Surrey Homes | SH32 | June 2017 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Legal
Get Your
Life in
Order
Legal experts James Beresford and Simon Leney share
important advice on planning for the future
Preparing, Planning and
Protecting your Estate
James Beresford, Slater and Gordon
What happens if I don’t have any plans in place?
“If you die without leaving a valid will, you are treated
as having died intestate. This means that your estate will
be divided in accordance with the law. This may mean
that people whom you do not wish to inherit from your
estate may do so. It is not necessarily a certainty that your
husband, wife or civil partner will inherit all of your estate.”
Should my partner and I have a joint will?
“There is no such thing as a ‘joint’ will. Each person
will make their own individual will. What you can do
is have wills that mirror each other in their terms. It
very much depends upon your family dynamics as to
whether your wills should do so however. It also depends
on the family scenario and the assets involved.”
What grounds could there be for my will to be contested?
“Wills can be contested in certain circumstances only.
There are limited categories of people who can claim against
your estate if they feel that they have not been sufficiently
provided for. Your will could also be challenged if you did
not have the requisite capacity to create a will and also that
you lacked knowledge and approval of the contents.
Whilst there is nothing that you can do to prevent a claim
being brought against your estate it will be harder for a
claim to be brought, if you take appropriate specialist
legal advice from a suitably qualified solicitor. He or she
will be able to express your wishes in your own words
and put plans in place to ensure that they are met.”
James Beresford is Head of Wills, Tax, Trusts and Probate at
Slater and Gordon Lawyers. 0161 383 3883 slatergordon.co.uk
Credit: FreeImages.com/Shho
What are lifetime gifts and
how do they work?
Simon Leney, Cripps
“It’s common knowledge that if you gift money, assets
or valuables seven years before you die, you are free of
inheritance tax. There is no limit to how much you can
gift. If you give away more than £3,000 in a tax year (the
previous year’s unused allowance can also be used) and
you don’t survive the gift by seven years, the surplus is
added back to the value of your estate at death for the
purpose of calculating inheritance tax. There is no penalty
– the inheritance tax is no more than it would have been
had you kept the value in your estate and actually it will
be slightly less due to use of the annual allowance.
Where you as the giver continue to benefit from the gift,
it will be deemed to be a gift with reservation of benefit,
meaning the seven year ‘clock’ does not start. If at a later stage
part of the gift is returned to you or spent on your behalf,
the part of the gift will be treated as a gift with reservation.
Lifetime giving – accelerating inheritance by your
heirs for example – has many benefits, not least the
pleasure of seeing your gift being enjoyed. The only
downside is that you make yourself poorer, although
for inheritance tax saving that is the whole point!”
Simon Leney is a Private Client Lawyer and Wealth
Planning Specialist at Cripps 01892 506005 cripps.co.uk
147 wealdentimes.co.uk