Estate Planning

Most homeowners are concerned about the cost of aging and funding later life care. If you have worked hard to buy a property the likelihood is that you want to be able to leave your property to your children rather than see your hard-earned equity disappear in paying care home fees. Our private client solicitors provide estate planning advice. We can advise you on your Will and answer your questions on estate planning. For help with your Will and estate planning call us or complete our online form. Trusts and care home fees  Our private client solicitors come across situations where parents have spent thousands in legal fees to transfer their family home into a trust in the belief that the money spent on fees represented good value for money because the trust would protect the family home from being sold to pay care home fees and ultimately save their family hundreds of thousands of pounds. When our Will solicitors come across these situations it is frustrating. We can often spot that the money spent on putting a home into a trust was wasted and would have been better spent on a luxury cruise for the homeowners or on helping grandchildren with a deposit for their first home. If something seems to be too good to be true it often is. You should ask yourself: If the trust scheme is so good why isn’t everyone doing it? If the trust scheme works why hasn’t the government closed the loophole?  If your parents or grandparents mention a care home scheme it should raise a red flag and sound the warning bells.  If you are tempted to put your family home into a trust or want to recommend a care home money-saving scheme to your parents, our private client solicitors recommend that you take advice from a qualified estate planning lawyer before you do so.    [related_posts]  Using trust companies to avoid care home fees  With many of these care home schemes, the idea is that a family home is transferred to a trust company so the homeowner is no longer the legal owner. The former owner therefore cannot sell the property to pay for their care home fees. That principle sounds fine as the homeowner is told they are legally protected by a trust deed allowing them to live in the property rent-free. The trust company is responsible for the management of the property and ultimately will hand over the property to the beneficiaries of the trust when the homeowner has passed away. There are many problems with setting up a trust and placing a family home into it. These include: You are no longer the homeowner. If you need to raise equity with a lifetime mortgage you cannot do so The local authority may say the trust is a sham and accuse you of intentionally depriving yourself of assets to avoid payment of care home fees. The local authority can refuse to accept that the property is really outside your control and you are then at risk of an expensive and time-consuming battle with the council. When conducting means testing for care home fees the local authority could say that as you have deliberately deprived yourself of an asset the value of the family home will still be counted and you are therefore ineligible for free care home funding. Ultimately, the council could claim costs in any civil litigation if they think the trust was deliberately set up to evade care home fees and you will have spent thousands in fees in a scheme that does not work and leaves you without control of your property  You may have placed your property in trust as part of an inheritance tax reduction scheme and thought the scheme costs were modest compared to the amount your estate could save in IHT. However, in some cases, homeowners have gone into these trust schemes without being aware that their estate would be exempt from inheritance tax or would only have a nominal bill to pay because of the available inheritance tax exemptions  An unregulated and unqualified advisor recommending a trust to you may not explain the inheritance tax implications of your passing away within seven years of placing the family home into the trust Estate planning  When our estate planning solicitors sit down with you, we will talk with you about your assets, family, goals and priorities. We will give you clear and honest advice about why getting a management company to place the family home in trust may be a bad and expensive idea. A trust may be a good idea for a limited number of people. However, anyone contemplating putting property in trust should take specialist advice from a qualified estate planning solicitor to ensure that you and your family fully understand the risk and come to an informed decision. For help with your Will and estate planning call us or complete our online form.

