Our Will Facts Form
To advise you comprehensively on your Will, we need to gather information about you and your finances.
Our Will facts form is the first step for you when you decide to make a Will. Please complete as much or as little as you wish.
The aim of the Will facts form is two-fold:
1. It acts as a useful reminder of the things you should bear in mind when giving instructions for a Will and
2. Once completed it provides us with enough information, which we will discuss when we meet, to set the ball rolling with the preparation of a first draft of your Will, with clause by clause summary, within 2 working days of receipt of your instructions.
The information which you provide will also enable the team to establish if there are any tax saving opportunities available to you.
For example, have you nominated a beneficiary for your death in service payments? If you have, this sum will be paid directly to your chosen beneficiary free from inheritance tax and often with minimal formalities. For the same reasons, policies of insurance should be written in trust.
While the much loved nil rate band discretionary trust has lost its tax saving effectiveness it still has a role to play in ring-fencing assets for the purposes of assessment of residential or other ongoing care. It also serves as a useful counter to predators in the form of divorce solicitors and the trustee in bankruptcy. If a beneficiary only has a discretionary entitlement then he or she cannot, with conviction, say whether they will receive any of the trust fund. The decision lies with the Trustees and so both the divorce lawyer and the trustee in bankruptcy cannot allocate a value to the beneficiary’s potential entitlement in any claim they may want to bring against the beneficiary.
You can email your fact form to us directly and one of the solicitors in the Wills, Trust and Probate team will call you to arrange the first meeting.
If you would like to discuss the above, please email us or go back to our other contact details.