Wills can and often are challenged by dependents who think they should have received more from an estate than they get and in this case bought before a court, a daughter thought she should have a larger share of her aristocrat father’s £1.3 million estate.
Giving away assets to your loved ones with warm hands, when you are still fit and healthy, is a readily available means of reducing Inheritance Tax (IHT) liabilities.
Heir hunters are a valuable resource to find beneficiaries of an estate if the person has died without leaving a Will. It should be remembered that these companies are not regulated…
Estate planning is essential when there is a family business to prevent tax problems in the untimely death of a shareholder as this following High Court case demonstrates.
The trouble with promises that are not recorded in writing by a professional is that it can be very hard to prove after the event that they were ever made.
A penniless Eastern European man who had made his fortune in his lifetime decided to make his own Will which meant that his £2.75 million estate may not have reached the beneficiaries he wanted them to on his death. The following case details the problems of making a Will without the proper legal advice.
When you live in a property with a partner and contribute to its maintenance by undertaking work or paying for work to it you could believe that you have a financial interest in that property. Without a formal arrangement you could find that you have no security.
The following case highlights how important it is to seek the advice of a lawyer when setting up a trust fund as investors discovered when they sought to claim $18 million awarded to an inventor’s idea, which the court rejected.
If you have recently lost a loved one, you may need some guidance on matters of Wills and Probate. A Grant of Probate is the legal right to control a deceased person’s property.
Drafting wills may appear easy and many people are tempted to save a few pounds by dispensing with legal advice. However, as one High Court case clearly showed, the words used can have particular legal effects that could not be foreseen by a layman and a thorough knowledge of the law is therefore essential.
It is common for couples to make so-called ‘mirror’ wills, leaving everything to each other and, eventually, to their children.
Prior to today, there were controversial plans in place to raise the probate fees which are paid after death. It was announced today that due to the upcoming election, these plans will be scrapped.
If you have recently lost a close relative, and have been named executor of their estate, it is important to have a basic knowledge of probate law in order to understand and implement your responsibilities lawfully and effectively.
What on earth is a cyber cemetery I thought the first time I heard the phrase. Well, it is a phrase originating in the United States to explain where somebody’s virtual estate goes to when they die.
Adam Gray was 11 when his father tragically died in the 7/7 bombings of 2005. Adam was awarded £50,000 compensation for the loss of his father, to be held on trust until he reached his 18th birthday.
Inheritance tax is a tax levied on the value of a person’s assets when they die. Over and above either the single or double allowance, inheritance tax is levied at a flat rate of 40% on all assets worldwide.
It has been stated recently that there will be a change in UK law that will allow terminally ill people to be helped to end their lives. It is anticipated that this law will come into force in the next few years.
The Legal Services Board conducted an extensive consultation into the regulation of will writing and estate administration last year, with their findings presented to the Lord Chancellor for approval.
Probate disputes are lengthy affairs that, when coupled with legal fees, can be very expensive procedures to go through. Mediation is a cost effective alternative to legal proceedings and aims to resolve disputes without the need to go to court.
The executor is an individual named in the testator’s Will to take responsibility for the administration of their estate upon death. The role can be a complicated and time consuming task to undertake with the process often lasting several months.
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