Our family law solicitors encounter several situations in which parents, grandparents, or extended family help a loved one with a deposit for a first or new family home. In this article, our family law solicitors offer guidance on how to protect a gifted deposit. For expert advice call our team of specialist divorce and estate planning lawyers or complete our online enquiry form. What is a gifted deposit? A gifted deposit is where a friend or family member provides all or part of the deposit for the home you are buying. It may be your first home, relocating or upsizing with the arrival of children or trying to get back to home ownership after a separation or divorce.   An alternative to a gifted deposit is a family loan. A loan agreement can state whether interest is payable and either give a specific repayment date or state that the loan must be repaid when the property is sold. Gifted deposit or family loan? A home buyer needs to know if they are receiving a gift or loan because of the mortgage and tax implications. If you are buying with a mortgage, the mortgage company may not agree to lend you the amount required unless the deposit monies are gifted rather than lent. Some mortgage providers are happy to lend if your family or a friend is providing the deposit so long as the family money is protected by a second charge that ranks behind the mortgage provided by the mortgage lender. If extended family are giving you money as part of their estate planning and inheritance tax strategy the plan will not work unless the money is gifted rather than loaned. There may also be tax implications under current inheritance tax rules if the family member dies within seven years of giving you the money. If money is given, rather than lent, the giver does not retain any control over the money once it has left their hands. The extended family cannot legally insist the money is returned if they later find that they need extra cash or if there is a family fallout. These are considerations to be discussed with your family with the help of an estate planning solicitor. [related_posts] Who is the recipient of the deposit gift? If you are buying a house with a partner, fiancée, husband or wife you need to know if the gifted deposit is a joint gift or not. Whether the gift is joint or not you need a relationship agreement if you are buying a property jointly with a partner. The type of agreement you need depends on your relationship status: Unmarried – a cohabitation agreement  Engaged to be married or to enter a civil partnership – a prenuptial agreement  Married – a postnuptial agreement  In a civil partnership – a civil partnership agreement  The agreement is between you and your partner and should record whether the gift is a joint one or not and what happens to the family home and the equity if you split up. What’s fair will depend on your financial and personal situation. For example, your family may have provided the gifted deposit but as your partner earns more than you, they will be paying a greater share of the mortgage payments. For example, both your families are gifting you money for the deposit but in unequal amounts. A family law solicitor can help you work out what should go in your relationship agreement so that it feels fair to both of you and gives you both peace of mind. In addition, it should give your family confidence that you are respecting their deposited gift and sensibly protecting their family money. If your circumstances change the relationship agreement can be reviewed and changed. For example, you may decide to get married, to have children or to extend the property. Any significant life event could prompt a review.  Gifted deposits and divorce  If you are buying a property on your own after a divorce with a gifted deposit you need: A financial court order (preferably a clean break) order with your ex-spouse  A relationship agreement if you go on to form a new relationship and your new partner spends time at your property even if their name is not on the title deeds or mortgage   Does a relationship agreement protect a gifted deposit?   Legal & General has carried out some research on trends in family gifting. 57% of mortgaged buyers buying a first home in 2020 received financial help from their parents or family members. By 2024, around 335,000 property purchases proceeded with the help of family money. With the significant rise in property prices and gifted deposits, it isn’t surprising that parents, grandparents and extended family want to know if relationship agreements work and if their gifted deposit is protected or is shared with your partner or spouse if you split up after buying the house.   The answer to whether a relationship agreement works depends on a few factors: The status of your relationship – if you are unmarried a cohabitation agreement is binding providing safeguards are met. If you are engaged to marry or married a prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement will carry weight in any future divorce provided the terms are fair and meet reasonable needs and safeguards when drawing up the agreement were met How the agreement was drawn up  What the agreement says  Speaking to a family law solicitor will help you understand the safeguards a cohabitation agreement or prenuptial agreement offers to both you and the family member gifting the money to you.  It is best to talk to a family law solicitor before you talk to your partner about a relationship agreement. That’s because your solicitor will discuss a range of options of what goes in the agreement and how best to protect the gifted deposit. It is therefore wise to understand those options rather than have one fixed idea of what your agreement should say from one discussion with your spouse or partner.  Our friendly family lawyers aim to provide a relationship agreement solution so your parents, grandparents, extended family or friend feels confident in gifting you money to buy a property whilst protecting your interests and providing a fair and equitable agreement between you and your partner. For expert advice call our team of specialist divorce and estate planning lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.

