Wills and Probate

For most married couples their principal asset is the family home.

Inheritance tax now affects more of the population than when it was first introduced in the form of The Inheritance Tax Act 1984. The main reason for the increase in the impact of the tax has been the significant rise in property prices within the last ten years. This has in turn resulted in the tax becoming a more sensitive political issue. There are two rates of inheritance tax, 0% and 40%. No tax is payable upon the estate of the deceased between 0% and 312,000, which is the nil rate band for this financial year. Tax is paid at…

Benjamin Franklin in the 18th Century observed that there are two certainties in life: death and taxes. His observation is just as valid today. They affect us all. In these library articles I will explore legal issues relating to the two subjects of death and taxes.

For 30 years, Joyce and Sybil Burden, aged 90 and 82, have been battling to ensure that when one of them dies the other does not need to sell the home they share in order to pay an inheritance tax bill without success. However, when civil partnerships became lawful they thought they might be able to use discrimination legislation to aid their case. Were they not related, they could have formed a civil partnership and no IHT would be payable when the first sister dies but as they are related they are not permitted to do so. They have lost…

The start of a new tax year is a good opportunity in the current climate for people to put their tax affairs in order and ensure all reliefs are being claimed. In the current environment where the Government is so committed to cutting back even on lawful tax avoidance, and has just strengthened the powers of HMRC to engage in searches of the homes of individual tax payers, first of all check all tax due is paid. Secondly, claim all allowances and expenses that are appropriate. With the prospect of 45% tax rates for some and a budget on 22…

How is your personal legal housekeeping? A new year is a good time to make some legal resolutions. Make your will. Ensure property is in the right names. Even consider a pre or post pre nup. Enter into contracts with business partnership and shareholders rather than operating on trust. Introduce some standard terms of sale and purchase into your business. Our private clients are not always up to date with matters such as making a will. Although the government is looking at changing the law to give better rights on death to cohabitants who are not married, those changes are…

You can’t take it with you, so don’t leave your bereft family to fight over it. A new BBC series shows that writing a will is one of the most important financial and personal decisions a person should make. The series, You Can’t Take It with You, is screening on BBC2 on Friday evenings. We are tremendously pleased this series is highlighting just how important it is to seek proper legal advice to ensure people’s wishes are respected, and to avoid causing distress, and even conflict, among grieving relatives.

In a recent survey carried out by the Chartered Management Institute, less than half of UK organisations were found to have an adequate Business Continuity Plan (BCP). Both they and the Business Continuity Institute continue their efforts to ensure that businesses and their owners plan properly to cope with the unexpected.