Wills & Powers Of Attorney
Wills
It is important to ensure that your assets pass to the people who you want to inherit them. To achieve this, we strongly recommend that you write a will. A will is a legal document which allows you to control exactly who receives your money, property and belongings after your death. It provides clarity to your family on your wishes and avoids disputes. A will also prevents your estate from being dealt with in accordance with intestacy rules that apply to those without a will, which are inflexible and can result in inappropriate distribution of assets.
A properly constructed will can also form part of an effective Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning strategy by helping to maximise tax reliefs and reduce the tax burden on loved ones. Wills may also include instructions relating to funeral wishes, charitable donations and childcare arrangements for the under 18s.
We recommend that a will should be reviewed periodically and they can always be updated or re-written as circumstances change.
- Health and welfare
- Property and financial affairs
Powers of Attorney
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make important financial or health-related decisions or to make decisions on your behalf.
None of us know what life may throw at us, and we often take our wellbeing for granted. We are all susceptible to accidents or illnesses which can have a long-term detrimental effect on our health, whether that is physical health, mental wellbeing or both.
To help ensure that your affairs are dealt with in accordance with your wishes in the event of the unexpected, we strongly recommend that individuals arrange Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs).
LPAs are effective during the donor’s lifetime and allow for important financial or medical decisions to be made in the best interests of the donor by trusted attorneys who are usually close family members. An LPA is a separate legal document to a will which is only effective on death.
LPAs can only be arranged whilst the donor still has the cognitive ability to make decisions for themselves (known as mental capacity), so we recommend that LPAs are put in place as soon as possible.
There are 2 types of LPA:
- Health and Welfare
- Property and Financial Affairs
You can choose to arrange either type of LPA, but we recommend having both. Completed LPAs are registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. A Health and Welfare LPA can only be used once the donor is unable to make their own decisions. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA can be used immediately or held in readiness until the donor loses capacity.
Fees
Our fees for Wills are:
- £200 for a basic individual will
- £225 for a pair of joint basic mirror wills
Our fees for Powers of Attorney are:
- £225 plus disbursements for one individual POA (health and welfare or property and financial affairs)
- £350 plus disbursements for both types of POA for an individual
- £350 plus disbursements for a pair of individual POAs of one type (health and welfare or property and financial affairs)
- £600 plus disbursements for two pairs of individual POAs of both types
If clients wish to make both Will and POA arrangements, then our fees are as follows:
- £325 plus disbursements for a basic individual will and one individual POA (health and welfare or property and financial affairs)
- £450 plus disbursements for a basic individual will and both types of POA
- £475 plus disbursements for a pair of joint basic mirror wills and a pair of individual POAs of one type (health and welfare or property and financial affairs)
- £725 plus disbursements for a pair of joint basic mirror wills and two pairs of individual POAs of both types
Fees for any arrangements not listed above and for more complex Wills are available on request.
Get In Touch Today
At Best Advice, we are able to facilitate the arrangements for writing both Wills and LPAs. We have client experience of how these important documents are able to make things easier for affected families during difficult times by allowing a trusted nominated individual or individuals (often a family member) to manage the affairs of another.