Protect Your Assets

Protect Your Assets

Some people may not have stacks of cash to leave to their beneficiaries, but your estate consists of various other forms of wealth, such as all your assets and any properties you own.

What is included in an estate when someone dies?

Assets that contribute to the value of your estate include:

• Money in a bank

• Property and land

• Jewellery

• Cars

• Shares

• Insurance pay-outs

• Any jointly-owned assets

At Quick Wills, we and our reputable partners can help you consider all sources of wealth when writing your will, giving you the opportunity to leave behind all of your valuable assets to your loved ones.

Even if you don’t have a significant amount of cash savings, your estate could still be worth a lot to your loved ones due to any personal and valuable collectables, antiques, jewellery, or cars you may have.

Adding up your assets may leave you surprised by the value of your estate, so be sure not to leave anything out of your will.

Our team provide various services to help you leave your beneficiaries the best inheritance, as it is important to us that your estate reaches your loved ones in full, rather than going to the government or Crown. For more information on how we can help you, give us a call today to speak to one of our friendly and experienced advisors, obligation-free.

Death benefits

It’s not only your wealth when you are alive that can be left in your will, as the value of your overall estate can be increased considerably by various life insurance policies you have in place and any benefits that payout in the event of your death.

You must plan for any income that may come as a result of your death, such as pension death benefits, death-in-service benefits, life insurance policies and mortgage protection policies.

At the time of writing your will, you should ensure that it is clear who you would like to receive the income of these policies, as they are often worth more than most other assets.

The process of valuing an estate can last from six to nine months and can take longer for more complex or larger estates. You are not required to value the estate immediately when someone dies, but there are deadlines if someone is required to pay inheritance tax.

Estate and inheritance tax

If a person’s estate owes inheritance tax, you are required to send inheritance tax forms within one year and begin paying tax within six months from the time of death.

We are on hand to help you and your family members with any queries regarding inheritance tax, as we know it can be pretty daunting and stressful at a time that is already difficult enough.

You must put plans in place to deal with inheritance tax prior to your death in order to ensure that your beneficiaries aren’t hit with fees that could decrease the value of your estate substantially.

There are certain ways in which you can legally avoid inheritance tax, which we are happy to explain to you and implement for you. We will help you make sure that your hard-earned estate goes to your loved ones, rather than Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

How to distribute your estate between your beneficiaries

How people distribute their estate varies with each individual, and it often depends on your personal situation when deciding which beneficiaries get what assets as an inheritance.

If you have children, you may want to distribute it between them all equally, which we can help you organise as part of your will.

However, depending on your circumstances, you may want to divide your estate in relation to their involvement in your life, whether they have any disabilities, or even their interests, etc.

How you leave your estate depends on how you personally define being ‘fair’. Perhaps one beneficiary handled all your finances and organised health care for you, whereas the others did less for you, which may influence you to leave more for that individual due to their time and effort.

It is entirely up to you, but we are on hand to guide you through the will-writing process, with our experienced partner solicitors available to provide advice as and when required.

For a consultation regarding your assets, estate and how you could reduce the amount of inheritance tax you pay, get in touch with us.