Potentially, your ex-wife could claim against your estate. That’s why when you are separating or getting divorced you need joined-up advice from a family lawyer and a Will solicitor. In this article, the estate planning lawyers at Evolve Family Law answer your questions on what happens to your estate if you pass away leaving an ex-wife. For expert advice call our team of specialist divorce and estate planning lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.  Ex-wife's claims against an estate   An ex-wife's claims will depend, to a large extent, on whether you are divorced or not. No-fault divorce proceedings are not finalised until your final order of divorce is pronounced. If you divorced before the divorce law reform you may have received a decree absolute from the court ending your marriage. If you have not completed the divorce process you may still be married at the date of death. Therefore, your estranged wife is your legal next of kin. However, you may have made a new Will when you separated so she is no longer a beneficiary of your estate. Your ex-wife can claim your estate or a share of it even if: Your divorce has been finalised  You have a separation agreement  You have a financial court order  You are not paying your ex-wife spousal maintenance  You have remarried You have children  You have made a Will excluding your former wife  The only circumstances when an ex-wife cannot bring a claim against your estate is when the court has made a clean break financial court order preventing any further monetary claims by her or your ex-wife has remarried. Do you have a clean break financial court order? If you got divorced some years ago you may not be certain if you secured a clean break financial court order. If you are unsure, you should ask one of our specialist family lawyers to review the order for you. They can look at the technical wording and advise you.  If you do not have a financial court order our family lawyers can help you obtain a financial court order to give you peace of mind. Your Will solicitor can then prepare a bespoke Will for you, confident in the knowledge that your ex-wife cannot make a claim or the risks of her doing so are reduced. If you have a financial court order, but it is not a clean break order, our family law solicitors can advise on whether it would be sensible to ask the court to vary the order to make it a clean break order. Their advice will depend on your circumstances and those of your ex-wife. [related_posts] Does making a new Will prevent my ex-wife from making a claim on my estate?  If our Will solicitors make a new Will for you then an ex-wife could still bring a claim against your estate if there is no clean break order in place from the family court. A Will solicitor can advise on the prospects of an ex-wife successfully challenging your Will after your death. There are ways that you can minimise the risks of an estate claim or reduce the amount payable. The law on your ex-wife making a claim on your estate The law on people making a claim against your estate if you die without making a Will (called dying intestate) or die with a valid Will  is contained in the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975. An ex-wife can claim against your estate if the intestacy rules or your Will does not make reasonable financial provision for her. Reasonable financial provision depends on her and your circumstances. For example, your former spouse may rely on your spousal maintenance that ends on your death. Alternatively, your estate may be modest and you may have dependent children from your first and second marriages who need providing for. The 1975 Act says that all the following people could bring a claim against your estate:  Your husband, wife or civil partner – this includes someone who is separated but not divorced from you  A former husband, an ex-wife or a former civil partner if there is no clean break order in place and if your ex-spouse or civil partner has not remarried A child or someone treated as a child by you   Someone who was living with you for 2 years before your death  Anyone who immediately before your death was financially dependent on you. For example, an unmarried partner    Worst case scenario, a current cohabitee, your children and an ex-wife could all be disputing who gets your estate. This level of conflict could be stopped or reduced with a Will prepared by a specialist estate planning solicitor. For expert advice call our team of specialist divorce and estate planning lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.

