Pro-active, sensitive guidance to help you plan for the future and ensure that your family are protected
Planning for the future is crucial, but we often leave it too late. Many people do not create a Will because they feel they do not have significant assets or that it’s too expensive. However, not planning for the future can create difficulties for your family at an already distressing time and may result in your estate not being distributed as you would like.
At Rowlinsons Solicitors, our friendly and highly knowledgeable team appreciate that making a Will can be a sensitive matter. We will take time to understand your concerns and circumstances with a view to providing straightforward and practical guidance. This is with the objective of ensuring that your wishes are clearly and effectively set out whilst minimising the risk of any future issues for your loved ones.
As well as helping you with the writing of your Will, we can also assist with other related matters, including updating an existing Will and providing guidance on gifts, trusts and Inheritance Tax planning. At the same time as writing a Will we also find that many of our clients want to make a Lasting Power of Attorney and we can also advise on the same.
We have been helping people local people in Cheshire with their Wills for many years and now regularly work with clients in North Wales, Merseyside and Manchester, as well as a growing number of people from further afield in England and Wales.
Our clients include everyone from those with limited assets looking for peace of mind to those with high value and complex assets who need specialist legal support and estate planning advice.
To make an appointment please call 01928 735 333 or click here for a call back.
Making a Will
Whether this is the first time you have made a Will or you need to make a new Will due to a change of circumstances, we can help you with issues including:
- Drafting your Will and ensuring your estate is distributed in accordance with your wishes
- Choosing your Executors
- Valuing your estate and advising on Inheritance Tax
- Providing instructions for your funeral
- Making a Lasting Power of Attorney
Updating your Will
If you have an existing Will, but your wishes or circumstances have changed, we can advise you on your options, including:
- The effects of your existing Will
- The implications of any changes you wish to make to your Will
- Modifying your existing Will with a legally-binding codicil
- Making a new Will
Advice on gifts
Making gifts from your estate during your lifetime not only enables you to see the benefit whilst you are alive, but it can also potentially offer tax advantages. However, it is important that you take legal advice regarding these gifts.
We can advise on all types of lifetime gifts and related issues, including:
- Using your annual gifts allowance
- Wedding gifts & other tax-exempt giving
- Inheritance Tax implications of lifetime gifts (e.g. the ‘7-year rule’)
- Gifting your home to your children or others
Trusts & asset protection
A trust can potentially allow you to protect assets such as your home from Inheritance Tax or care home fees, whilst making sure your loved ones are protected at the relevant time. We can advise you on all of the legal implications that you need to consider, including:
- Setting up a trust in your Will
- Lifetime trusts
- Administering a Trust
- Tax-implications of trusts
Inheritance Tax advice
Inheritance Tax (IHT) can make a significant different to the value of the assets you leave to your loved ones, so it is important to understand the IHT rules and how the tax burden on your estate can potentially be minimised when you pass away. We can provide clear, effective advice on issues including:
- Using your nil-rate band effectively
- The transferable nil rate band and the residence nil rate band
- Using gifts & trusts to minimise your Inheritance Tax liability