Help Guides
Here you’ll find some of our frequently requested help guides. We review and add to this list from time to time. If you are looking for information on a topic that isn’t covered here, please feel free to contact us.
Witness Statements and being a Witness
This help guide provides you with some of the key information that you will need in order to give a Witness Statement and/or attend trial.
The STEP Provisions in your Will
Your draft Will contains reference to the “Standard Provisions and all of the Special Provisions of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (2nd Edition)”. These provisions are often referred to as the STEP Provisions.
Setting up Home with your Partner: Legal considerations for cohabitees
Though this is a time for celebration and enjoyment, we think it’s important to be aware of the legal implications of your move. Cohabitating couples have far fewer legal protections than spouses or civil partners.
Searching for a Will: How to find out whether your loved one made a valid Will
This help guide offers practical guidance for ascertaining whether a Will exists, and the steps you can take to find it if it does.
Appointing a Guardian for young children
Find out more about what is a Guardian and why do I need to appoint one.
Looking after your Pets in your Will: What are the options?
You often hear stories of cats or dogs inheriting fortunes but, in England and Wales at least, it is impossible to leave money to your pet.
Jointly Owned Property
Under a Joint Tenancy, each owner has an indivisible share in the property, meaning that each owner is equally entitled to the whole of the property.
Excluding Someone From Your Will: Can they still claim from your estate?
Under the IPFDA 1975, certain people are able to bring a claim in court against the estate of a person who has died.
Deeds of Variation
Receiving an inheritance is often seen as a financial bonus, but there are times when you might feel it would be better for other people to receive it.
Appointing Executors and Trustees
Executors and Trustees carry out important legal roles in relation to Wills and trusts.
Advance Decisions and Advance Statements
Advance Decisions and Advance Statements, however, are ways in which you can specify your choices if certain medical situations arise later in your lifetime.
Statutory Wills: What are they and when might you need to make one?
A Statutory Will is a Will made by the Court of Protection on behalf of someone who is unable to make one themselves because they lack the required mental capacity.
Appointing a Professional Attorney in your LPA(s)
Attorneys have to make very complex decisions about another person’s finances, or health and welfare.
Powers of Attorney: Are Attorneys Entitled to See the Donor’s Will?
If you are named as an Attorney in a Lasting Power of Attorney, then you may be required to make decisions about the affairs of a friend or family member.
Lasting Powers of Attorney: Should I replace my Enduring Power of Attorney?
Powers of attorney allow you to appoint someone, or more than one person, (called your attorneys) to make decisions on your behalf.
Registering Enduring Powers of Attorney
This help guides examines when EPAs must be registered and how this can affect matters for you and your loved one.
Powers of Attorney v Deputyship Orders: What’s the difference?
Powers of Attorney and Deputyship Orders both give people the legal authority to act and make decisions on behalf of someone who has lost mental capacity.
Lasting Powers of Attorney: Special considerations for business owners
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) lets you appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf.
Acting as a Deputy: Your Powers and Duties Explained – Property & Finance
If you are named as a Deputy in an Order from the Court of Protection, then you will be required to make decisions about the affairs of a friend or family member.
Acting as an Attorney: Your powers and duties explained
If you are named as an Attorney in a Lasting Power of Attorney, then you may be required to make decisions about the affairs of a friend or family member.
Reducing Your Inheritance Tax: What can you do, and how do you do it?
Inheritance tax may not affect you personally after you are gone, but the more tax which your estate has to pay, the less value will pass to the people whom you wish to benefit.
Where am I domiciled for tax purposes?
Different countries have different systems for dealing with personal law matters such as wills, succession and marriages.
What happens after you’ve completed your IHT400 form?
This help guide gives an idea of the process which follows completion and submission of the IHT400 form.
The Residence Nil Rate Band: What it is and how it could help you
You can reduce the amount of inheritance tax that is payable by making the most of various tax-saving provisions. One of these provisions is the Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB).
Giving Assets Away
Many people consider passing on significant assets to their children or loved ones during their lifetime.
Trusts: A detailed guide
Trusts can be useful tools in a variety of situations. If you have explored different ways of providing for the future of your loved ones, you will have undoubtedly come across trusts
Trust and Tax Implications of Your Will
We explain how inheritance tax (inheritance tax) applies to an estate. It also details some of the more complicated trust and tax aspects of the provisions in your Will.
Trust and Estate Registration: what needs to be registered and why?
This help guide looks at the obligations that trustees, and the personal representatives of certain estates, now face under the new registration service.
Personal Injury Trusts: What you need to know
There are many challenges to face if you have been seriously injured in an accident. Besides working to get your life back on track, difficulties can arise from taking legal action for compensation.
Life Interest Trusts: Second and subsequent marriages – protecting property and assets for your children
One recurring theme concerns how best to protect children from losing their inheritance, if a spouse or partner remarries, or enters into a new relationship, after the first spouse or partner has died.
Life Interest Trusts: Planning for care home fees – protecting your property and assets
We advise many clients when it comes to planning for the future. One recurring theme concerns care home costs, and how these might be met.
Discretionary Trusts
A discretionary trust is a flexible trust under which no beneficiary has an automatic right to receive assets.
Appointing Professional Executors and Trustees
There are a number of ways in which appointing a professional to administer your estate or trust can be helpful.
Missing Persons Guardianship: Looking after the property and financial affairs of a missing person
In some case a missing person remains missing understand when and how presumption of death is filed.
How do I become a Deputy?: What is a Deputy and how can they help elderly or vulnerable people?
You may have a friend or family member who lacks the mental capacity to look after their own affairs. If so, and you are managing these things for them, it may be necessary to apply to become a Deputy.
EU Succession Regulation
If you have a connection with any of the EU member states listed at the end of this note, or expect to have one in future, the EU Succession Regulation may change what happens to your estate when you die.
DWP Claims on Estates: What are they and why have I received one?
When someone who received means-tested benefits dies, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) might ask for information about their estate.
Bank Account Fraud: what it is and how to avoid it
According to Financial Fraud Action, in 2017 there were over a million cases, that is one every 15 seconds and total losses of more than £755 million of bank account fraud here's how to avoid it.
Mental Capacity: What is it and how does it relate to you?
if someone close to you loses the mental capacity to make certain decisions, it can be a confusing and difficult situation to deal with. Their life, and their ability to plan for the future, could be seriously affected.
Presumption of Death: When and how is a missing person legally presumed dead?
The Presumption of Death Act 2013 provides a way for the relatives of a missing person to apply for a Declaration of Presumed Death. The main purpose of this is to allow the relatives to deal with the financial affairs of the missing person.
Arranging a Funeral Yourself
Arranging a funeral is to engage the services of a funeral director. They may be a member of an organisation such as the National Association of Funeral Directors.
Deprivation of Assets: Local Authority care and support
Require means-tested residential care? Then under the current rules set out in the Care Act 2014, the Local Authority will assess your assets to see what, if any, your financial contribution to that care should be.
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Decisions: Understanding your rights
Decisions over whether resuscitation should be attempted (DNR decisions) can be particularly overwhelming for patients and their loved ones.