Did
you know that statistics have shown that people who have made
Wills live almost 5 years longer than those who have not?
Apart
from giving you the prospect of longevity, making a Will enables
you to plan for the continuing prosperity and stability of your
family, and enables you to take action to reduce the impact
of
taxation upon your estate. Sadly, leaving no Will can create
an additional worry for your family at a time of bereavement
and
distress.
Typically,
a properly drawn Will can:-
Appoint
Executors to administer your estate after your death.
Appoint
a Guardian of your minor children.
Make
cash gifts, known as legacies, to friends, relatives, or charities
as you select.
Make
personal gifts of belongings, jewellery, shares and the like.
Make
provision of your main estate for your family.
Establish
a trust for minor children, including the appointment of Trustees
(often the same people as your Executors).
Provide
your Executors and Trustees with suitable authority to administer
your estate.
Provide
for inheritance tax saving, often by means of sophisticated
trusts.
Ideally,
we would meet you to discuss your requirements, before preparing
draft Wills for your approval, and signature. Please ask for a
free Will Planner.
Did
you also know that, on average, testators made their last Will
5 years prior to their death – so make a Will every 4 years!
Probate
The
process of validating a Will after death is called Probate. The
Grant of Probate is a sealed order of the High Court which authorises
the appointed Executors to administer the estate of the testator.
MacLaren Britton will advise upon the various formalities attendant
upon a bereavement and thereafter we will help you with:-
Assessment – It is necessary to prepare an inventory of the estate
so that the assets and liabilities can be ascertained, and the
estate valued. The Executors will identify the property and
assets comprised in the estate, to enable them to distribute
it in accordance with the instructions contained in the Will.
In large estates it is necessary to complete a detailed inventory
and return to the Inland Revenue, for inheritance tax purposes.
Application - An application to the Court for authority to deal with the
estate is then prepared for the signature of the Executors.
In cases where inheritance tax is payable, the Inland Revenue
account must also be prepared, and payment of the tax tendered.
The documents are then submitted to the Probate Registry of
the High Court, and the Grant itself, sealed by the Court, is
generally issued approximately 2 weeks later.
Administration – We then help the Executors administer the estate, by
collecting in the payments which are due to the estate, settling
any liabilities, and transferring any particular gifts and legacies
to beneficiaries.
Accounting – The Executors are then in a position to conclude the
administration of the estate, and we will prepare accounts for
the approval of the Executors, and the main beneficiaries.
If
there is no Will, the process is very similar, save that the Grant
issued by the Court is called a Grant of Letters of Administration,
and the estate must be distributed in accordance with the intestacy
provisions laid down by statute.
