This page was last updated on October 31, 2016
In our October Business Club meeting, Stuart Dey and Martin Frost spent time with delegates discussing what the benefits are in making a will and what they might need to consider.
The views expressed here include their own research and thoughts as well as suggestions contributed by our business club members.
Some non financial Benefits from making a will
- The reassurance of making sure that your estate goes to the people and causes you care about.
- To avoid costly and damaging disputes. Disputes about wills can split families and be very expensive to resolve.
- Looking after your loved ones and making sure that your widow and children are provided for.
- Making sure that assets stay within the family and are passed down the generations.
- Dying without a will means that assets are divided according to the rules of intestacy, which might mean that unmarried partners get nothing.
Some financial Benefits from making a will
- A will can be used to set up a trust for children within the family.
- Wills can be used to mitigate Inheritance Tax.
- Intestacy can be costly.
- If you run a business it can be a key part of your succession plan.
- Deeds of Variation can enable you to change a person’s will after death. It can help to reduce tax liability or provide an opportunity to move the deceased’s assets into a trust.
- Life assurance can be written under trust to minimise inheritance tax liability.
More information and other things to consider
- With the average value of a semi-detached house in London now over £600,000 many people have found themselves affected by inheritance tax. The new residence nil rate band is an issue to consider, please read our article for more information.
- For more information on wills, please read our Shipshape article ‘Where there’s a will, there’s usually a way’
- Our really useful personal affairs checklist keeps all your information in one place and can help make your executors job easier.
Specific advice should be obtained before taking action, or refraining from taking action, in relation to the above. If you would like advice or further information, please speak to your usual Shipleys contact.
Related Resources