People are asking our estate planning solicitors about the UK rules on gifting money to family members as it is widely reported that the new Labour government may change the inheritance tax rules in the October 2024 budget. In this article, our estate planning lawyers and family solicitors outline the thought process that should go into gifting money to family members. For expert family law and estate planning advice call our team or complete our online enquiry form.  Why gift money to your family members? In 2020-21, the latest year for which data is available, families received over £2 bn of cash gifts from their loved ones. There are many reasons why money is given to family members, such as: You have more than you think you need  You don’t want your estate to pay inheritance tax or you want to reduce the IHT bill Your family needs a helping hand and could do with all or part of their inheritance now rather than waiting to inherit under your Will  All these reasons need to be aligned and work together. For example: You don’t want to maximise your inheritance tax savings but leave yourself short because you don’t have enough to live on or to meet unexpected expenditure  You don’t want your gift to a family member to end up being shared with their husband or wife as they have decided to separate or divorce  That’s why it is essential to carefully think through what you are planning to do and why and to get the timing of your gift right. That’s just as important as understanding the UK rules on gifting money to family members. How much money can you give family members? You can gift any amount of money to your family or friends during your lifetime but there are rules on whether the money will be notionally added back into your estate when you die and when your estate’s inheritance tax liability is calculated. If you gift money or assets and inheritance tax is payable on the gift when you die then the liability for the IHT may end up with the recipient of the gift – not your estate. The inheritance tax rules say that the estate pays the inheritance tax on gifts unless the deceased gave away more than £325,000 in gifts in the 7 years before their death. Once that limit has been reached the person receiving the gift pays the tax if the deceased dies within 7 years of the gift. The IHT rules can have unanticipated consequences. That’s why it is important to understand the UK rules on lifetime gifting and how they could impact your decision-making and your relatives. [related_posts] Inheritance tax rules and family gifting Not all estates are liable to pay IHT so it is important to understand your estate’s potential IHT liability before you start estate planning. If your estate is likely to have to pay inheritance tax you can currently give money or assets to the family as a tax-efficient way to give money to your children, grandchildren, other family members or friends. Gifts given less than 7 years before your death could still be subject to IHT depending on: Who you made the gift to The amount given  The date of the gift For example, if you give any amount of money or property to your husband, wife or civil partner during your life then those gifts are IHT-exempt provided your spouse or civil partner lives in the UK. For example, you can give money away that will be IHT free provided you stick to rules on the amount. Under the annual exemption rule, you can give away a total of £3,000 of money or gifts each tax year without the £3,000 being taxable when you pass away.  In addition to the £3,000 annual exemption, there is a small gift allowance of £250 per person or a gift allowance for weddings and civil partnerships. The wedding gift allowance is:  £5,000 to a child £2,500 to a grandchild or great-grandchild £1,000 to any other person There are rules on what allowances can be combined in one tax year so it is best to take legal advice.   If you make regular payments to help a family member with their living costs these can be IHT exempt provided they are normal expenditures out of income and you can: Afford the payments after meeting your usual living costs Make the gifts out of your regular monthly income rather than savings Other gifts to family members might fall within IHT liability but the recipient may benefit from IHT reliefs using the 7-year rule. The 7-year rule No IHT is payable on any gifts you give if you live for 7 years after giving them as part of the 7-year rule. If you die within 7 years of giving a gift and the gift does not fall within another IHT allowance then the amount of IHT payable at the date of your death depends on when you gave the gift. Gifts given in the 3 years before your death are taxed at the IHT tax rate of 40%. Gifts given 3 to 7 years before your death are taxed if your estate is over the threshold to pay IHT. The IHT rates taper: Time in years between gift and death Rate of inheritance tax   3 to 4 years 32% 4 to 5 years 24% 5 to 6 years 16% 6 to 7 years 8% 7 or more 0%   The IHT rules mean it's important to keep a record of gifts made, the amount or value. Why gift money to your family isn’t just about inheritance tax  Inheritance tax mitigation is not normally the main driver for gifting money to family. For example, you may want to give your family money because: They are on an NHS waiting list and you want them to have private treatment  They can't afford to buy a home and are finding it impossible to find an affordable rental property  Grandchildren are in private education and their parents can no longer afford the school fees because of cost-of-living pressures and the VAT hike Your child is getting divorced and they can't afford to buy a decent house with the money they are getting in their divorce financial settlement  There are other reasons why you may want to gift money to your family but whatever the reasons it is essential to get comprehensive estate planning and family law advice. Protecting your wealth  Protecting your wealth isn’t just about sensible IHT planning. It also involves input from a family law solicitor to make sure that your loved one is protected by a suitable relationship agreement such as a cohabitation agreement, prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement. Our team of specialist estate planning and family agreement solicitors can provide you with the comprehensive estate planning and family relationship agreement advice needed to safeguard your family.  For expert family law and estate planning advice call our team or complete our online enquiry form. 

