Will Case Study

This case study looks at the benefits that have come from talking to an LR Estate Planning adviser before making a will. The identities of the clients have been changed, but the processes and steps taken are an accurate representation of how talking to a professional before making a will has benefited these clients. Having the correct documents in place has given them the peace of mind of knowing that whatever the future holds their wishes have been clearly set down and they will be carried out in the way they intended.

Background:

Mr Simon and Mrs Gillian Jones, came to LR Connections looking for help to organise their estate. They were introduced to LR Estate Planning, where they were supported through every step of the journey.

After the birth of their first and only grandchild, Emily, Simon (62) and his wife Gillian (60) decided it was time to look at their estate, although we would usually recommend going through this process far earlier. Simon had recently reduced his working hours after a recent health scare, and Gillian had just taken early retirement to spend more time with the grandchildren. They had both decided it was time to look beyond the foreseeable future and make sure that they had set the foundations to secure their granddaughter’s future.

Simon and Gillian agreed that they wanted all proceeds of their estate to go to looking after their new born granddaughter. They felt that the estate should naturally fall to their only daughter, Amy, in order that she could use it as she saw fit to help look after Emily, once the couple had both passed away.

How LR Estate Planning helped:

An appointment was made with the Jones’s at a convenient place and time for them. One of our advisers came to their home and went through the whole case. The adviser looked at how much money was in the estate and the general health of both clients, and the adviser learned that the daughter was financially stable. Concerns were raised that by passing the Jones’s estate to their daughter Amy, she could liable to pay inheritance tax, which would increase the value of her estate so that there would be a tax liability eating into the Jones’s estate, affecting what they would ultimately be able to leave their new grandchild Emily.

The adviser suggested that they use a family trust to hold the money for the grandchild, meaning that the tax would be paid only once. If the family trust option was not taken up, the money would be passed down to Amy, leaving the money in her estate, which would cause Amy to enter a higher tax bracket. And when Amy passed the money down to Emily, it would mean Amy’s estate would be taxed twice – once when the couple passed way and again after Amy’s death, because the money would be calculated as a part of her estate. This would have meant there would be very little left of the Jones’s estate that they wanted to go to Emily as per their original intention.

The adviser explained that using trusts meant that Simon and Gillian could dictate what they would like the money to be spent on (for example, education or property) and so their estate would be used in a way that they felt to be most appropriate.

What happened next:

After the couple gave the authority to the adviser and explained their estate including what assets they had, the adviser was then able to conduct the research to find out the best way to pass on the Jones’s assets in the most tax-efficient way.