Essential IFA will help you decide which estate planning tools suit your individual needs. We believe that clients should have an up to date Will and Lasting Powers of Attorney and we will help you understand the importance of these documents.
What is a Will?
A Will is a document that instructs the person who administrates your will after your death. This person is called an executor. The executor’s job is to distribute your estate to your chosen beneficiaries. Wills can be simple. They can be as straightforward as simply leaving your estate to your chosen beneficiaries. Or, you can choose to utilise a Will within estate planning by including a Trust.
What is a Trust?
A Trust is a legal entity where you appoint trustees who will look after either money or fixed assets for the benefit of your chosen beneficiaries. The use of a trust can help mitigate further inheritance tax on an estate for the next generation. It can also protect assets from long term care costs or in the event of the remarriage of a partner and subsequent divorce.
Further details of estate planning can be provided on request.
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs)
Having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place is essential to ensuring that your assets can be managed even if you are mentally incapable. If you were to suddenly become mentally ill, for example due to brain damage, stroke or dementia, it is important to ensure your spouse or partner is not frozen out or prevented from accessing income. With an LPA in place your family can continue to manage your financial affairs.
There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney. A Financial Lasting Power of Attorney and a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney.
The Financial Lasting Power of Attorney puts either an individual or a group of people in charge of your financial assets.
The Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney puts either an individual or a group of people in charge of any medical decisions that need to be made such as turning off a life support machine.
The individual(s) that you decide to have as your Attorney(s) should be people that you trust and who will know what your wishes would be in that situation. It must be people who will act upon your wishes and not theirs.
How can we help?
At Essential IFA, we understand that this is a delicate matter and can sometimes be very difficult to talk about. We try our very best to make our clients feel as comfortable as possible and take our time to use easy to understand language and answer any questions that you may have.
We are happy to provide you with a free consultation and written quotation, which guarantees the price for work undertaken.