, London. The case, in which a ‘limitation amnesty’ was agreed between parties in reference to a claim that the monies left on trust by her late husband, were not sufficient to meet her needs, has hit the legal press following a statement in the ruling by Mr. Justice Mostyn.
On the 6th November 2018, the government reintroduced the idea of a “banded” probate court fee; charging those with a lower estate value a lower amount than those with a higher estate value. The date for these increases was announced as the 1st April 2019, and those of us making applications were working harder than ever to ensure applications were in before this date.
The new year is full of resolutions and everyone is keen to get themselves organised and cross off jobs they have been putting off. An important one that doesn't take a lot of effort and is extremely worthwhile going is getting your will written if it isn’t already.
The second attack against government’s plans to introduce a sliding scale for probate fees has been lobbied by a parliamentary committee, laying claim that the Lord Chancellor is acting beyond his powers with the new strategy.
The Government have posted a “Written Statement to Parliament”, announcing a change to the Probate Fee System from a simple fee of £155 (with solicitors), or £215 (without solicitors), to a banded system. This system was proposed last year, and a petition opposing it amassed 38,425 signatures, before being closed due to the upcoming general election. It seems this change has now been approved
You may have heard the terms “Will” and “Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)”, or “Executor” and “Attorney” be used interchangeably, but they are actually very different things. It is important to distinguish between them, as they are both significant documents that provide for your wishes at different stages of your life.
Have you ever thought about the different words used to describe death? I have heard lots of expressions used, from “passed away” and “lost” all the way to “kicked the bucket” and “popped their clogs”. People often use these phrases to avoid saying the word “death” in the hope it will make the idea more palatable, or easier to comprehend.
The recent case regarding an unmarried mother of four’s right to receive this allowance has highlighted the difference in the rights of cohabiting, unmarried couples compared to those of couples who are married or in a civil partnership.
A recent announcement means that judges will no longer have to be consulted to withdraw the treatment of a minimally conscious patient if both the patients’ family and the patient’s medical professionals are all in agreement. This decision has been a long time coming with people both for and against the decision.
An ‘Incapacity Crisis’ alert has recently been sounded by the organisation ‘Solicitors for the Elderly’ (SFE) after they published the findings of a study commissioned to research the gap between the volume of people suffering with mental incapacity and the number of people who have created a Lasting Power of Attorney.
Are you busy with young children and keep putting off making a Will?
If the answer to this question is yes, then you are not alone. Many parents of young children put off making a Will for years. It is of course expected that we will all live a long life, into retirement, enjoying the company of our children and grandchildren. However, unfortunately this is not always the case.
A LAW firm which has branches across Leicestershire has raised more than £6,000 for charity this year after taking part in a will-writing campaign which asks solicitors to write wills for local people and instead, ask only for a voluntary donation. Lawson-West Solicitors Ltd, which has branches in Leicester on Meridian Business Park, Market Harborough and Wigston have taken part in the annual Will Aid scheme and raised an impressive £6,120 in the month-long fundraiser.
It’s recently been announced that HRH Queen Elizabeth II will be gifting her property, York House, to HRH Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as their wedding present. Such an extravagant gift is usually subject to Inheritance Tax, but would this be the case for the Queen? This article explores the ways in which taxation impacts Her Royal Highness.
With regard to making Powers of Attorney, this is best done as soon as possible. If you have not appointed an Attorney and you become unable to look after your affairs through; illness, an accident or old age, then your loved ones will have no legal right to look after you in the way you would like, even if you have informally expressed your wishes without having to make a complex and costly application to the Court of Protection.
A Will is a legally binding document that outlines what you want to happen to your estate when you pass away, who should benefit and how.
These days, Wills and Estate Planning is about much more than simply ‘who do I wish to inherit once I’m no longer around’. There is a lot to think about, and it can often involve some tough decisions. At Lawson-West, we understand this, and have tailored our Wills and our procedures to what we feel is important to our clients.
So what does having a Will with Lawson-West mean?
If you own a business or shares in a business, then you might wish to consider planning now and writing your Will in a tax efficient manner to help minimise Inheritance Tax.
There are several ways you can beat Inheritance Tax by giving away assets, setting up a trust or changing your Will. Make sure you pay close attention to the legal details and tax consequences and if you are unsure of anything, one of Lawson West's Wills and Probate solicitors can help you out.
Writing a Will is important for a number of reasons including the assurance that your estate will be dealt with as you wish when you are no longer around, that the people you want to be beneficiaries have the correct legal rights and additionally for inheritance tax reasons.
We know that getting around to writing a Will may not be everyone’s top priority which is another reason we chose to take part in Will Aid - as a way of supporting increased awareness of the importance of making a Will, which is also a surprisingly easy process.
A Will is a document that you create, and it details who is to benefit from your estate on your death. A Will is a document that should ideally be drawn up by a solicitor. This is due to the potential complications that can arise from homemade Wills. These include invalidity, unclear instructions and accidental beneficiaries. It is highly recommended that you see a solicitor, especially if you have more than one beneficiary in your Will.
A new Government scheme is managing partial refunds to people who were overcharged when paying the registration fee/s for Lasting Power of Attorneys (LPAs) between 1/4/2013 and 31/3/2017.
The Court of Protection and its powers is an area I am advising clients on more and more. I was recently asked to dispel some common urban myths surrounding the Court of Protection for the benefit of my colleagues, and I realised that there were no urban myths because the Court of Protection was not common knowledge.