According to the latest research householders over the age of 50 own about 75% of the country’s homes. That’s a lot of equity tied up in property and can create a generational divide with parents and grandparents having too much space and newlyweds looking to start a family not able to afford to buy a first property without assistance or separated couples not being able to create 2 homes for themselves and their children after a divorce. Our private client solicitors are often asked about estate planning when writing Wills and our family law solicitors are asked for innovative solutions in divorce financial settlements. In this blog, we answer some questions on sharing property wealth with the next generation. For expert advice on family law and estate planning call our team of specialist lawyers or complete our online enquiry form. Housing options As private client and family solicitors, we come across these types of housing issues on a regular basis: A husband or wife is getting divorced and can’t afford, on their own, to take over the mortgage to stay in the family home An older couple wants to make sure that their son or daughter can get on the housing ladder but is concerned about their deposit being kept safe from their child’s partner A family is thinking of moving in together so there is a three-generation household A person is thinking of buying a house and doesn’t know if their partner should be a joint owner or not An older person is thinking of downsizing and either transferring their house to a child or gifting money to a child or grandchildren [related_posts] Property solutions No two families are the same and so one solution doesn’t fit every family. Generally, there are several property solutions, for example: If a husband or wife can’t afford to stay in the family home after a divorce either because they can’t afford to take over the existing mortgage or to borrow more money to buy off a former partner then a parent or other family member could stand as guarantor to the mortgage If a couple want to get their child on the property ladder, they could lend the child money with the loan secured against the house. The loan can suit the family, for example, interest may or may not be payable or interest could be accumulated and only paid if the house is sold If three generations are moving in together the property could be jointly owned by all the adults with a deed of trust setting out the details of property ownership or the mid-generation couple could be the legal owners with the older generation having a right to occupy the house A person buying a house could either buy jointly with their partner or on their own – if the property owner is in a relationship, they should sort out a cohabitation agreement whether or not their partner is a joint owner or lives at the property with them If a person is thinking of giving property or money away, they can do so during their life through what is known as lifetime gifting. Gifts can be made outright or money can be put in trust for family members. Alternatively, the gift could be made outright but protected by the family member receiving the gift asking their partner or spouse to sign a cohabitation agreement or post-nuptial agreement What property and estate-planning solution fits? The right ‘’property solution’’ is down to a number of factors, for example: Inheritance tax implications of making a gift or putting money into a trust The need to protect family money from potential financial claims on the separation or divorce of a family member Family circumstances and personal preferences Given the range of options, it is always sensible to ask for help from specialist private client, estate planning, and family solicitors before gifting money to family members or moving in with a partner. Early bespoke assistance can make sure that you make the right decisions for yourself and your family and protect your loved ones. For expert advice on family law and estate planning call our team of specialist lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.

