Reply to: Drawing up a Will .. cost / advice etc ..

[ASB]

Mitigating IHT. All depends upon individual circumstances, but a couple of pointers that may be relevant for most people.

As has been mentioned bequests to a spouse are tax free, but when they die they are still part of their estate. If you can give away the IHT threshold direct to children etc then that gets this amount (approx 270k) out of their estate when they die, so if you can do this do so.

Use of trusts can also be helpful. For example write your life insurance in trust. If you do this correctly then it is never part of your estate. This can provide a useful saving, same is true for any benefits that only become payable on death.

A deed of variation can be useful too. So you have, say, a simple will which gives everything to your spouse. On your death they decide they don't need it all for whatever reason. Using a deed of variation to give, say 200k, to somebody else means that is never part of the estate. This prevents them having to survive the 7 years if the surviving spouse simply made a gift. Deeds of variation are on the radar for closure though.

Also try and ensure the will covers everybody dying at the same time, often overlooked and can lead to complications if not handled correctly.

Somebody once said that IHT is only payable by those who trust the IR more than their heirs. Sadly it's not as easy to get round these days, but there are a bunch of tricks that can help. Anybody with a sizeable estate can benefit from proper advice. But it ain't cheap.

[Alf W]

Get a Barclays Additions account (cost = under a tenner a month). This includes a facility whereby they will write you a free will (incl a Mirror Will for your partner).

Then close the account. Very cheap way to get a professional Will.

The Will kits you can buy are very basic and if there's anything remotely off-standard that you want, they won't cover it.

Otherwise it's going to cost about £80 for a pair of Wills from a Solicitor. More if you need some advice to 'mitigate' IHT

[Fungus]

Not quite. It's 40% of everything over the inheritance tax threshold (which is approx £260k or something like that).

Yeah, so you are punished for working hard and not blowing all your money on whores, alcohol and gambling.

Fungus

[Lucifer Box]

The government takes 40% of what you put in a will (ie actual money handed over to your loved ones) ????

I think I'll have a lie down.

Not quite. It's 40% of everything over the inheritance tax threshold (which is approx £260k or something like that).

[messiah]

Firstly, Inheritance TAX is daylight robbery and you should do EVERYTHING you can to make sure you are not caught. The first way is to give away as much of your wealth to your children before you die (actually, it needs to be given 7 years before you die),..so as long as your children are not scumbags,..this should not be a problem.

Secondly, if you are married,..make sure you USE BOTH allowances. Again, this means when you die, do not leave everything to your wife/husband. Since anything you leave to your legal partner is TAX Free, you should use your allowance of I believe £270k and give that to your children and give the remainder to your surviving partner. Your surviving partner can then pass on the rest when they die, and you will have both used the full £540k or so,..and no IHT.

Unless you can avoid it, do not leave all of it to your surviving partner. What with house prices etc these days, that will invariably lead to a tax bill for the children on the death of the surviving partner on anything above £270k at 40%!!!!!!!!!!!!!

40%!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry,..a little rant here,....DO NOT VOTE FOR THIS POXY LABOUR PARTY AGAIN!!! THEY ARE BAD FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND BAD FOR THE MIDDLE CLASSES.

40% on money that was hard earned, TAXED, hard saved, and the fruits of that are that for your virtue, you are taxed 40%!!!!!! Unfeckinbelieveable.

GET ADVICE. THEN MAKE A WILL. DO NOT MAKE ONE WITHOUT ADVICE. IT COULD COST YOU DEARLY.

The government takes 40% of what you put in a will (ie actual money handed over to your loved ones) ????

I think I'll have a lie down.

[expat]

Do remember that it depends on which country you live in, i.e. which legal system applies.

Since you don't mention it, I suppose that you live in England (which English people seem to take as the default), and I suppose that most of the replies are also from people living in England and assuming English law.

The law in Scotland (for example) is different from that in England, and some of the things that people have said here are definitely false in Scotland.

[Rebecca Loos]

You are right Sapper but I have a suspicion that when the Tories get back into power, they will be slow and reluctant to reduce the rates. They'll probably remove a few obvious stealth taxes that will make them look good, but when their Treasury men look at how much GB is getting, they'll find ways to keep it too!

