Wills, Probate and Tax
Making a Will, Power of Attorney and Tax Planning
Making a Will or giving somebody Power of Attorney and then dealing with matters after a person has died can give rise to some very sensitive issues. These might include who to choose as an Executor, who you would like to be Attorney if you cannot manage your own affairs and how you want your property and assets to be divided after your death. We are not a large firm, but we do have a number of family members and we understand these sensitive issues.
It is important that these issues are dealt with during your lifetime. This can solve and avoid many problems that occur after death. We appreciate that you might find some of these issues very difficult to deal with, but hope that our friendly approach, coupled with clear plain speaking advice will help you relax and enable you to deal with these issues constructively.
Tax can play a very big part of what happens to your assets on your death. Making a Will or creating a Trust can help reduce the effect of Tax and our lawyers are specially trained to identify where you might be able to take advantage of loopholes in the Tax system and prepare your Will or Trust papers to your full advantage. Even if somebody has died, it is still possible to arrange the distribution of their assets in a Tax efficient way and we have a lot of experience dealing with Tax issues after death.
Probate and Administration
The process of dealing with your assets after you have died is usually referred to as Probate or Administration. We are happy to act on behalf of an estate to collect in the assets and pay them to the beneficiaries in accordance with your Will. Very often you may be too distressed or upset to do this yourself. We think that our understanding, sympathetic and cost effective service should give you peace of mind that this type of matter will be dealt with properly if you do not want to do it yourself. Alternatively, we are happy to help you run through the procedures yourself and guide you whenever you need help.
Roy Palmer and Janet Ribbans make up our Wills and Probate team and they are happy to guide you through these sensitive procedures.