When a family member passes away, with or without leaving a Will, the process of sorting out the personal and financial affairs of the deceased can seem overwhelming. This is often not helped by the need to obtain probate before the family can access funds and distribute the estate in accordance with the Will. In this article, specialist private client lawyer, Chris Strogen, offers guidance on what probate is and how to go about applying for it. For expert advice on Wills and probate call our team of specialist probate lawyers or complete our online enquiry form. What is probate? When someone dies their assets and property (known as their estate) are left in limbo until someone gets the legal right to deal with their property and possessions by applying for probate and obtaining a grant of representation or letters of administration. How do you apply for probate? Normally, the probate application process involves these stages: Check and see if there is a Will – the Will may be kept with other important papers, at the bank or a solicitor’s office. If there is a Will the people authorised to sort out the deceased’s financial affairs (known as the executors) will apply for probate. If there is no Will then family members can apply for the grant Estimate the value of the estate – this is necessary so you know if inheritance tax is likely to be payable by the estate Pay any inheritance tax due – this needs to be sorted out before applying for probate Complete and submit a probate application form and where necessary an inheritance tax form What happens after probate is granted? The executors will need to: Pay any remaining inheritance tax that is payable Pay any debts Collect any property, for example, selling a share portfolio or a family home or investments Distribute the estate, either under the terms of the Will or, if there is no Will, under the intestacy rules Do you have to get probate? Sometimes it is possible to sort out a deceased’s financial affairs without applying for probate. For example: If the deceased person did not own any property or property was jointly held and passed automatically to the survivor The deceased held a joint bank account with a husband, wife, or partner so the savings or bank account passed automatically to the joint account holder The deceased’s bank may consider the account balance small enough to release without the formality of probate [related_posts]  Is getting probate straightforward? The complexity of the probate process depends on how complex the deceased’s estate, family dynamics, and Will is. Sometimes getting probate is straightforward but there are often things to sort out or check such as: Entitlement to bereavement allowance Whether it is in the family’s best interests to change a Will after death (known as a deed of variation). Executing a deed of variation  can result in inheritance tax savings Resolve any inheritance claims by family or dependants who want to challenge the Will or do not think that they will receive reasonable financial provision under the intestacy rules Obtaining a presumption of death certificate Sorting out life insurance and pension claims – these benefits may or may not pass under the terms of the deceased’s Will Sorting out the creation and administration of any Trusts created in the Will Changing the appointment of Executors How much does probate cost? Some people have complex finances and businesses and there is therefore a lot of legal work to do to get probate. However, even if the deceased’s estate is not complex, it often pays for executors to get specialist legal help to make sure that the estate does not pay more than it needs to in inheritance tax and that the estate is distributed correctly. If you need help in applying for probate call Chris Strogen at Evolve Family Law for a quote. For expert advice on Wills and probate call our team of specialist probate lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.

For many young couples it is a real struggle to get on the property ladder. The combination of rising house prices and stagnate salaries has made the ambition of property ownership an uphill battle for the majority of young married couples. However, many of their parents are sitting on wealth tied up in large family homes. At some distant point, there may be a large inheritance. When you are getting divorced one of the stumbling blocks to reaching an agreed divorce financial settlement can be when either a husband or wife has received an inheritance or is likely to receive a substantial legacy in the future. Family solicitor, Robin Charrot, looks at the topic of divorce and inheritance and offers advice on how the court sorts out divorce financial settlements involving inheritances. For expert advice on divorce and family law call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form. Protecting inheritance from divorce There are ways to protect an inheritance from divorce if you have not already received an inheritance. Examples include: Signing a prenuptial agreement – a prenuptial agreement only works if you are engaged and have not yet got married Signing a postnuptial agreement – the agreement can ringfence the inheritance or can be comprehensive and set out your