Legal Resources and News

It is a sad fact of life today that many people find themselves estranged from one or more of their relatives, and when meeting clients to talk to them about their Wills my colleagues and I regularly face the situation where the person drawing up the Will advises us that they want to cut out one or more family member – often one of their children. 

There is no doubt that in the UK Inheritance Tax is not a universally popular tax.

Many taxpayers are unhappy that the wealth they have accumulated during their lifetimes will already have been taxed as it was earned, and there is a strong feeling that to tax assets twice is simply not fair.

We were quite shocked earlier this week to read that Denzil Lush has declared that he himself will never draw up a Lasting Power of Attorney.

Denzil Lush was the senior Judge in the Court of Protection for some 20 years (the Court of Protection is the Court in England and Wales which is responsible for financial and welfare matters for people who cannot make decisions themselves).

Many people aren’t aware that any existing Will they have will be automatically revoked on marriage, unless it was drafted in a specific way to prevent this from happening.  A lot of people make the incorrect assumption that because they are married, they don’t need a Will, thinking that all will pass to their spouse on their death.

I was interested to read this week that there is another new initiative to try and reform the laws of intestacy to include cohabitees.