Discounted Wills for Single Parents During January 2012

PRESS RELEASE

Single Parents Offered Discounted Wills

SINGLE parents are being offered the opportunity to have a heavily discounted will written to protect their children’s future.

The Society of Will Writers (SWW), the UK’s leading professional body for the will-writing industry, is once again hosting Single Parent Month throughout January.

Gail Church of Bicester Wills who is also Regional Director for the SWW Oxfordshire Region says
“ Research has shown that single parents are one of the most likely groups not to have a will and the SWW is keen to change this.  The SWW is offering single parents throughout the UK a chance to have their will written at a greatly reduced cost in the hope it will make them think about their children’s future and ensure, should anything happen to them, their children’s’ welfare is assured and that they would be entrusted to the person that they want to care for them, instead of leaving it to chance.”

SWW Director General, Brian McMillan, said: “As parents with young children most of us never think about dying but sadly not all parents live long enough to see their children grow up. For single parents particularly, a will is the most important thing you can do for your children to ensure that guardianship and trusts are put in place should the unthinkable happen before your child is 18.

Throughout the month of January, SWW members across the country will be offering to write a single parent’s will for a fixed fee of £35 regardless of circumstances.

The SWW has more than 1,700 members across the UK, all of whom are bound by the Society’s code of conduct and who carry professional indemnity insurance.

For further information about this initiative in the Oxfordshire area please contact the Gail Church on 01869 244329 or email gail@bicesterwills.co.uk

Property Ownership

Property Ownership
Geoff Boycott out for a Duck!!

Geoff Boycott hit the headlines for a very different reason other than cricket last month. He is suing lawyers for compensation over a property deal involving a house in the millionaires’ resort of Sandbanks, Dorset.
In 1996, he bought a house for his “friend and confidante” Anne Wyatt.  Mr Boycott told the court he allowed Mrs Wyatt to live in the house rent-free, for the course of her lifetime. They were listed on the deeds as joint tenants.
But when Mrs Wyatt died in 2009, aged 82, her half of the house went to her estate instead of to Mr Boycott. To Geoff’s “huge surprise”, he discovered that Mrs Wyatt had changed the agreement in 2007 to“tenants in common” so that she could leave her share of the property to her heirs.
Property ownership is always a difficult one for clients to understand many do not even know there are two different ways to own property and that if owned as joint tenants i.e. the property automatically goes to the survivor on death, it can easily be changed to tenants in common by a simple Deed of Variation without having to seek the permission of the other party.
Now Mr Boycott is seeking a sum equal to half the value of the house, he said he had never been advised that Mrs Wyatt could “sever” their agreement in such a way. “If I had known either one of us could do that, I wouldn’t have gone ahead,” he said.
He claimed that if lawyers had done their job properly when drawing up the original agreement, the property would have become his outright upon her death. Expressing his frustration with legal jargon, he said to Mr Justice Vos: “Us ordinary people are meant to get a fair deal from the law. How are ordinary people expected to understand when it’s double-Dutch like this?
He described the idea of joint tenancies as “ridiculous”.

This highlights the need for people to seek professional advice when wanting to bequeath property in their Will and to explore the implications of what they are doing. 

The Threat Posed by Long Term Care Fees
In the UK nearly a million people were living in nursing, residential or long term hospital care in 2005. The cost of caring for the growing army of pensioners is predicted to soar to nearly £30 billion by the year 2030. Women have a one-in-four chance of needing long term care, and men a one-in-six chance.
 Whilst the government will pay those costs relating to nursing or medical care (the time spent by a nurse with the patient etc), the individual is liable for the costs of residential and personal care, often called social care, which is means-tested.
 If you have assets up to £23,250 you have to pay a contribution to social care costs. If you have assets over £23,250, you have to pay all social care costs!
These costs are likely to amount to £20,000 - £50,000 per year or more. However, the family home will be disregarded as part of that person's assets if it is occupied by a partner or other qualifying person, which means that the local authority will not include the value of the house when assessing the person's ability to pay care fees.
 If a person has to go into care, then under the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983, local authorities can charge residential care fees to (ie run up a bill against) that person's home. After that person's death, the local authority would normally expect the person's representatives to sell the property to pay the care costs. Furthermore, as a last resort a local authority can sell the deceased's property - if it obtains a court order - in order to meet the charge (or bill).
Your home could be under real threat if you have to go into care and your partner has already passed away. Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow estimated that 70,000 homes are sold each year (200 per day) to pay for care fees, meaning that the relatives of those people will not now be able to inherit the family home or the proceeds from the sale of the property.
In effect, if one of you dies and the surviving partner has to go into care, this can amount to a 100% tax on your estate above £23,250.
Therefore, to do nothing could be the equivalent of bequeathing your home to the local authority rather than to your family. 

