Wills and Probate Solicitors
The future is unpredictable so don’t leave anything to chance. Our friendly Wills and probate solicitors can help with all lifetime planning and succession matters, from making a Will to sorting out the estate of a loved one after they have passed away.
At Parsonage & Co Solicitors, we provide bespoke Wills and probate advice to individuals and families across London and the UK, in particular Teddington, Richmond upon Thames and the wider surrounding area.
We can provide practical advice about making a Will to pass on your estate to your family, friends or your favourite charities. Our expertise also includes:
- Probate and estate administration – we can offer sensitive advice for handling your loved one’s estate after they have passed away, whether they left a Will or not.
- Powers of Attorney – appoint the people you trust most to handle your affairs on your behalf in case you ever lose the ability to make your own decisions (e.g. because of an illness such as dementia or a brain injury).
- Living Wills/Advance Decisions – save your loved ones from having to make difficult decisions on your behalf; leave a document setting out your wishes about medical treatment in case you one day lose the capacity to consent in person
- Court of Protection matters – we can help you support vulnerable or elderly loved ones who cannot make their own decisions about their finances and/or welfare
Contact our Wills & probate solicitors in Teddington to get all the practical advice and emotional support you need to plan for the future or administer your friend or relative’s estate.
How our Wills and probate solicitors can help you
Making a Will
Making a Will is the single most important thing you can do to ensure that your money and property (your ‘estate’) goes to the right people after you die. A Will can also reduce inheritance tax, ensuring that your loved ones can inherit as much of your wealth as possible.
If you die without making a Will (called ‘dying intestate’), you will have no control over what happens to your estate and you may be surprised at who could end up inheriting.
When thinking about the future, you need the support of a solicitor you can trust to achieve the outcome you want efficiently. Our Will solicitors can provide a high quality service that covers all your lifetime planning needs. We will listen carefully to exactly how you want your estate to be passed on and provide detailed advice about your options and the best way to achieve your goals.
The result will be a strong, tax-efficient Will document that accurately reflects your wishes and minimises any risk of dispute after you are gone. That way you can carry on with your life with peace of mind, knowing that your loved ones will be able to quickly put your wishes into effect when the time comes.
Probate and estate administration
Losing a friend or relative is one of the hardest things a person can go through. So, when you are grieving, the added responsibility of handling the deceased person’s estate can feel overwhelming.
We deeply understand the pain that the death of a loved one can cause. We are here to provide a helping hand and support you through this difficult time. Our probate solicitors can offer you sympathetic but efficient assistance by taking away the extra strain of sorting out the deceased person’s financial affairs. Our service covers:
- Initial advice about being an executor (if there is a Will) or administrator (if there is no Will)
- Helping you locate the Will, if there is one
- Applying for the grant of probate (if there is a Will) or grant of letters of administration (if there is no Will) for permission to administer the estate
- Handling the estate administration on your behalf, such as:
- Closing bank accounts
- Paying off debts
- Paying inheritance tax
- Distributing inheritance to the beneficiaries
Powers of Attorney
No one knows what the future holds; you cannot guarantee that your mind will stay sharp for the rest of your life. Old age, a brain injury, an illness such as dementia – these are all reasons why you may need extra support at some point in your life. Putting plans in place now will ensure your wishes are always respected and could save your family considerable heart-ache and stress later on.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can be used to appoint people you trust (attorneys) to handle your affairs in case you cannot do it yourself in the future. There are two types of LPA that our Lasting Power of Attorney solicitors can help you with:
- Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Powers of Attorney – can be used to give someone permission to do things like pay your bills, manage your pension and sell your property. This type of LPA can also be used if you have mental capacity but cannot manage your own affairs, for example, because you live abroad most of the time or have a physical disability that means you cannot often leave the house.
- Health and Welfare Lasting Powers of Attorney – can be used to make decisions about things like your day-to-day routine, care and medical treatment. This type of LPA can only be used after you have lost mental capacity.
We can also advise about other types of Power of Attorney, including:
- Ordinary Powers of Attorney (OPAs)/General Powers of Attorney – OPAs can be used to give financial control to someone you trust should you have mental capacity but cannot make your own decisions or manage your own affairs, for example, because you have a physical disability
- Registering Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) – EPAs were replaced by Lasting Powers of Attorney in 2007. However, valid EPAs can still be used so long as they are registered
We also provide advice to attorneys about fulfilling their role and providing the best possible support.
Living Wills/Advance Decisions
A Living Will, also known as an Advance Decision, can put your wishes about medical treatment into writing in case you ever lose the mental capacity to consent to your treatment in the future. This will ensure your wishes are respected and prevent your loved ones from having to make difficult decisions on your behalf.
We can help you put in place a Living Will that covers all eventualities, including the circumstances in which you would not want certain treatments and whether you want to refuse life-sustaining treatment.
Court of Protection and advice about supporting vulnerable and elderly people
If you are worried about a loved one who cannot make their own decisions about their finances and/or care and they have not left a Lasting Power of Attorney, we can help you make a Court of Protection application.
Our Court of Protection solicitors regularly make Deputyship applications to give people the power to help their vulnerable family member. Whether your relative has had an accident that resulted in a brain injury or they have a condition such as Alzheimer’s disease, we are here to provide you with the tools to support them and ensure their welfare is protected.
We can also provide advice to Court of Protection Deputies and help you make the best decisions for your vulnerable relative, such as:
- Help managing their finances – paying bills, collecting their pension etc
- Buying or selling property
- Making decisions about care homes and paying the fees
- Making decisions about day-to-day care
- Making decisions about medical treatment
We can also assist with other Court of Protection matters, such as applying for a Statutory Will for someone who does not have a Will and also lacks the mental capacity to make one.
Why make a Will?
Around half of adults in the UK do not have a Will, a frightening percentage given that dying intestate means you have no control over where your money or property goes.
There are countless reasons to make a Will while you can, but here are few of the big ones:
- Make sure your money and property goes to the right people (especially if you and your partner are unmarried or you have step children as they cannot otherwise inherit)
- Reduce inheritance tax and make your estate as tax efficient as possible
- Appoint people you trust to handle your final affairs (executors)
- Appoint guardians for your children if they are under 18
- Decide who should look after your pets
- Leave money to your favourite charities
- Leave funeral wishes
- Set up trusts to control how your money and property is inherited and used
- Give yourself and your family peace of mind that your wishes are in writing
- Avoid expensive and stressful family disputes about your wishes after you pass away
What happens if you don’t make a Will?
Dying intestate means that the rules of intestacy control what happens to your estate. Under the rules, only certain people are allowed to inherit, for example, only married spouses or civil partners, but not unmarried partners. Only by making a Will can you ensure that your true wishes are respected.
The rules of intestacy also do not care about whether your estate is tax efficient. As property prices increase, inheritance tax is no longer just a tax for the extremely wealthy – it affects more and more people every year. However, by making a Will with the help of an expert solicitor and tax advisor, it is often possible to completely eliminate inheritance tax.
Get in touch with our Wills and probate solicitors in Teddington, Richmond
Contact our Wills & probate solicitors in Teddington to get all the practical advice and emotional support you need to plan for the future or administer your friend or relative’s estate.