Legal | Fab after Fifty | Information and inspiration for women over 50

How to Make Writing Your Will A Positive Experience

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On your list of fun and exciting bucket-list experiences to tick off, writing your will probably won’t make the cut. We have a tendency to feel uncomfortable when the subject of death arises, it’s a topic we try to avoid where possible and have a habit of sweeping it under the rug rather than dealing with the inevitable. It’s one of life’s only certainties, we will all die someday and it’s important that we accept this fact and take the appropriate steps to ensure all of the formalities are in place for when we do pass. The death of a loved one is an extremely testing and emotional time, you will often feel helpless and experience feelings of emotion that...
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How to prevent a family will fallout if a child dies before a parent

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Article by Polly Coram, solicitor with Jones Myers wills and trust department To minimise legal costs, many parents who want to leave their estate to their children entrust its administration to friends and family instead of appointing a legal advisor. A question we are frequently asked is, what will happen to the inheritance if a child passes away before the parent? A competent Will writer would advise the parent, known as the testator, to include a substitute provision. This makes it clear who their intended inheritance passes to – and in what shares – if a child dies first. However, we have witnessed a rise in homemade and simple wills that neglect to include this detail. How to avoid a dispute between surviving children Omitting this provision can spark a dispute between the surviving children over...
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Inheritance Planning: How to legally give money to your children

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Article by Faye Watts If you’re lucky enough to have money or property to leave to your children, Faye Watts of www.fuseaccountants.co.uk looks at how to do it, and shares a word of warning… Let’s start by saying that there’s nothing wrong with wanting to give money to your children in the most tax efficient way possible. You’ve already paid tax on that money when you earned it, so doing your best to save it from the tax man is not unethical, greedy or immoral. This isn’t tax evasion, its legitimate inheritance tax planning. So, let’s look at the key ways that you might like to help your children out both while you’re still alive, and when you’re gone. Giving gifts If you give your child (or anyone) a gift...
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Four things you probably didn’t know about inheritance tax

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Article by Naomi Webb It’s fair to say that no taxes are overly popular, yet there is a particular dislike reserved for inheritance tax – the most hated of them all. This is a tax that takes a slice of the wealth left behind by some people when they die to go back into the coffers of the state. Whether you think that is fair is up to you but it exists, and how much do we actually know about it? The truth is, other than a passing knowledge of its existence, very few of us even knows the basics. Here are your key questions answered: Who must pay inheritance tax? Very few estates actually have to pay inheritance tax. The figure for 2016/17 is set to stand at about eight per cent – or...
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Getting Married over 50? How to Protect Your Financial Assets Second Time Around

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Article By Faye Watts Divorce. New Relationships. Remarriage. Life over fifty has the potential to get messy not only emotionally, but also financially. How many of us have heard horror stories about women conned out of their life savings after falling head over heels for someone they met online? Or just the day to day messiness of entwining two families and their financial responsibilities. Faye Watts, founding partner at www.fuseaccountants.co.uk, looks at how to keep an eye on what’s yours when you move on. Why be cautious While it’s lovely to put on those rose coloured spectacles, many of us will have been through more than enough to hold onto what we could after our first marriage, and want to be a bit more careful this time around. Even if you’re a...
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What to do if someone has an accident whilst working in your home…

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Article by Fab after Fifty Most of us at some point will have somebody carry out work in our homes, but do any of us actually consider the legal implications? New research from QualitySolicitors reveals that the vast majority of people across the UK (81%) rely on others to help out in the home. Despite this, over two fifths (42%) admit they don’t take any steps to safeguard their home such as clearing stairways and ensuring wiring is safe, which could leave them legally liable in the event of an accident. If someone has an accident whilst working in your home it can be very distressing. Here are some tips from a QualitySolcitiors personal injuries expert if you are unlucky enough for this to happen to...
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Have you written your will or do you keep putting it off until later?

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Article by Dr Lynda Shaw Do we avoid writing our will? Dr Lynda Shaw discusses some of the reasons why we might be putting it off and why we fear our own death. Our culture’s preoccupation with suppressing feelings and fear of facing our own mortality means Britons are not successfully managing their will and estate, Is it the fear of death? So what is the psychology behind our fear of death? To put it simply, it is the fear of the unknown or the terror of the emotional impact that there is nothing. There is a psychological concept called the Terror Management Theory. This focuses on our fear and possible denial of death despite knowing its inevitability. We try to hide from the...
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What are your Digital Assets? What happens to your Digital Assets when you die?

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Article by Fabafterfifty We are all aware of our material assets, and have no doubt thought about who we will leave what to in our wills- who gets what jewellery, which paintings, money, property, Great Aunt Bessie’s teapot! But what about our ‘digital’ assets? What are they and how can we protect them? I caught up with Paul Golding, founder of iCroak to ask him to clarify. What are digital assets? Digital assets are anything held in a digital format. Social assets. From a social point of view these include email accounts, facebook, twitter, google+ etc. Monetary assets. There are also monetary assets- paypal, online bank accounts, some gaming systems, all of which may well hold actual funds but where there is no paper trace, with only online records...
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Helping Your Child onto the Property Ladder – Dos and Don’ts

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Article by Samanatha Jago Parents are often conscious of the difficulties their children face in getting onto the property ladder. As a result many parents give their children a helping hand by loaning or giving them money towards the purchase of a property. Samantha Jago, family law solicitor at rhw solicitors in Surrey, looks at some the issues that can need to be considered if you decide to go down this route: Giving your child money towards a property Anyone wishing to assist their child in purchasing a property should give consideration to the following: • Is the money to be a loan or a gift? • How would you feel if your child cohabited and the relationship came to an end and the ex-partner sought to claim an interest in...
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Making a Will – has yours been written properly and can it be found easily?

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Article by Fabafterfifty A worrying proportion of people using will writing services are being ripped off by unregulated will writers who are uninsured and offer no means of compensation. A report from the chief ombudsman for England and Wales, found that thousands of people are using unregulated will writing services, unaware that only customers of qualified lawyers may seek redress by submitting complaints to the ombudsman. Will writing is one of many legal services which need not be carried out in the care of a legal professional, with others including family law and conveyancing. The chief executive of the Law Society for England and Wales, said the lack of regulation presented unfair competition to qualified solicitors, in addition to leaving customers vulnerable and without compensation when things go wrong. Statistics have shown that more than half of Britons have...
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How to Make Writing Your Will A Positive Experience

How to prevent a family will fallout if a child dies before a parent

Inheritance Planning: How to legally give money to your children

Four things you probably didn’t know about inheritance tax

Getting Married over 50? How to Protect Your Financial Assets Second Time Around

What to do if someone has an accident whilst working in your home…

Have you written your will or do you keep putting it off until later?

Helping Your Child onto the Property Ladder – Dos and Don’ts

Making a Will – has yours been written properly and can it be found easily?

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