After initial discussions, I went to visit Joe and Charlotte at their home in August. It was an evening appointment as they needed to ensure their young children were in bed. They had no Will in place, the house is their main asset and they both work. Here is how our appointment went, and the services I was able to offer to future proof them and their children.  

Pre Meeting

Joe made an enquiry to me via the Contact Us page. We had a brief discussion about his circumstances, what they were looking to achieve and I gave him an idea on prices. We can either get a date booked in for an instructions appointment, or I send my Initial Client Email with useful prompts, factsheets and my terms of business and then get an appointment booked in. The prompts are great conversation starters between couples or if you are on your own, a way to guide you through what I'll be asking. 

Our Instructions Meeting

We sat together at their kitchen table and made a start. Formalities like full name, dates of birth and checking photo ID and then into the assets. Making a list of the main assets and wealth allowed me to determine whether inheritance tax (IHT) would be a factor on second death. 

Spousal Exemption means that when the first spouse dies, everything goes to the other partner completely free of IHT. Your allowances (£325,000 for everyone, and a further £175,000 if you are leaving a property eventually to your children) pass to your spouse and can be added to their own on their death. That means for a married couple, they can have a joint estate of up to £1million before IHT kicks in. 

I listed the children and their dates of birth and then, the nominated Guardians that Joe and Charlotte had chosen. We ensure Guardians are listed (including any back up Guardians) so that in the event that both parents pass away, the children have a legal Guardian who can take the children in. We can leave instructions on how the children are raised, and we discussed a Family Income Benefit option that is a policy you pay into that pays out to give your Guardians a monthly income to raise your children. 

If you have children under 18, I implore both parents to have a Will drafted - at the very least to name Guardians. This would save so much heartache and stress, and upheaval, for those left behind if you passed away without a Will.

We discussed their wishes for funeral plans, if they wanted to donate organs, who the family dogs would be taken in by - all the things that do not normally come up in conversations.

Executors are the people who you chose to apply for Probate and distribute your assets. As it's a fiscally responsible position, I do always recommend a Professional. I work exclusively with Laurelo Ltd as they hold the same customer centric beliefs as we do at Legacy Protect Wills & Estate Planning. They will excuse themselves from the position if your chosen Executors do not want to use their services when the time comes. 

After discussing gifts of personal items and money, plus who would take on the dogs, we came to the main asset - the family home. I had already sent Joe and Charlotte a factsheet on a Protective Property Trust (PPT) before our meeting. The main reasons for including this are firstly, it prevents a Local Authority from using up to the full value of the property if one of the homeowners goes into Care. Secondly, it prevents what's called Sideways Inheritance. This is when A and B are married, A passes away and B goes on to remarry. If B were then to die, the asset would go to the new spouse - potentially leaving the children without the main family home as their inheritance. 

By having a PPT in your Will, we can ring fence 50% for each of the homeowners for the benefit of the Children. We would need to have the property owned as Tenants in Common to do this - most properties are registered on the deeds with Land Registry as Joint Tenants (meaning both homeowners own the property 100%). I can complete a Tenancy Severance to change this if required. 

When the first homeowner passes away, a trust is set up using the instructions in your Will. The surviving spouse or homeowner, is allowed to remain in the property as either a Life Tenant (until they pass away); until they remarry; or until they no longer use the house as their main residence. We can allow them to downsize if you wish, and use the difference in equity as a income to live off of or 50% of it goes to whomever you have nominated your 50% to go too. 

If this sounds like something you would like to include in your Will, then please do get in touch with us via our Contact page and we will be happy to discuss your circumstances and see how we can assist.