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15% off all Wills and Lasting Power of Attorney Services. SingleBasic Will now £148.75 Couple Basic Will now £240.00 Single Trust Will now £229.50 Couple Trust Will now £297.50 Lasting Power of Attorney now £255.00 per person plus OPG fees Lifetime Trusts have 10% off. Single now £1,620.00 Couple now £2,250.00

A guardian is a person who you can appoint to care for your children in the event you die before they turn 18. The guardian is given parental responsibility for your children, which means they have the same rights as you when it comes to your child's education, health, and welfare.  Many people tell me they do not need a will as they have nothing to leave. My response is always the same. It does not matter how big or small your estate is if you have young children they are your most important assets you can leave behind. I always ask them what will happen with their young children and who will look after them if they were no longer here. One of the most important features of a will is the ability to name a guardian for your children. It is the only way you have a say in who will take care of them when you can’t. Without a will it will be up to the courts and social services who your children will live with. Appointing a guardian in your will can: Provide peace of mind that the children will be cared for by someone they approve of  Avoid leaving the decision of who will care for the children to the courts  When choosing a guardian, parents should consider things like: Whether the guardian is known to the children Where the children will live Whether the guardian has the financial ability to raise the children Whether the guardian has similar beliefs and morals to the parents  Parents can appoint up to four guardians in their will, but many prefer to appoint two, usually a couple. Price for a Basic Will is £150.00 the benefits of naming a guardian can be priceless for your peace of mind and ensuring your children's future. If you want to discuss a guardian in more detail contact me: Telephone: 07761 332 776 Email: kats-wills-and-estate-planning@outlook.com

Estate: Your estate is the net worth of everything you own at the time of your death after any debts you owe has been paid off.  This will include your personal possessions, property, land, money, shares, dividends, life insurance and pensions. This can then be distributed as decided by you if you have a valid will in place when you die.  If you die without a valid will this will be distributed under intestacy rules. Executor: An Executor is the person you appoint to distribute your estate on your behalf when you have died.  This would usually be a friend or a relative of yours or alternatively it may be a probate company you have chosen to use.  The executor can be a beneficiary, but this is not always the case. I would recommend you discuss with the person you are choosing to be your executor to ensure that they are happy to act on your behalf.  They will have the responsibility of gathering all of your assets paying off your debts and distributing the estate as directed by you in your will.

Dependants: This is a person who depends on you for financial purposes.  This is usually a spouse, ex-spouse or a child. It is important when writing a will that you consider any dependants and include them in the will.  If you have a reason why you are leaving someone out of the will it is important to mention this in the will.  You can explain the reason in the will or in additional document known as a Letter of Wishes.  If you do not give consideration to someone and they believe they should be included they may have a case to contest the will.  This is likely to cause complications for your loved ones and may make it harder for them to deal with losing you if they have to deal with an ongoing court battle.

Intestacy rules state that if you are married or in a civil partnership and your estate is less than £322 000 then your spouse or civil partner will receive the whole estate. If your estate is worth more than £322 000 then your spouse or civil partner all of your personal possessions, the first £322,000 and 50% of any excess over and above the £322 000. The remaining 50% excess would be divided equally between any children you have. If you do not have any children the whole estate would be inherited by your spouse or civil partner. If you are not married or in a civil partnership then your estate will be divided in equal shares between family members ranked in the following categories: Your Children including illegitimate and adopted children but does not include step-children Their descendants if your children have passed before you Your Parents Your Siblings Their descendants if your siblings have passed before you. Your Grandparents Your Aunts and Uncles If any relatives are found in one of the categories then the whole estate will be divided among the members of that category whether there is 1 member or 100 members. Once a member is found in one category then no one from any of the lower categories will receive any inheritance. If no relatives are found in any of the categories then the whole estate will pass to the Crown.

If you die without a valid will in place then you will be classed as having died intestate.  This will result in the Rules of Intestacy being applied to your estate. Watch out for my blog on intestacy rules coming soon for more information.  You will not have any say about who inherits or how much they get nor will you have any say in who will manage your estate and divide it up, who will be trustees looking after any part of the estate that is being held on trust or who will look after any minor children you may leave behind. I know for certain I want to be making all of the decisions about what happens to my estate, who looks after any trusts and who looks after my children.  That is why I have a valid will in place to make sure this happens.  I do not want these decisions to be left in the hands of statutory law when I die since I have the option to make these decisions while I am alive.  If you want to make these decisions for yourself while you are alive then contact me today to make an appointment or ask for further information.  Do not put off to tomorrow what you can do today.

Due to personal family experience with a child who has down syndrome I will use this month to raise awareness in my personal life and business life. I will upload regular facts throughout the month about down syndrome.

Assets: Assets are things owned by the person creating the will.  This includes personal possessions, land, property, motor vehicles, pensions, life insurance, shares and bank accounts. Administrator: An Administrator is the person the court appoints to distribute an estate of a person who dies without a valid will in place.  This usually happens when a person applies for letters of administration.  The deceased person has no say over who this would be. Attorney: An attorney is the person who is named to make decisions on your behalf under a Lasting Power of Attorney document. Advice: Anyone can write a will themselves if they wanted to. However, when you speak to a professional either face to face or remotely we will look at the bigger picture and offer you tailored advice about Estate Planning as a whole. At Kat's Wills and Estate Planning I offer advice on all Estate Planning matters. This includes: A Professional Will Discretionary Trusts Vulnerable Persons Trusts Life Interest Trusts Lasting Powers of Attorney Inheritance Tax Property Protection Trusts Severance of Tenancy It is important when considering Estate Planning you speak to a Professional. There are many companies out there offering a cheap will but this is non-advised and solely based on what you put into their questionnaire. If you do not have the confidence and knowledge to draft your will yourself then these firms are not the best route for you. For further information or advice just get in touch with me at: kats-wills-and-estate-planning@outlook.com 07761 332 776

Beneficiary: A beneficiary is a person named in a will to receive part or all of the deceased’s estate.  This could be anyone you wish it to be such as a family member, friend or a charity.

Codicil: A codicil is a legally written document that modifies, changes or revokes part of an earlier will.  This will often be used if a person already has a will but wants to make a reasonably small amendment to it.  Instead of writing a new will they may create an additional document to be stored with the original will.  The codicil would override the clause in the original will that it refers to. Common Misconceptions About Wills: I often hear people saying they don’t need a will for various reasons including “they are too young” or “Wills are too expensive” or “everything will go to my family anyway”. My aim at Kat’s Wills is to help dispel these misconceptions.  You are able to get a professionally drafted single basic will for £150.00 and joint basic will for £200.00.  A professionally drafted single trust will would be £230.00 and joint trust wills would be £300.00.  These prices are highly competitive within the will writing and estate planning market and they are a fraction of the cost charged by a solicitor for the same quality of work. For further information please look at my guides on my website or contact me directly to discuss.