Services

Will Writing

If you do not leave a Will, the law can decide who inherits your estate under the Law of Intestacy. This means your assets may not pass to your intended beneficiaries, and your dependants may not be fully protected. Let Bristol Heritage Wills & Probate help you prepare a legally binding document to ensure your wishes are carried out after you are gone.

Inheritance tax planning

If your estate is worth more than £325,000, anything in excess of that amount will be taxed at a rate of 40%. So if you leave £500,000 worth of assets, your liable estate will be £175,000, meaning a tax bill of £70,000. But we can show you a way to legally avoid paying it!

Lasting Powers of Attoney (LPAs)

LPAs allow you to name someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf should you lose capacity and be become unable to due to accident or illness. There are 2 types Health & Welfare and Property & Financial both need to be registered with the Office of Public Guardian to allow your attorneys to act for you.

Probate and Estate Administration

Before your estate can be distributed, the Executor must obtain a Grant of Probate. We can support your Executor in this process, organising formalities such as getting details of the estate’s assets and liabilities, getting formal valuations on any property or other particular valuables involved, and calculating the value of any shares.

Severance of Tenancy

If two people own a property together as ‘joint tenants’ and one of them dies, the deceased owner’s half automatically transfers to the surviving owner. If you would prefer your portion of a jointly owned property to pass into your Estate instead, to be distributed according to the instructions in your Will, you will need to sever your tenancy. We can help you do this by contacting the lender (if there is one) and the land registry on your behalf.

Trusts

A Trust enables you to leave money or property to one or more trustees, who then manage the fund for the benefit of an individual or group of individuals known as ‘beneficiaries’. Beneficiaries are often children, grandchildren or dependant/disabled relatives. We can help you set up a Trust so that your loved ones are protected until they come of age, or for their entire lifetime, as appropriate.