8 May 2024
Dying Matters Week – Let’s talk about death and Wills
It is fair to say that we as a society are not comfortable discussing death. It is daunting – you have to think about Wills, funerals, organ donations, Lasting Powers of Attorney, and care planning. You cannot escape death, but you can ensure your plans are in place. Unnerving as it is, the alternative to not talking, thinking and planning is problems and heartache for loved ones and arguments over property, assets and funerals. Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney need to discussed more openly and acted upon.
7 December 2023
Probate: Missing or unknown beneficiaries – what should executors do?
An executor’s legal duty is to distribute the estate according to the terms of the will. This sounds straightforward, but what happens if one of the beneficiaries is unknown or missing?
23 November 2023
Probate: What to do when someone dies
Death, as inevitable as it is, still leaves many of us totally unprepared for its effects. This blog looks at some of the practicalities that need to be dealt with as soon as possible when a family member or friend dies.
6 September 2023
Death of a founder = failure of the business?
Death is a traumatic event for the deceased’s family, friends and those involved in their business. The untimely death of business owner or founder can leave a business in shambles. Combined with a lack of succession planning or inadequate planning this can have significant unintended repercussions. Recent studies suggest that a founding entrepreneur’s death wipes out, on average, 60% of a firm’s sales and cuts jobs by roughly 17%. Also, these companies have a 20% lower survival rate two years after the founder’s death compared to similar firms where the entrepreneur is still alive. A recent Legal & General survey which found that 59% of businesses believed that they would have to stop trading in less than a year after the death or critical illness of a key individual.
10 July 2023
Intestacy: increase in the statutory legacy
On 5 July 2023, the UK government confirmed that the statutory legacy, the amount which a surviving spouse or civil partner (for simplicity here we will refer to both as ‘Spouse’) is entitled to receive in England and Wales where a person dies intestate (without a valid Will) and leaves children, will be increased.
