Making a Will is the only way to ensure that your wishes are carried out after your death. If you have not made, or do not have a valid Will, your property will pass according to the Rules of Intestacy. These rules determine who inherits what based on family connections. The rules do not take into account the closeness of your relationships, or who is most in need. Further, it is likely the administration of your estate would take longer to finalise than if you had made a Will. During this time your beneficiaries may not be able to draw any money from your estate and it can lead to arguments and distress for your relatives.

Whilst your Will does not have to be prepared by a professional, you should get advice if your Will is not straightforward, for example –

• You share a property with someone who is not your husband, wife, or civil partner

• You want to leave money or property to a dependant who cannot care for themselves

• You have family members who may make a claim on your estate, such as a second spouse or children from another marriage

• Your permanent home is outside the UK

• You have property overseas

• You have a business

• Your estate is liable to inheritance tax

• You are concerned about care fees

Your Will should set out:

• Who is going to sort out your estate and carry out your wishes after your death (your executor)

• Who should look after any children under 18 (your guardian)

• Who you want to benefit from your estate (your beneficiaries)

• What happens if any of the people named above die before you

You can also appoint someone to look after your pets, leave gifts of personal possessions or sums of money, include trusts for disabled or vulnerable members of your family, or trusts of property. Many people also state their funeral wishes in their Will.

If you have already made a Will, I recommend that you review it regularly to ensure it meets your current circumstances. If you have a homemade Will or have any doubts over whether your existing Will meets your current wishes, I am happy to review it free of charge. View my recent blog here about this.

A Power of Attorney is a document that allows a person (the 'donor') to appoint one or more trusted individuals (the 'attorney') to make decisions on their behalf.

There are four different types of Power of Attorney:

• Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney

• Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney

• Enduring Power of Attorney

• General Power of Attorney

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA’s)

By setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), the donor gives the attorney the legal right to deal with his or her affairs, if he/she is unable to manage themselves, or if the donor later becomes mentally incapacitated.

The Property and Financial Affairs LPA enables the attorney to deal with the donor’s day-to-day finances, manage investments, pay bills and essentially anything that a donor could have done for themselves (subject to any restrictions imposed by the donor).

The Health and Welfare LPA enables the attorney to make decisions regarding care and treatment and can also give the attorney the authority to give or refuse consent to life sustaining treatment.

For the LPA’s to be valid they must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).

If you should have a business, then you should consider making a business LPA. Choosing who to appoint is an important decision that should be carefully thought out and should be someone who is suitably qualified to take over your business management functions with minimal disruption. Read more about this here in my blog.

Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA)

Although it is not possible to prepare new EPAs now, existing documents are still valid (provided they were executed correctly). An EPA allowed a donor to appoint an attorney to assist with their property and financial affairs only. If the donor becomes mentally incapacitated, then the EPA needs to be registered at the OPG.

If you have an existing EPA and would like to check that it has been executed correctly and still valid, please get in touch and arrange a free review meeting.

If you are an attorney that feels the time has come to register the EPA, then I can deal with the registration on your behalf.

General Power of Attorney (GPA)

A GPA is ideally suited for situations where the donor needs to give certain rights to an attorney to deal with his/her property for a limited time, such as when he/she is unwell, recovering from an injury, travelling abroad. A GPA is also known as an Ordinary Power of Attorney. A GPA ends if the donor revokes it or loses mental capacity.

If somebody does not have any form of Powers of Attorney and becomes incapable of managing their affairs, it is likely that an application to the Court of Protection for a Deputy Order will be necessary. Deputy orders are legal instruments giving one or more people (the ‘deputy’ or ‘deputies’) authority to make decisions for the person who lacks ‘mental capacity’. This is a very expensive, time consuming and drawn-out application.