This is a question we are asked frequently at Barrett and Co. This is usually due to concerns about the costs of care as our clients become older, or perhaps fears that their home would have to be sold to pay Inheritance Tax on their death. Naturally, our clients want to preserve their home for…
The importance and usefulness of the Health and Welfare Lasting of Power of Attorney really came into its own during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of the elderly and vulnerable members of society had to have decisions made about their welfare and relatives and partners were often shocked to discover that without a Power of Attorney,…
As our children are heading back to school and university, and home-working with a full house becomes a distant memory, now is as good a time as any to take the opportunity to review our financial and personal affairs. September is often a time for families to get organised for the future; with children progressing…
HM Revenue & Customs has reported that total inheritance tax receipts were £5.35 bn for the 2020/2021 financial year. This is a 3.68% rise from the previous year. In the tax year 2018 to 2019, London and the South East accounted for 53% of the total inheritance tax charged across England. The average tax paying…
Broadly speaking, if someone cannot make a certain decision for themselves, they are often said to ‘lack capacity’ to make the decision. Capacity is function specific, based upon the decision at hand that needs to be made. The legal framework applying to mental capacity can be found in The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). This…
In order to make a Will in England or Wales, the law requires you to understand fully what you are doing and its implications. This is known as having “testamentary capacity”, which is a special category of capacity. Broadly, in relation to making a Will, it relates to whether a person is capable of understanding:…
General power to buy or sell property under a power of attorney An attorney under a registered EPA or financial LPA may make decisions about anything that relates to the donor’s property and financial affairs. This includes buying and selling property, and this can be done without obtaining the consent of the Court of Protection,…
Imagine your property is like this red apple: If you own your property as joint tenants, then you both hold this red apple together as a whole. If one of you dies, then the apple passes in its entirety to the survivor automatically, so the survivor ends up owning the whole apple on their own….
It is often the case that when a person dies the biggest asset they leave as part of their Estate is their property. In areas of the South East of England especially, the equity in such properties could be substantial. It is therefore very important for the executors to secure that asset, sell it on…
By acting as an Executor you take on a key responsibility to protect the estate of the deceased. In many cases the substantial asset of the deceased is the former family home so you must act quickly to protect the asset. What are the steps you should take if the property is unoccupied? You should…
