Published on: 26th November 2018

Preparing for a consultation

How should I prepare? In order to get the most from your consultation, give your estate planning requirements some thought prior to your Consultant's visit and list the most pertinent questions so you don't miss anything out.This will best enable your Consultant to tailor his advice to your specific needs and ensure that all of your questions are answered. Other things to consider are as follows:

• Do you have an existing Will?It would be enormously beneficial for your Consultant to have sight of any existing Will you may have in place. It can give an indication of changes that should have been made to the way you own your home and, depending on how old your Will is, highlight the fact that any trusts contained within the Will might not still represent best advice.
• Do you have inheritance tax concerns? Give some thought to what assets you own and what their total value is. This valuation does not need to be an exact figure and an approximation is absolutely fine. It may help you to list your assets prior to your Consultant's visit, but they will not need to see any of your bank statements.
• Who do you wish to appoint as executors of your Will? Any Will must have at least one executor, although best advice is that at least two should be nominated. Do you have a clear idea who you wish to nominate? Remember beneficiaries can also be executors.
• Is there someone living in your home that you would like to continue living there even after you have passed away? You can grant someone the right to continue living in your home for a fixed period of time after you die, even if you wish for the property to ultimately pass to someone entirely different later on.
• If you have children under the age of 18, who would you wish to look after them if you couldn't? Any child under the age of 18 would become a ward of court if they are orphaned and no provision is made in the Will of their parent as to who their legal guardian should be. Give this some thought and discuss it with the people you are considering appointing as guardians prior to your consultation.

If you would like to meet with one of our Consultants to discuss any of the issues raised in this article or any other Estate Planning topic please telephone 01732 868190 or click here.

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