Making a Will is important for everyone to ensure those important to you are provided for should something happen to you. A Will ensures that your affairs and important decisions after you are gone will be dealt with by the people you wish. Without a Will, your estate will pass to certain classes of relatives and if you have no such relatives can potentially pass to the state. Making a Will ensures that your wishes are known and acted upon, which usually makes it easier for those left behind with to deal with. A Will may be particularly important if you have children of more than one relationship or you are a single parent and wish to make arrangements as to who will be the guardian of your children if anything happens to you. Even if you have made a Will you should review this following important life events such as the birth of children, marriage or divorce. Previous Wills are generally revoked on marriage and gifts or appointments of former spouses as executors no longer take effect upon divorce. There can be inheritance tax savings in making Wills. For more information or advice on making a Will, whether as an individual or a married couple please get in touch with us on Info@bridgelawsolicitors.co.uk, visit one of our offices, or call us on 0161 427 0084/0800 840 1183.

Upon remarrying, any pre-existing Will becomes void unless the Will was made in contemplation of marriage or Civil Partnership to a specific person. We can advise you on where you and your loved ones stand in your Will and advise whether a new Will needs drafting.

Similarly to cohabiting couples, unless specified within your Will, your share of your business will be distributed amongst your children and spouse before your business partner under Intestacy rules. Issues can also arise in relation to Inheritance Tax obligations which can mean your family have to sell the share, which may not necessarily be to your business partner. This could have huge implications on their ability to continue to run the business as normal.

You and your business partner can consider various options to ensure your estate plans are formalised, such as formal partnership agreement, including a plan for what will happen if one party dies. Options to consider could include forming a trust to hold your share of the business, or creating a Lasting Power of Attorney should something happen to you where you are incapacitated and unable to carry on running your business. These consideration can avoid your business partner or beneficiary having to go through expensive and lengthy legal processes to continue the business.

At Bridge Law we can advise and assist you in the best way to financially provide for a disabled beneficiary. Usually a Trust is the best way to provide financially for your disabled or vulnerable beneficiaries, allowing you to appoint people you trust as Trustees to decide how to use the assets for the beneficiary, which is governed by rules set out within the Trust document. There are two types of trusts often used for disabled or vulnerable persons, Discretionary Trusts or Disabled Person’s trusts. Our experienced Wills and Probate solicitor can advise you on which is the best option in your circumstances.

When you leave assets to your loved ones they may have to pay tax on assets you leave. It is important to consider what assets in your estate inheritance tax may be deducted from. We can assist you in inheritance tax planning to reduce the amount payable, but It is vital that correct advice is given relating specifically to your circumstances as breaking tax rules or incorrect completion of information to HMRC can lead to high penalties.

We can advise and assist you In all probate and estate administration matters, such as obtaining grants of probate, assisting executors in distributing assets to beneficiaries, paying off debts, working out the Inheritance tax payable, making sure the Will provided is valid, or if there is no Will, we can advise you on the how to distribute assets under the Rules of Intestacy.