agreed divorce financial settlement in the event of a separation. A postnuptial agreement only works if there are safeguards in place to protect both husband and wife, such as financial disclosure and the taking of independent legal advice The creation of a discretionary trust – this is only effective if you have not yet received your inheritance and requires specialist private client and estate planning advice Keeping an inheritance separate – if you have received an inheritance then one way of trying to keep it out of any future divorce financial settlement is to not share the money. This does not always work as it will depend on the extent of your other assets, the length of your marriage, and several other factors. Keeping the inheritance separate means retaining the money in a sole account and not putting it into a joint account or using it to pay off the mortgage on the family home or to invest in the family business. The court may decide to treat a non-shared inheritance as a non-marital asset. This means that the court will not share the inheritance as part of the divorce financial settlement unless it is necessary to do so because otherwise needs cannot be met Family law solicitors recognise that keeping an inheritance separate may conflict with financial advice or tax advice. For example, financially it may be best to pay off the mortgage on the family home rather than keep your inheritance in an account or in investments in your sole name. Alternatively, from a tax point of view, it may be best to make use of your ISA allowance and the ISA allowance of your husband or wife. The legal and financial and tax advice is all correct but it looks at the issue from different angles. Professional help can then assist you to work out the option that best suits your needs and priorities. [related_posts] Inheritance and divorce financial settlement financial disclosure In divorce financial settlement negotiations and court proceedings, there is often an assumption that inherited money or inheritance and trust prospects do not need to be disclosed to your spouse or to the court. They normally do as you are required to provide full and frank financial disclosure. If you do not disclose an inheritance this can result in: Your spouse is suspicious about other financial aspects, such as the value of the family business or the extent of your income, so it makes it less likely that you can reach an agreed divorce financial settlement In divorce financial proceedings the court is asked to make inferences about your honesty and about whether you have other assets because you did not initially disclose the existence of an inheritance or a trust If a financial court order is made and it subsequently comes to light that you received an inheritance or were a discretionary beneficiary of a trust your spouse can ask the court to review the order and make a new one based on the argument that the court would not have made the original order if you had disclosed the existence of the inheritance or the trust Family solicitors recommend that if you have received an inheritance or if you are named in a Will or a trust you discuss your financial disclosure with a specialist divorce financial settlement solicitor before you start financial settlement negotiations, attend family mediation, or complete Form E financial disclosure as part of the divorce financial settlement court process. Even if the advice is that you must disclose the inheritance you can still argue that the inheritance should not be considered in the divorce financial settlement. For example, because you have not received the legacy yet and the testator may change their Will or because although the inheritance has been received the inherited money did not become marital property because of the existence of a prenuptial agreement or as a result of the money being kept separate. Many future inheritances can be safely ignored and will be disregarded by the court. For example, if you are getting divorced in your 20s and your parents have named you as a beneficiary of their Wills but they are in their 60s and fit and healthy. Why? Firstly, you may not inherit for another 30 or 40 years, and secondly, by the date of their death, they may have spent your legacy or decided to leave it to a charity. The situation may be different if you and your spouse are in your 60s and you are divorcing after 30 years of marriage and there is an imminent inheritance and not enough equity in the family home to rehouse you both or to meet your retirement needs. The inheritance could mean your spouse gets more of the equity or pension share than would have been the case if you were not due to imminently receive a substantial inheritance or had recently received it. Divorce and inheritance can be a very emotional topic as invariably people want to protect an inheritance because of their strong belief that the inheritance was family money left to them and that their relative would not want their estate shared with their ex-husband or wife. Divorce financial settlement solicitors and estate planning lawyers can guide you and your family on your options. For expert advice on divorce and family law call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.

