Estate Plans
Estate plans offer many benefits above and beyond a Will.
Family trees can become complicated and you may want to plan ahead in case future relationships break down and deaths in the family change the path of inheritance.
For example, you may want to find a way to ensure that your children inherit after your death if your widow choses to marry again. Marriage revokes a Will and the future spouse would inherit in the case of death – sideways inheritance. This leaves your children with the real possibility of losing their intended inheritance from you.
You can protect your assets for future generations to avoid potentially harmful divorce settlements down the line which cannot be foreseen.
We can ensure that your assets go to those intended with a comprehensive Estate Plan. It is cost effective and ensures that your assets are distributed according to your wishes in the most tax efficient way.
After the death of a partner we will re-plan your estate to take account of the changed circumstances and write another Will.
Your Estate Planning Consultant will explain exactly how we can do this for you to ring-fence everything you have worked hard for and ensure it goes where you wish.
Protection against sideways disinheritance.
If you pass away first and your spouse marries again, this revokes any previous Will by your widow. If your spouse dies without a Will in place, the children from your relationship may find that their inheritance has legally gone to the surviving spouse through the law of Intestacy. Your own children could inherit nothing.
You may also want to protect your children’s inheritance in case they divorce.
One of the mechanisms that we use is a Trust.
Trusts
Trusts can ensure that assets remain in your bloodline and direct family line rather than going to a widow or a widower’s next spouse, beneficiaries’ partners post-divorce, beneficiaries’ creditors or the tax man.
Trust assets are not required to go through probate. The probate period can last four weeks to four years in extreme cases. You can also save on costly probate fees.
Carefully structured Trusts may limit your liability for any future social care costs.
You can save on Inheritance Tax too.
Inheritance Tax (IHT)
You can also include Inheritance tax planning to mitigate for future generations. It is possible to reduce the amount of IHT your beneficiaries may have to pay.
Preserve the Inheritance Tax Nil rate Band of the first person to die so that it can be used on second death. Any unused nil rate band from the first partner who dies can be can be utilised by the second partner when they die.
“At Fielding Triggs we offer you a comprehensive service of the highest quality. We fully explain everything to make the process straight forward and easy to understand. We are proud of our expert consultants and the consistently excellent feedback that we receive from our clients.”
