Wills, Trusts and Probate

Why choose us?

We can assist with Wills, Trusts, Inheritance Tax Planning, Later Life Asset Protection Planning, Powers of Attorney, Attorney advice, Probate, Court of Protection applications, and aspects of Community Care Law such as Local Authority Deferred Payment Agreements, the cost of long-term residential social care, and NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding.

• We have acknowledged expertise in working with elderly and vulnerable clients, through individual membership of STEP and Solicitors for the Elderly, a national organisation of lawyers committed to promoting high-quality legal services for older and vulnerable people, in addition to their families and carers.
• We use the services of third-party experts, where necessary, in preparing Mental Capacity Assessments, in addition to carrying out estate research for tracing relatives and performing asset searches using the Certainty Wills National Database.
• We also conduct care home, home, hospita,l and bedside visits according to the client’s needs and circumstances.
• As a specialist Wills, Trusts, Probate and Elderly and Vulnerable Adult Care Team, we have a wealth of legal knowledge and practical experience in these areas of law, which, combined with up-to-date training, means we can offer our clients the best service and advice.
• Our team is also excited to share our knowledge and raise awareness of all the services we offer and the documents individuals should have in place to make life more straightforward all around when circumstances become challenging.

What We Do

Wills

If you want to decide who receives what from your estate and who should handle your affairs after your death, you must make a Will. You may also need to consider appointing guardians for your children, ensuring your partner’s security in your home, or providing for children from a previous relationship, as well as safeguarding assets and saving on Inheritance Tax. We can advise you on ways to approach difficult issues in order to achieve your wishes.

Trusts

Trusts can help reduce taxes, safeguard assets for various purposes, and provide for children or vulnerable beneficiaries. We can guide you through the options, prepare trust and tax paperwork, and administer the trust if you wish.

Inheritance Tax Planning

Many people, particularly those who own their own homes, find that the total value of their estate is at a level where Inheritance Tax will be payable. However, there are various ways of tackling the problem, and our expert team can help you to mitigate or even avoid Inheritance Tax.

Lasting Powers of Attorney and Advance Decisions

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) are documents which give someone you trust the legal authority to make decisions on your behalf if you are no longer able to do so due to a lack of mental capacity.

Property and Finance Lasting Powers of Attorney can enable trusted individuals to assist with property and finances should you need help either now or in the future. We can draw up the appropriate documents and tailor them according to your requirements.

If you do not wish to be kept alive at all costs when your quality of life is minimal, we can prepare an Advance Decision for you to give directions about future medical treatment or to appoint an attorney to make decisions relating to your health and welfare issues, including end-of-life care, under a Health and Welfare LPA.

If you have a business and wish to appoint an Attorney with a specialist skill set about the business, then it is recommended you make a Business LPA separate from your personal Property and Finance LPA.

Further, if an Attorney requires advice on their role, duties, or powers, we will be happy to assist with this.

All costs incurred by an Attorney in association with obtaining legal assistance in their role will be met from the incapacitated person’s own funds.

Enduring Powers of Attorney

Any Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) validly made before 1 October 2007 can still be used, but only in respect of your property and financial affairs. LPAs replace EPAs.

However, in practice,e many financial organisations do not accept unregistered EPAs. As such, it is prudent to make a new LPA in preparation for any future changes in policy.

If you are an attorney who is named on an EPA and your relative has become or is becoming mentally incapable, it is a legal requirement that you register the EPA with the Office of the Public Guardian.

We can assist with the registration of the EPA, enabling you to act as an attorney.

Court of Protection

We can also guide you through the process for obtaining legal authority on behalf of a friend or relative via the Court of Protection. This will enable you to manage the finances of a loved one who lacks the mental capacity to make their own decisions.

We offer advice and assistance to Deputies and Attorneys relating to applications to the Court of Protection. This can include lifetime gifting and Inheritance Tax Planning, Statutory Wills, sale of co-owned property, appointing a new Trustee, determining the validity of an EPA or LPA, or the sale of the incapacitated person’s property to a Deputy, Attorney, or family member of the incapacitated person.

Once Deputyship has been granted, the Deputy will be required to submit annual financial reports to the Office of the Public Guardia,n and we can assist with this.

Further, if a Deputy requires advice on their role, duties, es and powers, we will be happy to assist with this.

All costs incurred by a Deputy in association with obtaining legal assistance in their role will be met from the incapacitated person’s own funds.

Probate

We can help with the legal and practical aspects of dealing with the estate of someone who has passed away, including the completion of Inheritance Tax forms, applying for a Grant of Probate, the sale or transfer of property and investments, payment of legacies and preparation of Estate Accounts where appropriate. Furthermore, it may not be too late to save some Inheritance Tax by way of a Deed of Variation – we can let you know.

Contentious Probate

Where matters about a Will are in dispute, such as the validity of the document, or if you believe there were circumstances surrounding the making of the Will where coercion was applied (or involved other suspicious circumstances), our Dispute Resolution Team can assist.

If the Deceased’s estate does not make reasonable financial provision for a spouse, a former spouse not yet remarried, a child or child of the family, a cohabitee or other dependant by their Will or the statutory rules known as the Intestacy Rules, then making a dependency claim against the estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 may be possible within six months of the date of issue of the grant of representation.

Deferred Payment Agreements

A Deferred Payment Agreement is an arrangement where an individual’s property can be used as collateral to help with the payment of care home fees. The Local Authority will pay the fees on behalf of the individual in care, and a charge will be placed against the property. A Deferred Payment Agreement is a legally binding contract.

Repayment of the loan must be made to the Local Authority when the property is sold or from the estate on death.

To be eligible for a Deferred Payment Agreement, the individual must:

• have moved into long-term care
• own a home
• have capital assets below £23,250 (which does not include the home of a private pension pot)

If your relative has recently entered or is about to enter long-term residential care, has been subject to a Means-Tested Financial Assessment by the Local Authority, or offered a Deferred Payment Agreement, please do get in touch to speak to one of our specialist advisers.

NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding

Any NHS funding is made in connection with a person’s primary healthcare needs. These needs may arise out of any number of factors, such as illness or accident.

NHS funding is free at the point of delivery, irrespective of the setting, in particular where a person is receiving nursing care outside of a hospital environment.

To check for an individual’s eligibility for funding, a Needs Checklist is completed, which is a partial assessment of need. The Checklist is a screening tool that helps to identify individuals whose health needs should be considered for NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding. If a person is found to be eligible, then a full assessment will be carried out.

If your relative is scheduled to be assessed or an assessment has taken place where you do not agree with the outcome, please do get in touch to speak to one of our specialist advisors.

Other Services

We also provide advice and moral support to Carers on their rights and provide an Advocacy Service for Carers Assessments conducted by the Local Authority.

If you have assumed the role of a carer and wish to know your rights, or a Carers Assessment has been scheduled, please do get in touch to speak to one of our specialist advisors.

If you are part of an organisation that would like to arrange for a Member of our Team to visit you in the workplace to discuss our services or conduct a Seminar in a formal setting, we would be delighted to hear from you.