Q) Once I die will there be taxes chargeable to my estate?
A) Each individual has an inheritance tax free allowance of £325,000. Anything over this sum is taxed at 40%. There are rules applying to spouses and civil partners where upon the death of the first if none or some of the allowance is unused, the whole or unused portion can be 'carried over' to the survivors estate for inheritance tax purposes. There are also other reliefs and exemptions you could benefit from, depending on the circumstances.
Q) Who pays the taxes which are chargeable to my estate?
A) The task of paying taxes will be delegated to your administrator or executor. In most cases, they will not be permitted to distribute assets until all taxes have been paid first.
Q) What happens if I owned joint assets at the time of my death? How is the tax calculated for these purposes?
A) For assets such as joint bank accounts or jointly owned houses there are a specific set of rules which determine the share percentage the deceased owned, all for inheritance tax purposes. The rules do not apply between spouses or civil partners as there is an exemption to Inheritance Tax.
Q) How do I decide who should be my trustees?
A) The trustees you appoint have to be people who you will be satisfied will make correct decisions. It is most important that you have confidence that they will distribute your estate in the correct manner. It is common practice for people to have more than one trustee. Also some people consider appointing a professional trustee. Before naming the trustees in your will you should ensure they consent to being trustees.
Q) If I wanted to include a trust for any of my children in the will would I be able to do so?
A) Yes. Assets passing to a minor i.e. someone under 18 years of age are automatically held in trust.
Q) Do I get to keep my own will?
A) You can, although we do not charge for storage, if you do take your official will away with you we retain a copy. You should ensure the will is stored securely.
Q) Is there a limit to how many executors I can appoint?
A) 4 is the maximum number of executors you can have for a will, although you could appoint alternative executors in case something happened to the executors you have appointed in the first instance.
Q) What is the benefit of a trust?
A) Trusts offer flexible tax efficient structures to pass on or protect the family wealth for the long term.
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