Legal News | 10.03.22

Time for a Spring Clean?

As we see lambs gambolling in the fields and daffodils emerging – sure signs that Spring is on its way – it is perhaps time to consider whether a Spring clean of your personal affairs might be in order.

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs)
Now is as good a time as any to make sure that if you do need help with managing your finances and health care in the future, you have appointed someone you trust to look after matters on your behalf. If you don’t put in place LPAs and subsequently lose capacity, an expensive and lengthy application to court may need to be made on your behalf.

Wills
It is wise to review your Will on a regular basis, taking into account any major life events that might have occurred, for example, the birth of children or grandchildren, marriage or divorce. By undertaking a regular review of your Will, you can ensure that it always accurately reflects your wishes.

Death benefits
If you are paying into a life insurance policy and or pension and know that a lump sum will pay out on your death, it is worth checking with the provider to ensure that any such lump sum is written into trust. This will mean that rather than forming part of your estate (and potentially being subject to IHT), it will fall outside of your estate and therefore can usually be accessed more readily by your family.

Trust Registration Service
If you are the trustee of a trust, now is the time to check whether you need to be registering the trust with HMRC’s Trust Registration Service (TRS). Following the recent introduction of the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5MLD), with a few exceptions, all non-taxable express trusts are now required to register. If you are unsure as to whether your trust requires registering, we can help.

If you would like help with getting your affairs in order, please get in touch with your usual contact or email the Private Client team at wealth@wansbroughs.com.