Why you should make a Will

 

Making a Will is the only way to ensure that your wishes are carried out after your death. If you have not made a valid Will, your property will pass according to the Law of Intestacy. This may not be what you would have wished. In any event it is likely to take longer to finalise than if you had made a Will.

During this time your beneficiaries may not be able to draw any money from your estate. It can mean arguments and distress for relatives. Making a Will lets your loved ones know that you cared enough to ‘sort things out’ in advance.

If you are a single person you will want your estate divided amongst friends, relatives and charities of your choosing and in the proportions you want.

If you are married, do not assume ‘my other half will get everything’. Brothers and sisters or parents may have a claim. Often your children have a right to part of your estate. If you are living as a couple but not officially married, you may be treated as a single person and a surviving partner may get nothing at all. One thing you can be certain of - there will be argument and dispute at a time when the family should be coping with the loss of a loved one.

Find out who inherits under the Rules of Intestacy:

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y

If you are a parent, you should consider who would look after your children in the event of your death.

This is particularly important in the case of one parent families or unmarried parents living together. A valid Will nominating guardians is invaluable in such cases. If no one knows what you would have wanted, the Court will decide on the future of your children, and the result may not be what you would have wished.

If you are retired, you maybe made a Will a long time ago. It probably needs updating to include additional grandchildren and you may wish to review the beneficiaries and/or your nomination of executors.

A WILL BRINGS SECURITY, REASSURANCE AND ABOVE ALL PEACE OF MIND - NOT JUST FOR YOU, BUT FOR ALL THOSE WHO DEPEND ON YOU, EITHER NOW OR IN THE FUTURE

Key Man Assurance - What would happen to your business if . . .

What would happen to your business if.... 

As a business owner you will have worked hard to build your business over the years and whilst you may have established and continue to maintain suitable cover for tangible assets such the business premises. The most important assets within your business often remain uninsured, that is, those individuals who drive the business forward and produce the income that makes the business viable. 

Business is often built upon individuals and the need to establish life cover for key individuals is a common over-sight, often seen as a luxurious extra for the well-off rather than a must have to protect the business. We see it as the latter, an essential in protecting the business revenue streams against the worst scenarios. Cover can be set at a level so to cover lost revenue, recruitment and training costs and can be established for a yearly review or for longer periods, such as until the life assured retires. Which ever term opted for or the amount insured, for a relatively small monthly outlay (that could attract tax relief) your business continuity is protected and if the worst case happens the business can continue. 

To discuss your options please call (01932) 830664.      

Fixed Protection for Pensions 2014

Within the last fortnight, HMRC has finally released the application form (APSS228) for individuals who wish to apply online for Fixed Protection 2014 (FP2014).

However, applying for FP2014 is the easy bit. Deciding upon whether you need to, or should, apply for protection is more complex.

First of all, why has FP2014 been introduced? For the simple reason that the pension Lifetime Allowance reduces from £1.5m to £1.25m on 6 April 2014. Any pension savings above this level will be heavily taxed when benefits are taken.

Who may be affected by this? Any person who did not apply for Enhanced or Primary protection before 6 April 2009, and believes the total value of their pension savings will exceed £1.25m when they take benefits on after 6 April 2014.

Warning 1: Before applying for FP2014, you need to know that this protection will be lost if any of the following events occur:

· You start a new pension arrangement after 5 April 2104, other than to accept a transfer of existing pension rights;

· You (or your employer) make further pension contributions to a ‘defined contribution’ arrangement as your Annual Allowance will reduce to zero;

·  You accrue further benefits in a ‘defined benefit’ arrangement.

We can see therefore that the decision about whether to apply for protection is certainly not straightforward, particularly where an individual is many years from drawing benefits and wishes to continue making contributions, or accrue benefits.

Difficult calculations are often required to arrive at an informed position from which to make a decision. We can help you.

Warning 2: If you are employed, and your employer automatically enrols you into a pension scheme, you have 1 month to opt out. If you fail to do so, FP2014 will be lost.

Watch this space for news of Individual Protection 2014. The government will be announcing the final details of IP2014 later this year.

IP2014 is expected to be available for individuals who have accumulated pension savings of at least £1.25m by 5 April 2014, and wish to continuing making pension contributions/accruing benefits.