1. Planning for the future

2. Introduction
Powers of Attorney
2. Wills
3. Probate

3. What is a Power of Attorney?
General POA
Only valid whilst donor retains mental capacity
EPAs
2007 cut off date
Must be registered at such time as donor has lost or is beginning to lose mental capacity
Can be used prior to registration, at the discretion of each organisation
LPAs
Property and financial affairs
Health and Welfare
Must be registered prior to use

4. What is involved? The donor must decide:
Attorneys (can be more than one and can also name replacements)
Whether they act jointly or jointly and severally
Who to notify
Preferences and instructions
For the health and welfare LPA, whether or not they wish their attorneys to be able to give or refuse consent to life sustaining treatment
Who will act as independent certificate provider
Whether to register immediately

5. Timescales
Like an insurance policy, a power of attorney should be put in place as soon as possible!
Ideally, LPAs should also be registered immediately.
Statutory 3 week notice period but it actually takes longer – Government website currently stating 8-10 weeks.

6. How much does it cost?
Forms can be obtained for free by phone or internet.
Registration fee is £110 per LPA but will be £82 from 1/4/17.
Fee exemptions based on benefits or remission based on income.

7. Who needs a Will?
Everyone over the age of 18, regardless of how much money you have!
Having a will can:
reduce the burden on your loved ones
ensure your wishes are followed
enable things to be dealt with more easily and quickly
1 in 3 people in the UK do not have a will and over half of all people over the age of 45 do not have a will.

8. Things to consider Executors – who will sort everything out for you
Guardians (if applicable)
Funeral wishes – burial or cremation and a religious or non-religious funeral service
Specific gifts
Cash gifts
Residual legacies – who you wish your estate to pass to
Pets (if applicable)
If you have a will, remember to review it regularly!

9. Property protection trusts
Two ways of jointly owning a property: joint tenants or tenants in common.
Joint tenants – if either person dies, the whole property passes to the survivor, regardless of the contents of their will.
Tenants in common – both people can leave their share of the property in accordance with the terms of their own will.
For estate planning purposes, this means that you can provide for a spouse or partner during their lifetime as well as providing an inheritance to pass on to other family members.

10. What happens without a will?
Your estate will be dealt with in accordance with the intestacy rules.
A spouse does not automatically inherit the whole estate, and an unmarried partner will not be entitled to anything.
If you pass away without leaving a spouse or children your estate could end up passing to long lost relatives who you have had no contact with.
In many cases where there is no will your estate will have to pay someone to professionally prepare a family tree to work out exactly who is entitled to what.

11. What is probate?
A personal representative has the responsibility of dealing with the estate:
Collecting in assets and all monies due to the estate
Paying funeral expenses and all other liabilities
Distributing gifts and legacies and making final distribution
If the person left a will, executors will usually require a ‘Grant of Probate’ – a court order issued by the Probate Registry once any IHT has been paid and an oath has been sworn.
If there was no will, the people entitled to administer the estate are called administrators and will require a
‘Grant of Letters of Administration.

12. The probate fee
The current fee is £155 is submitted by a solicitor or £215 for a personal application.
From May, the value of an estate for which no fee is payable is due to rise from £5,000 to £50,000.
However, there will then be a scaled fee:
£300 for estates valued between £50,000 and £300,000
£1,000 for estates valued between £300,000 and £500,000
£4,000 for estates valued between £500,000 and £1million
And so on up to a maximum of £20,000 for estates valued at more than £2million

13. Any questions?