“The relationship you build with a financial adviser is one of trust. It is important that you are completely comfortable, as you would be with your Doctor. Langtons take care to select the most suitable adviser for you, for instance some of my clients felt they would be more comfortable with a female adviser. ”
Liz Bloomfield
Liz Bloomfield
News/Events
Planning for the Future [13th August 09]
Two summer national press headlines set me thinking about the need for planning for the future.
Firstly, the death of Michael Jackson; tragically, at the age of 50. Amongst the pages of tribute and comment I noted that he appointed a guardian for his children, the singer, Diana Ross. The appointment of a guardian by parents is often overlooked when Wills and financial planning are considered. By taking this action parents can ensure that their children are cared for by those that they choose, in the event of them being unable to fulfil that task themselves.
The appointment of a Guardian could be challenged, however a successful challenge, in my experience is very infrequent.
The other matter that caught my eye was the announcement of the Green Paper discussion document by the Government over the funding of Long Term Care. At the time of writing this article there are proposals to encourage people to make a single insurance based contribution to cover the potential future cost of care.
All of this serves to highlight the importance of ensuring that we all have a current and valid Will. I would also urge you to consider make provisions to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney. An LPA can ensure that in the event of you being unable, due to disability or illness, to manage your own affairs, the appointed ‘Attorney’, perhaps your Solicitor or a trusted family member, legally assumes the authority to manage your personal affairs.
The concept that Wills are only for older people is incorrect, let’s remember, some people, sadly, die young. The rules of Intestacy, which apply to an estate if no valid Will has been made, can cause assets to be distributed in a way that the deceased would not have wished.
So who gets the estate if someone did not make a Will? Where there is a surviving spouse/civil partner and children, the estate is distributed as follows: the spouse/civil partner receives all personal assets such as furniture, car etc., together with £250,000 free of tax. Where the estate exceeds this value, the balance is held in trust with the spouse/civil partner receiving interest from 50% of the balance with the children receiving interest from the balance.
The apportionment of such an estate will apply strictly to assets that are owned by the deceased alone and will not apply to jointly owned assets, such as a house owned on a Joint Tenancy basis. In other words, jointly owned.
In principle an estate is shared by the relatives in ‘the highest category’. This means, for instance, that surviving parents have priority over brothers or sisters. There is a complicated list of further beneficiary categories.
The final sting in the tail that many people are not aware of is that in the event of there being no close relatives of the deceased, and no Will, the estate passes to the Crown. In other words, the Government.
Within a busy life schedule it is often difficult to make time to seek advice on such matters. Will Writing professionals and Independent Financial Advisors recognise this and in many cases are able to offer a home based Will instruction service. Act now to ensure that should the worst happen, those whom you wish benefit from your hard earned money.
Finally, I am delighted to announce that Langtons have formed a business association with a national Independent Financial Adviser called The Clarkson Hill Group plc. Langtons have provided financial advice to clients in the West Country for 25 years. We pride ourselves on providing a personal service and our association with The Clarkson Hill Group will only serve to enhance the service that Langtons currently provides to all our valued clients.
Comments expressed in this article should not be interpreted as advice.
Langtons is a trading style of The Clarkson Hill Group plc. Readers are invited to contact Langtons on 0845 6120 244 (local rate). Initial consultations are with no charge or obligation.
e-mail: enquiries@langtons.co.uk
This article was written by Tim Cosby of Langtons - Published in the Western Morning News, Money, 13th August 2009