That is a good question. Surely, you must have better things to spend your money on! If you have plenty of money, and close family, you might think they can sort everything out after your day. It is helpful if your family know what you would want, and details may be given in a Will or separate letter of wishes. For most of us, it is not a subject we like to talk about, so it can be overlooked. ...

Although “Lasting Powers of Attorneys” have been around for 12 years now, there are still lots of people with the older “Enduring Powers of Attorneys”. Questions can arise about these, and the differences between the two documents. The Enduring Power of Attorney is a fairly simple document, which enables you to appoint your Attorneys, in case you lose mental capacity. It only relates to finance...

When it comes to Wills, it gets more complicated when children are put up for adoption, or adopted by a new parent. A further complication is the situation where there is no Will, and we need to consider what the law says. When a child is given for adoption, any legal rights the child would have had from their birth parent are cancelled. Having said that, there is nothing to stop the birth pare...

If a couple are married, and don’t have Wills, it is often assumed that on death, everything will pass to each other. Some people may say for this reason, they don’t need a Will. So let’s consider how the law works. Firstly, if assets are jointly owned, they pass to the joint owner. This is often the case with a house. However, a house can also be owned, “tenants in common” where two parties ow...

You might ask, how do you write your Will, if you have been married or in a relationship before, and have children? Some readers may not be aware, that if you have simple “mirror” Wills, leaving everything to each other, there is a real danger that your children may not benefit. Even if your Wills state that on second death, part of the estate goes to your children, what is there to stop th...