Private Client

At AWB Charlesworth we have a specialist team of private client lawyers who advise clients in relation to Wills, the formation and administration of trusts, planning for and dealing with issues of incapacity, the administration of estates and inheritance tax planning. We can also provide advice when disputes arise, for example in relation to the validity of Wills or the administration of trusts.

Our experienced team include full members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the Law Society Probate Section and an associate member of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS).

Further information about our services and our key contacts can be found by exploring the links to the left of this page.

For help and advice with all matters relating to Wills, Trust & Probate please contact:

Review our recent Wills, Trusts and Probate client testimonials here.

Wills

Making a Will is one of the most important legal decisions you make in your lifetime. it is an opportunity to provide clarity about your wishes and to ensure that you provide for your chosen beneficiaries.

Wills deal with many important matters. For example, those with minor children may wish to appoint guardians. If you have young or vulnerable beneficiaries the provisions of the Will can be drafted with a view to ensuring that your beneficiaries receive their inheritance at the right time and in the right circumstances. Further, Wills can be an essential part of an inheritance tax planning strategy.

Whilst we prepare Wills for clients we are also happy to comprehensively review existing Wills and to ensure that those Wills are fit for purpose. Having an out of date Will can sometimes be more problematic than not having a Will in place at all. Further, our experience in dealing with disputed Will cases allows us to pre-empt many problems and to plan for them at an early stage to reduce the risk of disputes arising after death.

Wills Questionnaire:

For help and advice with all matters relating to Wills, Trust & Probate please contact:

Review our recent Wills, Trusts and Probate client testimonials here.

Trusts

Put simply, a trust involves one or more persons (a trustee or trustees) holding assets for the owner or owners of those assets ( a beneficiary or beneficiaries). Contrary to popular belief, trustees and beneficiaries can often be the same people.

Trusts can be created by an express trust deed (sometimes called a settlement), on death by a Will or even, in some cases, they can automatically arise by law with or without being created by documents.

Trusts can be relatively straightforward, for example a trustee holding an asset for a beneficiary who can ask for the asset to be transferred to them at any time (called a bare trust). Some trusts provide for an individual beneficiary to enjoy the use of assets for their lifetime without that beneficiary owning those assets (called a life interest trust). There can be other trust arrangements where there may be numerous beneficiaries and the trustees have a right to decide which of the beneficiaries receive provision from the trust from time to time (called discretionary trusts). HM Revenue & Customs’ treatment of trusts for income, capital gains and inheritance tax purposes varies and depends upon the type and particular terms of each trust.

Some charities have a trust-based legal structure. We provide advice to charities and further information can be found here.

Trusts can be useful. However, their usefulness needs to be judged against complexity and expense. There follows a non-exhaustive list of the types of circumstances where the use of trusts may be appropriate:-

• • Where the beneficiary is at risk of financial claims arising from the breakdown of a relationship or as a result of bankruptcy or business failure. Trusts can be used to reduce the risk of third parties having a claim on the assets through their claim against the beneficiary.

• • Where a beneficiary is disabled or in receipt of means-tested benefits and provision needs to be made for them in a manner which does not affect their entitlement to certain benefits or where their disability is such that they could not manage the assets themselves.

• • Where a beneficiary is young or has poor money management skills. A trust could be used to ensure that the funds are made available to them for appropriate expenditure at an appropriate time.

• • Where beneficiaries have significant wealth and giving them further assets outright will only increase that wealth. Trusts can allow assets to be held so that they are available for those beneficiaries, for example if their circumstances change, but in a manner in which the assets will not belong to the beneficiaries for inheritance tax purposes.

Our experienced team regularly advise on the creation, administration, breaking and restructuring of trust arrangements. We provide advice to trustees as to their duties and beneficiaries as to their rights. Further, if things go wrong, we can offer advice when disputes arise.

For help and advice on trusts please contact:

Review our recent Wills, Trusts and Probate client testimonials here.

Powers of Attorney

Powers of Attorney are documents that allow others (called donees) to make decisions on behalf of others (called donors). Powers of Attorney take many forms. The most common that are encountered are:

• Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA’s)
• Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA’s)
• General Powers of Attorney
• Specific Powers of Attorney and
• Trustee Powers

EPA’s and LPA’s are intended to apply in the event of the donor becoming incapable of making their own decisions in the future. If worded correctly, they can be used where the donor is not incapable, for example as a result of physical illness. Whilst EPA’s could not be created after 1 October 2007 those executed before then remain valid. EPA’s were replaced by LPA’s.

EPA’s relate solely to financial matters. If the donor becomes incapable or is becoming incapable of managing their own affairs the EPA has to be registered with a government department called the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before it can continue to be used fully. Once registered, the EPA remains in operation despite the donor not being capable of managing their own affairs.

LPA’s can deal with both financial matters but also issues regarding health and welfare matters. Unlike with EPA’s, LPA’s have to be registered with the OPG before they are recognised as legally valid. This is even if the donor is mentally capable. Whilst LPA’s in relation to financial matters are those most commonly created now, LPA’s for health and welfare matter should always be considered.

General Powers of Attorney are useful in some circumstances. However, unlike EPA’s and LPA’s, if the donor should lose capacity a General Power becomes invalid automatically. Accordingly, they are useful for those who are temporarily unable to manage their own affairs despite being mentally capable. For example , if the donor is going abroad and will not be contactable or is physically incapable of dealing with matters during a hospital stay.