[Sapper]

Spin & More Spin

Firstly, Inheritance TAX is daylight robbery and you should do EVERYTHING you can to make sure you are not caught. The first way is to give away as much of your wealth to your children before you die (actually, it needs to be given 7 years before you die),..so as long as your children are not scumbags,..this should not be a problem.

Secondly, if you are married,..make sure you USE BOTH allowances. Again, this means when you die, do not leave everything to your wife/husband. Since anything you leave to your legal partner is TAX Free, you should use your allowance of I believe £270k and give that to your children and give the remainder to your surviving partner. Your surviving partner can then pass on the rest when they die, and you will have both used the full £540k or so,..and no IHT.

Unless you can avoid it, do not leave all of it to your surviving partner. What with house prices etc these days, that will invariably lead to a tax bill for the children on the death of the surviving partner on anything above £270k at 40%!!!!!!!!!!!!!

40%!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry,..a little rant here,....DO NOT VOTE FOR THIS POXY LABOUR PARTY AGAIN!!! THEY ARE BAD FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND BAD FOR THE MIDDLE CLASSES.

40% on money that was hard earned, TAXED, hard saved, and the fruits of that are that for your virtue, you are taxed 40%!!!!!! Unfeckinbelieveable.

GET ADVICE. THEN MAKE A WILL. DO NOT MAKE ONE WITHOUT ADVICE. IT COULD COST YOU DEARLY.

[NoddY]

...is there a scheme whereby u "check in" every year to let them know u are still alive so if you don't it raises the alarm and they go on a search to see whether or not you are dead ?...

This reminded me of a story I read the other day which was very sad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4564166.stm

Let's hope it doesn't come to that for anyone.

[ASB]

My sister & brother-in-law left their two children to me in the event of their demise...

Advice I received was that although it is very common (normal even) to appoint guardians in a will it is better to do it outside of the will.

Something to do with the guardian is not officially appointed until the will is proved so for the intervening time the child is under the protection of the court. Also there may be difficulties if the will was sucessfully challenged.

Might be worth checking out.

http://www.henmans.co.uk/images/Guardianship.pdf

[ASB]

It is very important to get it right.

"how much does Gordon Brown get if you are not married and you don't have a will ?"

It is dealt with under the rules of intestacy. If their is no heir under these rules he cops the lot, otherwise he gets zero (or rather the IHT payable if any).

"they are not declared dead until many years (10?) have elapsed."

Generally 7, although this can be contested by other relatives. Lord Lucan was only recently declared dead. As an aside you can get the inverse. My grandmother lived to be 102. After about 95 she had to get a "certificate of existance" for her pension provider - just in case she had croaked and we were pocketing her pension.

"Although to make it legal you have to deposit somewhere official. TPTB need to know that a will for you exists."

No you don't. It's sound advice to. I've got a safe full. TPTB don't need to know a will for you exists - until you are dead.

"The DIY Will kits are good if and only if you do not add anything to them."

Solicitors love them (but there is a certain vested interest there). It has been estimated that about 80% of self drawn wills would fail if challenged as to validity.

Basically if you are not happy for your estate to be dealt with through the intestacy rules (and few are) then you should get a will drawn up by a solicitor. It is perfectly valid to write one yourself on any old scrap of paper, but it is very easy to challenge.

http://www.whitingandpartners.co.uk/...tacy_Rules.htm

[ladymuck]

I believe it goes to your nearest living relative. If I snuffed it tomorrow, my estate would pass to my parents, not my brother. If my parents were dead then I think it would then go to the nearest living relative of whichever one died last, or maybe my good-for-nothing brother would now get a look-in.

If there are no traceable rellies then it all goes to the state! Yay!

Of course, I could be horribly wrong and therefore take no responsibilty for any action or inaction you may take as a result of my inane witterings.

[messiah]

but what happens to your assets if you die and there is no will and you are not married ?

Please don't say 20% goes to Gordon Brown.

[ladymuck]

My sister & brother-in-law left their two children to me in the event of their demise...

Too late now.

They're too big to send up chimneys...

I'll have to think of another plan B.

But not too big to scrub floors, do general chores and keep in a cupboard under the stairs. Or you could rent them out to Gary Glitter?

[s2budd]

Wills

The DIY Will kits are good if and only if you do not add anything to them.
If there is anything extra that you would like - for example the sister gets the cat or your sister and brother share the estate equally than go and see a solicitor. The solicitors cost will be about £150 to draw up the will.
Then place the will in your safe and send a copy to others in your family.