Bees & Co Wills,Trusts LPAs and Estate planning

Remember A Charity Week runs from 7 to 13 September. If you are thinking of leaving a gift to a cause you care about, there’s a practical bit nobody mentions.

Charities merge, rebrand and occasionally close. A gift left to a name that no longer exists can cost the estate more in professional fees than the gift itself is worth.

Two lines fix it. Put the registered charity number in alongside the name, and add a clause covering what happens if the charity has merged or changed its name by then.

Worth getting right. Have a look at our contact page if you’d like us to check the wording in yours. https://beesandco.com/contact/

Choosing an executor takes most people about four seconds. Usually the eldest, or whoever is good with paperwork.

It is worth rather longer than that. This is the person who will register the death, track down every account and policy, value the house, deal with the tax, apply for probate, pay the debts and then divide what is left. Often for the best part of a year, and all while grieving.

That is not a reason to change your mind. It is a reason to ask them first, and to tell them where the will is.

Far too many executors find out about the job in the worst week of their lives. Drop me a message if you would like a hand thinking it through.

Need someone to talk it through with? Message me.

The Budget is on Wednesday 28 October, and between now and then you'll read a great deal of guesswork about inheritance tax.

My honest advice after all these years: do not rewrite your will on the strength of a headline. Nothing in a Budget takes effect the moment it is said out loud, and decisions made in a hurry usually need undoing later.

What is worth doing is the quiet housekeeping. Do you know roughly what your estate is worth? Does your will still match your family? Are your executors still willing?

Get those right and you can watch October with a cup of tea rather than a knot in your stomach. The first conversation is free. https://beesandco.com/contact/

The questions I am asked most at kitchen tables, usually with an apology attached.
'Is my estate too small for a will?' No. If you own anything or love anyone, it is worth doing.

'Is it morbid?' For about ten minutes. Then it feels like relief, and most people tell me they wish they had done it years ago.

'Will you mind the dog?' The dog is usually the best behaved one in the room.

No daft questions here. If something has been on your list a while, drop me a message and we will sort it over a cuppa.

A gentleman told me recently, with some pride, that his Lasting Powers of Attorney were signed and safely in the sideboard. Job done.

Not quite, I am afraid. An LPA cannot be used until it has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, and that does not happen by itself. A signed form in a drawer is just a form.

If you made LPAs a while ago, it is worth checking they were registered. Look for the official stamp and reference number or send me a message and I will happily cast an eye over what you have.

'Will I have to sell my home to pay for care?' I am asked this a lot, and it deserves a straight answer.

In England, if you move permanently into care and you have assets over £23,250, you are expected to pay, and your home usually counts unless your other half still lives there.

Be wary of anyone promising to put your house 'beyond reach'. If a council decides assets were given away to dodge care fees, it can assess you as if you still had them. What honest planning can do is make sure the protections that already exist are used properly.

For a straight conversation about your own situation, send me a message. The first chat is free.

The word 'Trust' makes people picture stately homes and offshore accounts. The reality is much more ordinary.

A Trust is simply one person looking after something for the benefit of another. Grandparents putting money aside until the grandchildren are older. Making sure your other half can stay in the house for life, with the children inheriting afterwards. Providing for a disabled loved one without upsetting their benefits.

Ordinary families, sensible reasons. If you have ever wondered whether one might suit you, drop me a message and I will explain it in plain English, no obligation.

Something I hear a lot: 'It is all in my will, so my funeral is sorted.'

Two small problems. Funeral wishes in a will are not legally binding, and wills are quite often not read until after the funeral has happened. I have known families discover a burial request a fortnight after the cremation.

By all means write your wishes down, but also tell the people who will actually be arranging things. Five awkward minutes now saves a lot of heartache later.

Want a hand putting your wishes down properly? Send me a DM.

Results week, and a word for parents that surprises nearly everyone.

Once your child turns 18, you have no automatic right to make decisions for them. If they were seriously ill away at university, the bank would not talk to you, and the doctors would not need to either. Being their parent counts for nothing in law, oddly enough.

A Lasting Power of Attorney fixes this. They choose who they would want to act for them, usually mum or dad, and with any luck it is never needed.

Worth a thought before term starts. Drop me a message if you would like to chat it through.

There’s a situation I come across quite often, and it can be a tricky one.

A couple marry, each with children from an earlier relationship. They write wills leaving everything to each other, assuming it will all come out fairly in the wash.
The trouble is that when the first of them dies, the survivor owns the lot, and their will decides where everything eventually goes. With the best intentions in the world, the first family can end up with nothing. It’s known as sideways disinheritance.

There are good, well-established ways to look after your spouse for life while making sure your own children are not forgotten afterwards. Certain trusts do exactly this job, and they are not just for the wealthy.

If your family is a blended one, it is worth an hour of your time to get this right. The first conversation is free, at your kitchen table, on Zoom or over the telephone.