Blog
FCA Publishes Findings on Sanctions Systems and Controls in Financial Firms
James Alleyne
17 January 2019
New Year’s resolutions for unmarried couples: make Wills, get married, better still, do both?
Over the years, I’ve encountered many couples in a relationship spanning 20 years or more, often with children together, who have never married nor have any intention of doing so. When challenged as to reasons for not marrying, there’s rarely expressed any aversion to marriage in principle. It’s just, “We’re happy as we are; we don’t need a piece of paper to prove the strength of our relationship”.
11 January 2019
10 good reasons why you should make a Will in your 20s
The New Year is the perfect time to make a Will. People in their 20s often think they do not need a Will, particularly if they are single and do not consider themselves to be particularly ‘well off’. Preparing a Will is not something you should delay. Here are 10 good reasons why you should make a Will now, regardless of your age.
18 December 2018
Inheritance Gifts, Hotchpot and Double Portions. Do children have a right to be treated equally?
Sibling concern over equal treatment can linger well into middle age and beyond; it reveals itself after a parent’s death or during their old age through arguments over who has had what and who’s going to get what. We’re not legally obliged to leave our estate to our children in equal shares or, indeed to leave them anything at all.
6 December 2018
Inheritance Tax - why do so many fall into the 'Gift With Reservation of Benefit' trap?
Saving Inheritance Tax (IHT) on death by making a gift and surviving by seven years is standard tax planning sanctioned by statute. However, if you make a gift but ‘reserve a benefit’ in the property given, it will still be brought into charge on death, regardless of how long you survive.
14 November 2018
New probate fees – stealth death tax for the middle classes
Despite overwhelming opposition, the government has set a date for a new stealth death ‘tax’ aimed at bereaved families.
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