Will Writing

Writing a Will might just be the most important document you will ever write

If you were to die without a valid will (‘Intestate’) this can result in emotional and financial turmoil for your family. With a valid will in place you can save your family from this stress as they will be able to follow your instruction in the event of your death.

By clearly setting out your wishes in a legally valid will, you can ensure your wishes are carried out and give your family peace of mind.

The last thing your family should have to worry about when you die is the impact on your estate of not having a valid will.

We promise not to use legal speak or jargon while discussing the options with you and offering our guidance to ensure your Will is prepared correctly

Power of Attorney – what is this and why should I have it in place?

There are 2 parts (generally) to a Power of Attorney:

Welfare
Continuing

Normally these are both put in place with the same attorney (nominated person) to have responsibility for both.

If you became incapacitated or unable to communicate as a result of illness or accident your nominated attorney can assist with decisions on healthcare and/or dealing with your finances.

You should nominate people you trust (preferably more than one) to make decisions in your best interests and mirror the decisions you would make if you were able to communicate effectively.

We promise not to use legal speak or jargon while discussing the options with you and offering our guidance to ensure your Power of Attorney is prepared correctly.

Trusts

There are many different types of trusts which are put in place for different reasons.

The easiest way to talk about them is to look at some examples where a trust might be useful:

If you own your home (jointly) and are concerned about the ability of a local authority to force the sale of the property to offset care costs a Property Protection Trust (PPT) could be a way of protection against this. This needs careful consideration as there are distinct advantages and disadvantages to this approach so should always be discussed carefully with your adviser before applying for a trust of this nature.
You may wish to leave money or other assets to a child with a Discretionary Trust until their defined age of inheritance – e.g. 16, 18, 21 etc.
If one of your adult children has money issues (perhaps dependency on alcohol or drugs or even some mental health challenges) it might be comforting for you to know you can place any inheritance in a Discretionary Trust with an appointed trustee(s) who can manage the assets/money on their behalf.
If one of your adult children is going through a relationship breakup or divorce and you do not want your legacy to form part of a settlement then you could put a Discretionary Trust in place until any divorce is final before the full inheritance is received.

This is by no means an exhaustive list and any trust questions or concerns would normally be discussed at a Will writing appointment and are usually put in place alongside a Will.

We promise not to use legal speak or jargon while discussing the options with you and offering our guidance to ensure your Trust is prepared correctly.

The Process

Fees

We will always be transparent with our fees and will issue a fee structure document to you on request prior to any discussion meeting.

Our preference is always to discuss your needs face to face

We can arrange a meeting in our Greenock office (you will be the only people in the office at the time so you can be assured of confidentiality) or, if you prefer, we can meet in your home and have the discussion in a more comfortable setting for you. We are very happy for you to have family members present and actively encourage this if they are going to be administering your estate.

Once we have listened to your needs and answered all your questions we will then make a recommendation based on your specific requirements. If you want to move forward we will begin gathering the necessary detail to prepare draft documents. If you decide not to move forward (or need more time to think about the options) this is perfectly acceptable and we will always give you as much time as you need to make the right choices.

Once we have your instructions and understand all the detail we will prepare draft documents for you to read through and make sure you understand the content. If you then agree we will prepare the full legal documents and arrange a second meeting to sign and witness them.

Each appointment should take 60-90 minutes (sometimes quicker if you are knowledgeable about what you want to happen) but longer appointments are just as common and we will never rush you into making a quick decision.

On behalf of APS Legal & Associates Ltd, Head office: Worksop Turbine Innovation Centre, Shireoaks

Triangle Business Park, Coach Close, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, S81 8AP
APS Legal & Associates is a member of the Institute of Professional Willwriters

APS Legal & Associates complies with the Trading Standards Institute Approved IPW Code of Practice

Estate planning and the provision of Wills are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority