Published on: 28th September 2020

Next of Kin - who takes responsibility?

Many of our Clients when we speak to them for the first time will often assume their next of kin is their spouse, but this is not always the case and is a common misconception. Whenever we talk to a Client about their Estate Plan, the phrase ‘next of kin’ is often used, but when it comes to Estate Planning an individual’s next of kin also does not have any validity or legal standing. For more information on this have a read through our previous article where we state that next of kin does not mean anything in the context of a Will as it is not a legal term.

Within this article we are going to talk through what can happen if you assume that you do not need a Will because your spouse is your next of kin and that all your assets will just go to them, as well as what happens if you have a valid, up to date Will in place.

With a Will

If you have a valid and up to date Will in place then you need not worry about the term ‘next of kin’ as, especially if your Will was created and updated by a Casey & Associates Consultant, you can rest assured that your wishes will be carried out as stated in your Will.

With a valid Will in place, you will have listed executors who will go through the Estate Administration process, or instruct a professional like Casey & Associates to work through it with them if they wish. The executor will be able to do everything they need to with your Estate without any delay which is extremely important. Just make sure that the executors know where the Will is stored – you can read why in our previous article which discusses the importance of Will storage.

Without a Will

If you do not have a Will in place and you assume that your spouse is your next of kin and therefore nothing more needs to be done then you could be leaving your loved ones with a real problem when you die. Dying without a Will means the deceased will be deemed to have tied intestate. Contrary to what some believe, this does not automatically mean that all assets go to their spouse who is their next of kin.

A typical scenario is someone dying intestate and leaving behind a surviving spouse and children. In this scenario we favour careful Estate Planning with an up to date Will in place and relevant Trust and Asset protection. This generally means that the assets of an Estate pass to the surviving spouse with assets in trust for children to be able to access in the most tax efficient way.

The above scenario if planned well is an excellent, tax efficient way of passing assets on. If, however the deceased felt like they did not need a Will because they had such standard requirements and as their next of kin all assets would pass to their spouse, all sorts of problems could be caused including:

• Assets passed to the children of the deceased being subject to unnecessary inheritance tax charges.
• Children are entitled to a percentage of the assets of the deceased if they die intestate and can demand cash that may for example be tied up in the family home.
• Multiple family members could claim they should be trusted with carrying out administering the Estate of the deceased which could lead to both disputes and costly legal bills.

These are just some of the problems that can happen to someone if they die intestate – they will likely all cause unnecessary stress for the family of the deceased as well as additional cost in legal and tax fees. The Estate Administration process may also be delayed which can have disastrous consequences and above all, disputes over Estate Administration can cause long lasting rifts in families.

All of these problems could be avoided if the deceased had not assumed that all would be ok as their spouse would be their next of kin and taken good advice from an expert Will Writer. If you do not have a Will, or are concerned that it is not up to date then get in touch with our friendly team who can arrange a visit from one of our Consultants who will be able to assess your personal situation and advise on the most appropriate option. You can get in touch either using the contact form on our website or calling us on 01732 868190.

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Our Covid-19 policy is now that if you require general information about our Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney or Trusts then we will carry out a telephone appointment. However, if you wish to give instructions to one of our Consultants we are offering Face to Face appointments from 02 September 2020 in most of the areas we normally cover (subject to Government advice). To see the areas we normally cover please click here.

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