Lifetime Planning

A substantial number of the UK population does not have a Will that reflects their personal circumstances, financial situation and final wishes on how they would like to dispose of their property. In fact, two thirds of people in the UK die without leaving a Will at all.

Not making a Will can cause all sorts of problems and delays for your loved ones. Whilst we may all think that we will live long happy lives and don’t need to worry about making a Will just yet, it is surprising how often life can throw up problems and surprises for us. Making Will now will protect your loved ones in the future should the worst ever happen.

Creating a Will provides you with the peace of mind that your estate will be distributed the way you want – not the Government. Your family and loved ones will be protected and taken care of properly in the event of your death. Making a Will ensures that your family will not have the extra burden of family disputes or financial trouble thrust upon them during these highly distressing and emotional times.

Nobody knows what the future holds and as we get older our physical and mental health usually starts to deteriorate. Sometimes situations can arise where we might struggle or are no longer able to manage and take care of our own personal and financial affairs.

What if you struggled or became physically or mentally unable to manage your own affairs or understand what you were doing? How would your financial assets be dealt with? This could be very important to you in the future.

A Lasting Power of Attorney allows you to appoint an Attorney (such as a solicitor or family member) to look after your property and financial affairs in the event of your incapacity or ill health.

If you do not have a Lasting Power of Attorney, then the Court of Protection could take over and control your finances, often at considerable expense, with strict rules imposed on family members limiting the access to your funds while you are still alive.

With a Lasting Power of Attorney you can ensure that your personal and financial affairs are protected so that no one can take advantage of your disability or ill health. Only the people who you know, love and trust will have control and access to your finances and property.

To find out more about how Lasting Powers of Attorney work, contact us online.

Are you or a member of your family worried about the possibility of paying residential care fees later on in life? At Seatons, we can help shield and protect your assets, property and cash from the Local Authority should you ever need to go into residential care.

We specialize in asset protection and help put a shield around your assets so you never need to fear losing everything to pay for care charges in the future. We can take action to help protect your property, savings and other assets for the future and from being assessed and used to pay for care charges.

If you or any member of your family are at all concerned about the possibility of having to pay for long term care in the future, then please contact us to arrange a face to face meeting with one of our legal advisers. This could save you and your family a small fortune; maybe even everything you have worked so hard to build up.

The current approach to care fees in the UK is unfair and unjust. It is a scandal. We can help you take on the authorities and protect what is rightfully yours.

Equity Release allows you to access a proportion of the profit or equity in your property to spend as you wish, whilst continuing to live in your home.  This can be extremely valuable to people who have a large amount of equity of profit tied up in their property.  We can help organise the best equity release deal for you.

If you require free unbiased advice on investments, life insurance, mortgages, equity release, long term care planning and so on then look no further. We can advise on the most efficient way of investing lump sums, provide advice on retirement and long term care. We can help house buyers on how to obtain the best mortgage deals and divorcing couples on joint investments pension sharing and protecting maintenance payments. Solicitors and Independent Financial Advisors are renowned for their trustworthiness and integrity. If you are not sure what to do and need help then give us a call.

From 6^th April 2017, an additional Residence Inheritance Tax Nil Rate Band (RNRB) was made available to individuals who own a home or a share of one, so long as their home is left to their direct descendants and so long as the value of their estate is less than £2,000,000.

This RNRB allowance is initially £100,000 but will increase up to £175,000 by 2020. This means that by April 2020 an individual who owns a share in a home and leaves it to their descendants will be entitled to the Basic Nil Rate Band of £325,000 plus the Residence Nil Rate Band of up to £175,000 giving a combined Nil Rate Band allowance of £500,000.

A Trust is a fund which contains assets that are controlled by you and/or a nominated third party for the benefit of a specific individual(s). They are governed by complex legal regulations and separate tax rules. A Trust can be set up at any time during the lifetime of an individual to become operative immediately or, not until your death.