There could be a Solution 

 The Property Protection Trust Will is particularly suitable for married, unmarried and same sex couples (who own their home) in the following circumstances: 
 

• Mature couples concerned about losing their home to pay for care fees  
• Couples where one or both partners have children from previous relationships
• Couples who individually wish to ensure the inheritance of their children (or others) without forcing their partner to sell their home
• Couples where there is a significant age difference between partners

Contact me for more information or let me know if you would like a fact sheet gail@bicesterwills.co.uk
 

Holiday Checklist

Sun Glasses r
Suntan Lotionr
Bikinir
Travel Insurancer
Willr

I always ask my client's "What prompted you to decide to sort your Will out now?" The answer to this gives me quite an insight into their mindset at that time.  Often the prompt to getting their affairs in order is travel.

• One partner travels with work a lot
• Couple going away without the kids
• Family all flying together

These trips sometimes make us aware of our own mortality.

If one partner travels abroad a lot on business it makes sense to make sure the other partner will inherit if the traveller dies.  Dying without a Will, especially if you are not married, can result in an administration nightmare and assets not necessarily going to the people you want them to. Who needs this at such an emotional and traumatic time. The solution - make a Will now.

A romantic city break often leads to parents worrying about getting killed in an accident whilst away and not knowing who'll look after the children.  Without a Will which appoints Guardians Social Services  will decide who gets parental responsibility for your children.  Their decision could be a million miles away from what you would want. The solution - make a Will now.

Going on a family Summer holiday all flying together can lead to worrying about the plane crashing and who will inherit your hard earned assets if all the immediate family dies together.  Without a Will the laws of intestacy take over meaning assets could pass back to your parents or across to your brothers and sisters.  This might not be what you want.  The solution - make a Will now.

So I should see a rush of people in the Summer months sorting our their affairs before jetting off to exotic places.  But I don't. Why?

Could it be that those worries disappear as soon as you get back home until you start planning your next trip. Or do you feel you just don't have the time once you are back in your normal routine?

Remove one worry from the "things to think about before I go away" list.  Sort your Will out now.

Worried its a long drawn our process?  It's not - A couple of hours of your time now talking about your wishes with me will make sure things are in order and give you peace of mind when you next go on holiday and give you more thinking time for more exciting things like, how blue will the sea be or will 6 bikinis be enough!!

Free Will Advice Clinic - Brackley 28th of September

I will be at Brackley Information Bureau on 28th of Septmber from 2pm till 5pm to answer all your questions about Wills. For example who gets what on death? Who will look after your children? How can you plan for potential Inheritance Tax? Come and see me and ask me those questions that have been worrying you.

September's News

This month's Newsletter  http://eepurl.com/fDxQU

How a Charity Legacy could save your IHT
5 Reasons you need a Will
5 Reasons to use Bicester Wills
Newtworking dates for your diary

Wednesday Breakfast Club - Guest Day 7th of September

Are you looking for a chance to meet other business people to network with?

Are you looking to join a proactive, vibrant and friendly group who want to share contacts, ideas and work together?

If you answered YES to these questions then why not come along to the Bicester Wednesday Breakfast Club on 7th of September when we will be holding our guest day.

We meet at the Littlebury Hotel in Bicester at 7.15am till about 9.00am and on the 7th of September we are hosting a guest meeting for people to come along and see for themselves what it's all about.  At this meeting Richard Clapham from the Best of Bicester will be doing a short 10 minute presentation on Marketing strategies.  All you have to do is let me know you are coming along and on the day be prepared to pay £10 for a delicious cooked breakfast.

Contact me for more info or to let me know you will be coming along.