Both family relationships and finances have become more complicated in our society, and end-of-life plans can seem overwhelming as a result, even for younger people.

But a few simple steps can ensure all your wishes are respected and disruption to your family and friends is minimised at an incredibly difficult time.

We explain below why end-of-life planning is not just preparing a will.

A will is an incredibly important and prudent step for peace of mind, but it is only one aspect of end-of-life planning.

Establishing a lasting power of attorney (LPA), life insurances, pensions, care plans, and funeral arrangements are often overlooked but are vital considerations.”

Will

Simply put, a will is a legal document that tells everyone what you want to happen to your ‘estate’ – a term that encompasses your money, possessions, and property – after you die.

A will prevents your family or friends from suffering unnecessary stress and upheaval during a difficult period, especially if you have children or other family who depend on you financially.

Wills are becoming more complex as people make money younger than in the past, have more assets, and more complicated family structures.

If you do not have a will when you die, your money, property, and possessions will be shared out according to UK law instead of your express wishes. This means your estate could go to someone you did not want it to, while a loved one you wanted to benefit ends up with nothing.

And remember – home-made, free or cheap wills do not always ensure your wishes are protected and could result in unnecessary legal challenges.

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)

A LPA is a legal document that lets you appoint one or more people (known as an ‘attorney’) to help make decisions on your behalf, if you cannot make those decisions yourself.

It will help your loved ones substantially if you were to suffer an accident or illness and cannot make your own decisions – a situation where you either ‘lack mental capacity’ or are physically unwell.

A LPA lasts for the rest of your life, so once it has been arranged you can enjoy peace of mind. BTTJ stores clients’ LPAs for free of charge until the moment they are needed.

There are two common types of LPA. The first is a Health and Welfare LPA which gives your attorneys the power to make decisions such as where you live, the type of care you receive and the care provider. You can also give them the power to consent or refuse medical treatment on your behalf.

The second is a Property and Financial Affairs LPA which gives your attorneys the power to manage your finances for you, such as overseeing your bank account, paying bills, managing your investments, or dealing with any property you own.

Protect your home against care fees

Our Private Client department is seeing more and more queries from clients who are asking how they can protect their assets from care home fees and ensure they leave their hard-earned money for their family.

Fortunately, there are steps that you can take to help protect some of your assets from care home fees.

Most simple wills will leave everything to your spouse or civil partner and then everything to your children (or other beneficiaries) when they die. There is nothing wrong with this in practice, but what happens if your surviving spouse or civil partner has to go into care a few years later and their assets need to be used towards care home fees?

However, there is a way of structuring your wills using a trust to protect at least half of your property, which has no impact on you during your lifetime and only takes effect on the death of the first spouse or civil partner. 

Instead of leaving all your assets outright to your surviving spouse or civil partner on the first death, you can each place your half share of your home into a trust for the benefit of your surviving spouse or civil partner to enjoy but not be able to spend.

This is a popular way of safeguarding half of your property from care home fees. It leaves the surviving spouse or civil partner with peace of mind that they can benefit and enjoy the full use of the property during their lifetime, while knowing that half of the property will be protected for the people they ultimately want to benefit from their will.

If you would like any further information, advice, or assistance, please contact our friendly Private Client team on 02476 531532 or enquiries@bttj.com 

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The good news is that there are steps that you can take to help protect some of your assets from care home fees.  Careful consideration needs to be given and we would always suggest taking advice from a legally qualified professional, such as our Private Client Team here at Brindley Twist Tafft & James to ensure you are advised properly and your Will is drafted in the correct manner.

A commonly drafted ‘simple’ Will will leave everything to your spouse or civil partner on the first death and then everything to your children (or other beneficiaries) on the second death.  There is nothing wrong with this in practice but what happens if your surviving spouse or civil partner has to go into care a few years later and their assets need to be used towards care home fees?

The current rules stipulate that if you have assets in your name over the threshold of £23,250 then you have to pay for the cost of your care.  This potentially means that your assets would have to be used to fund the cost.  As most people’s main asset is their house, this means that this potentially would have to be sold to pay for care. If this is a concern, there is a way of structuring your Wills using a trust to protect at least half of your property, which has no impact on you during your lifetime and only takes effect on the death of the first spouse or civil partner.

Instead of leaving all your assets outright to your surviving spouse or civil partner on the first death, within your Wills you can each place your half share of your home into a trust for the benefit of your surviving spouse or civil partner.  Within the Will the survivor is given the right to freely enjoy the use of the half share held in trust during their lifetime, but legally it does not pass to them.  The consequence of this is that if the survivor needs to go into care in the future, then they do not own the full value of the property, only half.  The half share held in trust belongs to the ultimate beneficiaries of your Will, for example your children and therefore cannot automatically be spent on care. 

This is a popular way of safeguarding half of your property from care home fees.  It leaves the surviving spouse or civil partner with peace of mind that they can benefit and enjoy the full use of the property during their lifetime, whilst knowing that half of the property will be protected for the people you ultimately want to benefit from your Will.

Part of this type of Will planning also involves changing the way in which you own your property.  There are two ways of owning a property, as either joint tenants or tenants in common.  If a property is owned as joint tenants, then on the passing of the first owner it automatically transfers to the survivor.  If a property is owned as tenants in common, then on the passing of the first owner, it does not pass to the survivor and instead passes in accordance with your wishes in your Will.  Generally speaking, couples own their property as joint tenants. 

For this type of property trust to be effective, the property must be owned as tenants in common.  Of course, you should always seek legal advice before transferring any assets, not only to ensure your Will is effective but also to ensure you are not contending with any deprivation of asset legislation.

Please make contact with our friendly and specialist team at BTTJ if you have any queries who will be very happy to help

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