Estate Planning is planning your affairs before death to ensure that all the documents are in place to ensure that amongst other things:
Estate Planning frequently uses a variety of skills, knowledge bases and professionals to achieve the best outcome for you. For example, a solicitor, financial advisor and accountant may all work together to ensure that your plans result in the best tax position for you, whilst not compromising on eventual goals of passing on money.
A trust is a legal arrangement created during life or on death. Assets (such as money, property etc) are given to the trust and are managed by the Trustees, for the benefit of someone else, called the beneficiaries. When assets are given to the trust, they belong to the trust and no longer belong to the person who gave them away. This means that the person giving away the assets can lose control of the assets, and also the benefit of the assets.
There are lots of types of trust. The common types are:
Some Trusts have their own tax regime, which means that they are treated as a separate legal person for tax. They may need to complete an income tax return, pay Capital Gains tax and pay a form of Inheritance Tax. Trusts also require ongoing reviews and legal paperwork, and therefore it is important to ensure you are fully aware of the requirements on the Trustees, who can be personally responsible for mistakes.
It is very common to think that a trust is a way to avoid paying tax and care home fees. This is not always true. It is very important to get professional advice about this as Trusts can mean that you pay more taxes than you needed to. Trusts can be a good way of managing and protecting family wealth and an inheritance tax planning option. When done properly, Trusts can be beneficial, but it is important to completely understand why you are putting the trust in place, the consequences of doing so and the ongoing responsibilities that trustees face. Speak to your solicitor about this.
Our highly-skilled and supportive team of professionals can advise on all aspects of probate, wealth protection, wills, LPAs, Court of Protection and Trusts. This includes probate administration, deputyships, loss of capacity (health and finances), advising beneficiaries, executors and trustees as well as IHT implications of estates and wealth transfer or protection.
We can help individuals and business owners to protect and maximise their wealth and wellbeing interests and those of their loved ones. You will find us welcoming, caring, sensitive and knowledgeable.
Great client service is at the centre of our thinking, it’s embodied into how we train and develop our staff, how we help our clients and how we advise and assist people and business owners with their legal needs.
Our Core Values are Welcoming, Confident, Supportive, Knowledgeable and Dependable and we aim for clients to have a positive experience with Lawson West Solicitors.
Evidence of our great client service can be seen in the reviews and testimonials we regularly receive. We are always pleased to receive great reviews because it means our clients are happy with the service we provide, and it shows that we deliver on our core values, we don’t just talk about them. We really welcome client feedback and hope you enjoy reading some of the latest testimonials throughout this website.
