Biggest Change
Biggest Change in Life
The biggest change triggering a call to a financial adviser is the death of a family member.
If there is a Will, the executors have to determine the assets & liabilities, pay any inheritance tax (IHT) and apply for probate. Once the Will has been proven they can enact the Will. Without a Will the process is similar, but the estate is distributed according to the rules of intestacy. If an illiquid asset that cannot be sold immediately e.g. a house, the HMRC allow the amount to be settled over several years.
Although assets are frozen at death and you cannot operate a deceased's bank account, most banks will release the funds to pay for a funeral.
You do not need to employ professionals but it reduces the possibilities of errors & later family dispute if you do. As an executor you can choose which solicitor you use.
If you are an executor, you can make some changes to the assets to preserve the value of the estate before probate is obtained, e.g. sell a wasting asset or liquidate investments and put the proceeds into an interest bearing account. Some providers will remove ISA status on death notification, others will liquidate the holding.
Despite a Will, certain investments will change ownership automatically e.g. a house owned by joint tenancy compare with a property owned as tenants in common.
Others assets are not part of the estate e.g. an insurance policy written in trust.
A dependant of the deceased may receive pension benefits or a lump sum without being part of the IHT assessed estate. Similarly there can be a death in service payment. Gifts to charity are & shares in privately owned companies can be exempt from IHT too. However any large gifts in the past seven years may be caught up in the IHT calculation.
Young people cannot inherit directly so a trust can be used, or the will may allow for the executors to discharge their duties by transferring the funds to the parents of minors.
The will may establish a bypass trust, which means that the spouse has access to the income but not capital of an estate. In this case the duties of the executors continue until the death of the spouse.
The deceased may be the main carer for a spouse, who now enters a care home. This is an expensive commitment of unknown duration, whose costs can be capped by use of an immediate or deferred needs annuity.
Often the death of a parent is the first time that they have access to significant funds to invest. We offer a rigorous & independent process to assess your attitude to financial risk, to choose the correct investments for you. Then they will be regularly rebalanced to ensure that they match your appetite to risk .
A financial adviser can help
By explaining the process of probate, exploring the possibility for a deed of variation, advising on investing for minors and wealth management.
Contact Us
For further information about any of the services we provide, or if you have any questions, call today using any of the details provided on the sidebar above. Alternatively, email us directly using the query form provided on the Contact Us page of this website. We look forward to working with you.