Our Top 10 reasons to write a Will
We believe everyone should have a Will. Here are our main reasons why you should write a Will.
Tis the season - What are the inheritance tax thresholds
It's that time of year, to get together with family and friends. Reflect on the past year and look forward to what the new year brings. At this time of year we look to gift others, so this is the perfect opportunity to look at the Inheritance tax (IHT) thresholds.
What counts as a gift?
This could be money. Household and personal possessions suchs as antiques, furniture and jewellery as an example. A house or land. Listed stocks and shares, and unlisted shares.
Remember if you permanently live in the UK there is no IHT payable for gifts between spouses and civil partners. There is also no IHT payable for gifts to political parties or charities.
What allowances do you have?
You can gift a total of £3000 per year without them being added to the value of your estate. This can be to one person or several people.
You can make of up to £250 per person as you want in the tax year, this is called the small gift allowance.
You can also make gifts for weddings or civil partnerships. you can gift £5000 to your children, £2500 to a grandchild or great-grandchild. £1000 to any other person.
You are also not impacted for any regular gifts you make out of your normal expenditure/income for example making regular payments into your childs savings account.
There is also the 7-year rule, which basically means any gift over the thesholds will not be considered part of your estate if you were to die after this period. Unless something has been put into trust.
If you want to understand this more speak to one of the team.
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What would happen if i don't have a Will?
If you were to die without a Will the rules of intestacy would dictate how your money, property and personal possessions will be distributed.
If you're married or in a civil partnership and have no children then your spouse/partner would receive everything. If you had children then your spouse/civil partner would keep all of your assets including property up to £270,000 and all of your personal possessions no matter the value. The remainder will then be distributed equally between your children.
if you're not married then your partner will have no right under the intestacy rules. You can find out more about intestacy here - https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will
How a Will can protect unmarried couples
Without a Will in the event of death the rules of intestacy will apply.
This means that your partner may not receive anything. By stating your wishes in a Will, this can mean your partner will inherit everything you want.
As you're not married if it is your intention in the future to get married or enter into a civil partnership this can be written into the Will to make sure that when this happens your Will doesn't become void.
If you own a home together under joint beneficial ownership in the event of death of one the survivor would automatically receive full ownership of the property.
You can also make sure any Life cover is paid out with the appropriate trust put in place with your insurance provider, and any Pensions benefits are paid to your partner by completing an expression of wishes with your pension administrator.
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How do I look after my wife and also my children which are from a previous relationship?
Don't leave things to chance....
If you have children from a previous relationship and you've since remarried, how do you make sure you protect everyone you want to in your will?
Having a simple mirror Will with your spouse leaving everything to each other could mean your children from a previous relationship do not inherit what you want.
Why? Your spouse could change their Will or their Will would become void if they were to remarry. This would mean you children from a previous marriage would then miss out.
You can protect both your spouse and your children from a previous marriage with a trust.
An example could be. You own your house in your own name. Your spouse lives in the house with you along with your children. If you ultimately want your children to inherit your house, but you want to equally make sure you spouse has somewhere to live. A Life interest trust can help you achieve this. This would mean your spouse can benefit from the house until she was to die at this point it would then pass to your children regardless of what is in your spouse's Will.
Boden Samuel Wills and Trusts LTD Registered Address: 46 Market Place, Mountsorrel, Loughborough, LE12 7BA Company registration number: 14128543
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