Specific Powers of Attorney are, as the name suggests, Powers of Attorney by which the donor authorises the donee to deal with a certain specific matter. For example, to sell a particular house or shareholding. As with general powers, these become invalid automatically if the donor becomes mentally incapable.

Trustee Powers can be given by trustees of trusts and even a personal representative of a deceased persons estate (like an executor administrator) to allow others to execute transactions for them in that capacity.  If a trustee or personal representative is away abroad for example it would allow the trust or estate to be administered in their absence.

Our experienced team deal with the creation and, where applicable, the registration of all types of Powers of Attorney. We can also advise donors and donees as to their rights and responsibilities.

Click below to download our Power of Attorney document:

For help and advice with all matters relating to Powers of Attorney please contact:

Review our recent Wills, Trusts and Probate client testimonials here.

Probate & Estate Administration

Sorting out the financial affairs of a person who has died can be a burden, especially when that person may have been a loved on. AWB Charlesworth Solicitors will help share this burden, offering a combination of sensitive practical support and professional expertise.

We can assist with, or obtain on your behalf, a Grant of Probate when a Will has been left. We advise upon the steps to be taken once Probate has been obtained to ensure that the administration of the estate is conducted correctly and the beneficiaries receive their due entitlement.

Where there is no Will and a person dies intestate, we can assist with, or obtain on your behalf, a Grant of Letters of Administration. In situations like this there are rules that govern who benefits and in what amounts. We can assist the person who has obtained the Grant of Letters of Administration, known as the Administrator, to identify and locate the beneficiaries. We can also advise upon the steps to be taken to ensure that no personal liability is placed upon the Administrator. In these ways the estate can be safely distributed, again with the beneficiaries receiving their due entitlement.

Problems can arise following someone’s death. The Will may be missing, the Will may be out of date, the assets of the estate may include assets which are difficult to manage like a business or there may be differences of opinion about how best to deal with the estate. We can assist with complex cases like this. Further, should a dispute arise, we can provide advice with a view to resolving the dispute.

For help and advice with all matters relating to probate and estate administration, please contact:

Review our recent Wills, Trusts and Probate client testimonials here.

Inheritance Tax Planning

We regularly assist clients with regards to mitigating their inheritance tax liabilities.

Individuals have inheritance tax allowances of £325,000 which are reduced by certain types of gift made in the seven years prior to death or beyond in certain circumstances.   Married couples and those in civil partnerships can now transfer allowances to one another on death meaning that qualifying couples have allowances of up to £650,000 provided the relevant conditions are met.

We advise clients about how they can mitigate their inheritance tax liability. This can be through substantial planning like the creation of trusts, the making of lifetime gifts and also through restructuring inheritances received from the generation above. We also advise those with business or farming interests with regards to maximising the benefit of the valuable inheritance tax reliefs which are available to them.

There are also less complicated ways of mitigating inheritance tax problems, for example, by the purchase of life insurance and for life insurance policies to be written in trust where possible. Following recent changes in the law relating to pensions these have become a more attractive way of mitigating inheritance tax liabilities. Matters such as this often involve the input of a financial adviser and we work with clients’ existing advisers where appropriate to ensure that a suitable plan is in place.

For more information on inheritance tax planning please contact:

Review our recent Wills, Trusts and Probate client testimonials here.

Wills & Trusts Disputes

Disputes about the estates of deceased persons and the administration of trusts are becoming more common. Disputes of this type are subject to special rules and procedures and, in our view, require the input of lawyers with the requisite experience of the complex legal rules which apply. We often receive instructions in relation to these types of disputes as a result of recommendations from other lawyers.

 The types of cases we deal with include the following:

• Claims that Wills are not valid. These claims are often made on the basis that the person making the Will did not have the required degree of capacity when the Will was made, that they didn’t approve of the Will when it was signed, they were unduly influenced into making the Will or that the Will is not valid as a result of non-compliance with the requisite legal formalities.

• Claims that Wills do not represent the true wishes of the deceased person. These types of cases can often involve arguments about the interpretation of specific clauses in the Will or questions about whether the Will accurately records the instructions of the deceased person and whether or not the Will should be rectified by the Courts.

• Claims that a Will or even a lack of a Will fails to make reasonable financial provision for certain categories of person. These types of cases involve claims by specified categories of people against the estate of a deceased person under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975.

• Claims against executors for a failure to administer an estate properly (sometimes called devastavit), for example putting their own interests before those of the beneficiaries, failing to insure assets of the estate leading to loss or failing to deal with the assets in a timely manner.

• Claims against trustees or former trustees of trusts for breaches of trust or neglect of duty.

• Defence of executors and/or trustees facing criticism or court action.

We have substantial experience of resolving these types of dispute which, were required, have involved Court proceedings. We try and resolve matters for our clients with Court proceedings being regarded very much as a last resort. Resolution can often be achieved through exchange of correspondence, face to face meetings or through mediation. Further, our substantial experience of the non-contentious aspects of private law leaves us well placed to come up with solutions to resolve disputes which many non-specialist litigation lawyers may not consider.

For help and advice with all matters relating to Wills &Trusts Disputes please contact:

Review our recent Wills, Trusts and Probate client testimonials here.