Seven Good Reasons To Make A Will Now

Making a Will is not normally high on a list of priorities, nor is it a particularly engaging activity, but there are a number of excellent reasons why you should make a Will, and do it soon.

 

1. Your wishes will be fulfilled– whatever you decide should happen after your death, both to your estate but also regarding your funeral, can be stipulated in your Will. Therefore, if you want specific music played at your funeral or you want a portion of your estate to be given to a favourite charity, this can be made a certainty by using a Will.

2. Intestacy Rules will not apply– the laws of intestacy, which are applied to an estate if no Will is made can be very strict and depending on the size of your estate, there may be a limit as to how much your spouse will be given. In the event of you dying with no blood relatives, your estate will be given over in total to the Crown.

3. Your children will be provided for – if you have children, you will be able to stipulate who you wish to be their legal guardian. You will also be able to make financial provisions for them, for example, to remain in the family home until they reach adulthood. Without a Will, they could be taken into care until a decision over who will look after them can be made by the court, and even then, they could be placed with someone you would not have chosen.

4. Protect your partner if you are not married – common law partners have no legal rights at all so if you and your partner have never married and you die leaving no Will, there is the very real possibility that your partner will be in financial difficulty. Your Will should be used to protect your partner from such an event.

5. Inheritance Tax Issues– any estate worth over £325,000 is subject to inheritance tax and a Will can help you plan more tax efficiently, as many properties are worth more than this alone.

6. Divorced but not remarried– many people do not realise that if you are divorced and not remarried and you leave no Will, your ex-spouse will inherit your estate.

7. To help out your family – when you die intestate the whole process of probate takes much longer and is much more complicated. This will leave your loved ones with a complicated legal process and all of the funeral costs to find, whilst also grieving for you. This has to be one of the best reasons to act now and make your Will.

 

Whilst some of these points raised may not apply to you and your circumstances, some of them will and those should be enough for you to recognise the value of making a Will soon.

 

This information provided in this article is not intended to constitute legal advice and each relationship breakdown requires careful consideration in our view by a fully qualified Solicitor before decisions are made and before you embark on a certain course of action.

Shak Inayat
Solicitor
0207 183 2898

Advance Decision Or Health And Welfare LPA Or Both?

There are some important differences between an Advance Decision and a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney:

 

1. Timescales

An Advance Decision comes into effect as soon as it has been signed and witnessed correctly.

A Health and Welfare Power of Attorney is only valid once it has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, which can take up to eight weeks.

 

2. Flexibility

Advance Decisions only apply to the specific treatments and circumstances you write about in the document. It won’t apply if you find yourself in a situation that you didn’t include when you wrote it. Your Attorney in a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney can make any decision about your health and welfare on your behalf, regardless of whether or not you considered the situation at the time of writing.

 

3. People involved

To complete your Advance Decision, you need one person to witness it (although it is highly recommended that you have 2 witnesses, and also getting your GP to sign to witness that you have mental capacity at the time of signing the document which can be critical in certain circumstances.

To appoint an Attorney in your Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney, you need one or more people to act as your Attorney, as well as a witness, an independent person or relevant professional to ‘certify’ your application, and up to 5 persons to be notified of the application.

 

4. Cost

An Advance Decision is free. A Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney currently costs £110 to register, although those on a low income or certain benefits don’t have to pay.

 

5. Accessibility

Healthcare professionals involved in your care need to know that you have made an Advance Decision or a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney. This happens in different ways:

Advance Decisions are not centrally registered anywhere but you can give a copy to your GP or local hospital. Some Ambulance Trusts are also happy to record that you have one. You can carry a Notice of Advance Decision card or join MedicAlert and wear a piece of jewellery that says you have an Advance Decision.

A Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian and then entered onto a register which is searchable by healthcare professionals caring for you.

 

Should I make both an Advance Decision and an LPA?

That depends on your circumstances and should be considered carefully with your lawyer in conjunction with your loved ones and your GP if necessary.

 

This information provided in this article is not intended to constitute legal advice and each relationship breakdown requires careful consideration in our view by a fully qualified Solicitor before decisions are made and before you embark on a certain course of action.

Shak Inayat
Solicitor
0207 183 2898

SPG London Region – Home Neeeded

Hello all,

The Sole Practitioners Group London Region is a not for profit organisation that supports and promotes Solo solicitors in and around London.

I Chair the SPG London Region meetings and we hold them regularly each month.

We are now officially homeless !

We need a venue like a board room or similar to enable us to hold our meetings on the third week of every month for a couple of hours and then we can adjourn to the pub after for networking.

We have tried local pubs and restaurants to give us shielded areas but they all want a guaranteed minimum spend of £300 or so which we or I cannot personally accept liability for.

Anyone have any ideas have some space we can use to hold our meetings?

Any help will be gratefully appreciated.

Shak Inayat

Chair SPG London Region