WILLS AND PROBATE
Making a Will
You should make a Will to decide:
- Who should administer your estate
- Who should be the guardians of your children
- Who should benefit from your estate
- How any tax payable when you die can be minimised or wiped out altogether
- The funeral arrangements you want
If you do not make a Will you do not have control over any these things.
We can advise you how your Will can be made to satisfy your specific requirements. We take your instructions and prepare a draft Will for your approval and then arrange for you to sign the final copy. Once signed we store the original Will for you free of charge and supply copy for you to keep.
After Death
If you die leaving more than a small amount of money or property, there is much to be done to settle your affairs, including:
- Identifying all the assets of your estate and their value, and also any debts or liabilities you may have left.
- Preparing a full account of the estate for the Inland Revenue if there may be Inheritance Tax to pay (and sometimes when there will not).
- Obtaining a grant of representation (called Probate if you left a Will, Letters of Administration if not) from the Probate Registry - this is the official authorisation for your executors or administrators to deal with your estate.
- Paying any taxes due, and also any debts.
- Distributing property and money to the beneficiaries who have inherited it.
We can help with all of this, whether we have been appointed as executors or not, and whether or not we drew up your Will. We can also advise whether any tax can be saved by an agreement to alter the way the estate is divided up.
For further information and advice please contact:
Esteddar MacGregor
