"Estate planning is an important and everlasting gift you can give your family."
Suze Osman
Author and Financial Adviser
Family estate
Action today takes effect tomorrow.
Leave a Legacy.
Over the years, you will hopefully gather an estate that you wish to both enjoy in your retirement and leave behind for your loved ones. As the years progress, you may need to make suitable adjustments to your lifestyle and plans, and these are some of the key things you may need to think about as you build your estate.
Here To Help
Sorting out your estate can involve a lot of ticking boxes and processes. There’s a lot to consider and many financial responsibilities you will have to ensure you’ve covered before you can get started.
Estate Planning is frequently overlooked, especially when you’re busy enjoying your life. But by not planning, you can leave behind more than the assets you’ve acquired, but a battle for your loved ones to tackle at a difficult time.
Across all the pages in this section, we provide a series of guides to help you find what you should be looking for, particularly when it comes to planning your estate, so when that time comes, we can help you…
CHOOSE THE ADVISER WHO UNDERSTANDS YOUR NEEDS.
Pension choices
As you grow older, you may need to assess where your pensions are saved, and how regularly you access them. There are many types of pensions where you can save your money over the years but consolidating them into one can make life a little easier to manage as you retire.
Switching to annuity may also make later life feel simpler, bringing security rather than flexibility as your pension becomes your income.
Power of Attorney
Unfortunately, at any age we can lose our independence, be it through injury or illness. Having a Power of attorney ready in place for when you may no longer be able to manage your finances, is highly advisable.
The person to whom you have granted Power of Attorney has the responsibility of managing your finances when you become incapacitated and should be nominated while you are still of sound mind to make the process easier. It can be a much longer process for your nominee to complete when you are no longer of sound mind.
You and your chosen nominee will need to complete an application for Power of Attorney. This process takes about four weeks, so ensure you start with enough time. There are also discounts available if you find that you qualify.
A will
With any life changes, you will need to make adjustments in your will. This becomes especially important as you reach the later end of life to ensure that your loved ones receive the assets you wish them to when you are no longer here.
Dying without a will can mean that this may not always be the case, with the decision left to the UK Law. It will also take a lot longer for any beneficiaries to receive their assets.
Writing a will could also help to reduce any inheritance tax your loved ones may be left with. Make sure you contact a solicitor to get your will written up and watertight to ensure that everyone you wish to will benefit from your estate when you’re gone.
Estate planning
Your estate could be subject to inheritance tax when you die if over a the inheritance tax threshold. By planning ahead, you can reduce your tax liability. Reducing the tax on your estate can be done by setting up the following:
- Lifetime gifts
- Trusts
- Charitable giving
- Other forms of planning
It’s also possible to take out life insurance to help pay the tax liability. Financial advisers are a great help when it comes to estate planning.
Any Inheritance tax bill must be settled within six months of your death, and if your assets are tied up in property this isn’t a great deal of time for your family to release them. Talk to your financial adviser about reducing the value of your estate over the later years of your life.
You can give away significant amounts as gifts, and also set up insurance to pay any Inheritance Tax liability straight away.
Long term care
Often in their final years, people will require long-term care. Whatever form this may be, Beit in a residential home or a visiting carer, you may need to contribute significant funds to ensure you receive the treatment you need. Funding options include:
- Income (e.g. private and state pensions)
- Investments
- Equity release
- Selling or renting out your home
Local authorities often provide funding for long-term care, so if you are below the level needed in savings, you may qualify for this. It’s important to check this with your financial adviser.
Funerals and bereavement
Losing a family member is emotional enough without having to stress over finances. You will have to arrange a funeral to say goodbye, as well as deal with any financial plans they had set in place. If your loved one has been prepared, you may find this is pretty straight forward.
When organising a funeral, you will first need to obtain the medical certificate and notify all government organisations of the death.
Funeral costs will ultimately come out of your estate when you die, however you are able to take out insurance to cover these. If you don’t qualify, it is wise to set up a savings account especially for this occasion, just so your family has one less thing to worry about.
If your spouse has died without a will, their inheritance will follow intestacy rules. If they have left a will, you receive the assets, hopefully inheritance tax-free, however in some cases it can take up to a year to release them. You could also be entitled to their pension, dependent on the pension they held.
Bereavement can be particularly hard, especially if the deceased was the main earner of the family. The surviving partner will need to consider the following when assessing the finances:
- Life insurance payments
- Mortgage / loan repayments
- Pension pots
- Pensions already in payment
- Savings and investments that were not jointly held
- Property and other assets
Employing a financial adviser to help with this can be a great relief for the surviving spouse, arranging everything for the family’s best interest.
Make sure you enjoy retirement. It can be up to a third of your life, so spend these years doing what you find pleasure in, exploring the world, or simply spending time with loved ones.
A financial adviser who specialises in later-life planning can help you make the most of the assets you have available, to enjoy the smaller things in life, as well as experience new and exciting challenges without worrying about the financial side of life.
Abacus Advisers manages the personal wealth of many people across the UK and over £1billion of investments, providing clients with financial advice and access to investment products and services.
We do not charge for initial consultation meetings. If you would like a face-to-face meeting, feel free to pop over to our office or we can always can come to you.
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