If you’d asked a Will solicitor back in late 2019 if there would be changes made to the 1837 Will Act most experienced Will lawyers would have said no. However, Covid-19 is bringing about changes to how Wills are witnessed with some saying that it’s taken a global pandemic to change a law made in the 1800’s. With news of local Covid-19 lockdowns being imposed in Greater Manchester and parts of Lancashire and fears that the localised government Covid-19 related constraints will be extended into Cheshire the changes are broadly welcomed by Cheshire Will solicitors. Cheshire online Will solicitors If you need help making a Will or changing your current Will then the Holmes Chapel based Wills and estate planning team at Evolve Family Law can help you.  Call us or complete our online enquiry form and we can set up a telephone appointment, face to face appointment, video conference, or Skype call for you. ​ Witnessing a Will A Will has to be witnessed in accordance with the law. If the Will isn’t witnessed properly then the Will may be contested. If the Will is found by the court to be invalid as it wasn’t witnessed properly then your estate could pass under the provisions of an earlier valid Will or pass under intestacy rules. That means that your family, loved ones or nominated charity may not end up with a share of your estate. That’s why Will solicitors say it is essential that Wills are executed and witnessed properly.   Under the 1837 Wills Act a Will has to be witnessed by: Two witnesses The witnesses shouldn’t be beneficiaries of your Will The witnesses should be present when you sign the Will and see you sign the Will.   The Will witness requirement meant it was tricky during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic for people to arrange for their Wills to be witnessed especially when Will solicitors were forced to work online because of the government imposed lockdown and the difficulty of getting neighbours to witness Wills whilst practising safe distancing or shielding.   The remote witnessing of Wills To help people wanting to put their personal and financial affairs in order during the Covid-19 outbreak the government has said that it will change the law to allow Wills to be witnessed remotely for the next two years or longer if required.   The government recognises that there is a danger that the remote witnessing of Wills could result in fraud or abuse of the elderly or vulnerable and has therefore issued guidelines to Will solicitors and to the general public on the remote witnessing of Wills.   For those of you who have already executed your Will and are worried that the execution was carried out correctly and is valid then the best thing is to speak to a specialist Will lawyer. The good news is that the government has said that the Will witnessing reforms to allow remote witnessing of Wills is to be backdated to 31 January 2020 provided that: The Grant of Probate hasn’t already been issued The application is already in the process of being administered.   The new law will remain in place as long as necessary and will apply to Wills made up to two years from when the legislation comes into force (the 31 January 2022) but this period could be shortened or extended if deemed necessary by the government.   It should be noted that although the government intends to change the law to allow remote witnessing of Wills the government has said that the use of video technology should be a last resort and people making or changing their Will should continue to arrange physical witnessing of the execution of their Will where it is safe to do so. [related_posts] Government guidance on making Wills using video-conferencing The government guidance on the remote witnessing of Wills applies to both Wills and codicils (a supplementary document that is sometimes used to make minor changes to a Will rather than creating a totally new Will).   The guidance reminds Will solicitors that a Will or codicil isn’t valid unless: The Will or codicil is in writing and The document is signed by the testator or by some other person in the testator’s presence and at their direction and The testator has capacity to make the Will The testator intended by their signature to give effect to the Will and The testator’s signature was made or acknowledged by the testator in the presence of two or more witnesses who were present at the same time and The two witnesses attest and sign the Will The witnesses have a clear line of sight and can see the testator sign the Will (even if their line of sight is through a window or in light of the planned law change remotely through video conferencing).   Video-witnessing or remote witnessing of Wills If a Will is witnessed remotely then the same rules apply to the valid execution of a Will save that the witnesses witness the Will being signed remotely. This doesn’t have to be by video conferencing as it could, for example, take place over Zoom or Facetime.   The important point is that the person making the Will and their two witnesses each have a clear line of sight of the signature to the Will in real time. It is best that the remote signing and witnessing process should be recorded and the recording retained in case the Will is challenged.   The original Will should be in the possession of the testator when it is signed and the signature witnessed remotely. However, the two remote witnesses still need to sign the Will so the Will should then be taken to the two witnesses for them to sign, preferably within twenty four hours unless a longer time period is unavoidable. When the witnesses sign the Will the testator should ideally remotely see the two witnesses sign the Will and acknowledge that they have seen the two witnesses sign. As part of the remote witnessing process the Will should be held up so the Will can be seen.   The government is making the changes to the law on witnessing Wills as the government recognises the importance of writing a Will and the peace of mind that a Will can give to both the testator and their loved ones. Our Online Cheshire Will and Estate Planning Solicitors For help writing a Will or with estate planning call the Will and estate planning solicitors at Evolve Family Law or complete our online enquiry form. We can arrange a telephone appointment, video conference or Skype call to discuss how we can help you with writing a Will or changing your existing Will.