Probate - Wills & Inheritance Tax Planning

Wills, Probate & Tax Planning

Based in Leeds city centre, our Wills and Probate Solicitors can provide expert legal advice to individuals on the following areas:

Appointments to discuss your requirements can be held with one of our Wills and Probate solicitors at our inner city Leeds office. Alternatively one of our solicitors can visit you at home if this is preferred.

To request a telephone call or appointment with one of our Wills and Probate solicitors or to ask for an estimate .

Wills

It is important for you to make a Will in order to have peace of mind that your wishes will be followed on your death. A Will allows a client to choose their executors, beneficiaries, appoint guardians in respect of infant children and provide instructions as to how they wish their assets to be distributed after their death. Having a Will can also prevent family fall outs after death.
Without a valid Will your estate on your death passes in accordance with the rules of intestacy. This may result in your spouse not receiving your full estate, relatives benefiting from your estate who you did not wish to benefit or if you have no relatives the Government will take your whole estate. If you have a partner but are not married and do not have a Will your partner may get nothing.

A suitably drafted Will can:

enable you to pass your assets to the beneficiaries of your choice
help you reduce the risk of inheritance tax, especially if you have a business or agricultural assets
appoint guardians for infant children
help reduce the risk of paying care home fees in the future
help with issues including divorce, bankruptcy, a disabled child, second marriage, cohabitation, estrangement etc
enable you to amend an earlier will in the event that your circumstances and/or wishes have changed

Case History:

Frank Jones was 54 and planning to marry. He had no Will. He was estranged from his son Peter, who he hated and despised. He had for years looked after his grandson Mark, who he loved. He died suddenly.

His estranged son inherited everything, while his fiancée received nothing. Mark, his grandson, succeeded in claiming a fifth of his estate, but only after long delays, and much anguish.

Mr Jones did not expect to die. The Will he had started to write mentioned his fiancée and his grandson, and not Peter, his son. Because he died without a signed Will, the wrong person benefited.

Wills matter:

Dying without a Will can mean:

(if you own your house) your spouse has to leave the family home because he/she receives only the first £250,000 of what you have, and a right to live there, and cannot maintain the house
(if you have no close family) your distant cousins from across the world receive your estate
(if you have no relations) the Government takes the whole estate
(if you have substantial assets) your estate pays far more tax than necessary.
Your long-term cohabitee receives very little of your estate when you die
Your estranged child receives everything when you die, and your fiancée or beloved grandchild nothing.

Case history:

John Backhouse owned his house, worth £500,000. He had little else. He died without a Will, leaving a widow and two children. His widow received £250,000 of his estate, and a right to an income from half the remainder. The other half passed to the children.

The children received £125,000 between them. There was only £5,000 in cash after the funeral.

Mrs Backhouse could not stay in the family home, and had to sell up and buy a smaller home. After giving £125,000 to the children, she was left with £250,000, plus a life interest in the rest, or a right to use it during her lifetime. She was only able to buy a modest house, and her children were trustees for half of this.

Had Mr Backhouse made a Will, he could have left all the house to his wife, and she could have stayed there and maintained it with help from his pension.

Case history (not updating a Will, or not doing so professionally)

Joe Mailer made a Will in which his assets were left in trust for his daughter, and then for his grandchildren. His daughter was divorcing and he wanted to prevent half his estate going to his son-in-law if he died during the divorce. Years later, long after the divorce was over, he died without changing his Will. There followed a long and bitter battle between his daughter and her five children, as they fought over the estate. The daughter insisted that the estate was due to come to her, while the grandchildren said that the Will made clear that they were ultimately to benefit. The issues were only resolved after incurring huge costs, and seeing two of the children break off relations with their mother.
In the case of Margaret Coker, she was a professional woman who amassed considerable wealth before she married, and wished to leave part of her estate to her relations, with the rest to her husband. Later, after moving to Australia, she changed her Will in her own hand, removing all her relatives. She did not re-sign the Will in a formal way, and the only witness to her new signature was that of her husband. No professional advice was sought.

Shortly after, she died. Because her husband had witnessed her Will, he might have received none of her estate, as a witness to a Will cannot benefit under it. However, her handwritten changes were not valid, as her signature was not witnessed by two others, so the husband’s signature did not prove fatal. Instead, the original Will stood, with all the gifts to her relatives still in place. Because Mrs Coker did not receive professional advice, the estate did not pass as she wished, and there were substantial costs resolving exactly what Will she had made.

Updating your Will can

avoid your children missing out after a second marriage
avoid your Will having a quite different effect than that you had in mind

INHERITANCE TAX ADVICE

The current inheritance tax threshold is £325,000. Each person has the benefit of this allowance before their estate is subject to inheritance tax at the rate of 40%. We have wide expertise in tax planning and have over the years saved clients millions of pounds.

Case Histories (Inheritance tax):

Helen Hill is a property developer, and has assets of £10.3 million. Her three children face inheritance tax on her death of £4 million if no steps are taken to avoid this. After the advice given by Ben Lowe, and the steps she took following this advice, her children will not face any inheritance tax on her death.
As to capital gains tax on her properties, there will be a tax bill of £300,000 at the end of the current tax year. Her children will be around £3.65 million better off on her death, taking into account the £300,000 in additional tax.
Jean Jackson owned a house worth £3.3 million, the top portion of which was rented out as flats. She was 88 and very unwell. Her daughter came to live with her to help care for her. She tried several solicitors to try to save inheritance tax and capital gains tax when her mother died. They all said that they could not help, so she came to us.

We were able to help. We took the view that Mrs Jackson could die soon, but she might also live for 7 years. We took advantage of legislation that allows a gift where a child lives in the property. Further, on our advice, the daughter took over the flats at the top of the house and made them part of the house. Mrs Jackson has lived for 5 years, and around £450,000 has been saved in inheritance tax, and a further £50,000 in capital gains tax.

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