Published on: 20th December 2021

Santa's Estate Plan

We recently had an appointment with a couple who are now arguably our most well-known clients. Whilst normally we do not release client details these clients asked us to publish their names to help raise awareness of the importance of Estate Planning. Their family and business are extremely famous across the world. Their names are Mr and Mrs Nicholas Claus otherwise known as Father Christmas and Mother Christmas. This appointment came just in time for Father Christmas’s most important night of the year and has given him the peace of mind knowing that his estate is protected in case something was to happen whilst he was on his travels delivering presents. 

Although he has survived for many hundreds of years and is technically immortal, it is important to plan ahead regardless of age or health. Someone who has the lifestyle of driving a sleigh across the world in just one night, whilst also climbing on rooftops, and entering chimneys should definitely consider full Estate Planning!

What we learned from this appointment was:

• The Claus’s assets include property in the North Pole area, a factory, snow mobiles, sleighs, and cash business assets in a bank account (Mr Claus explained that most of his money gets put back into the business).
• Mr & Mrs Claus, who lovingly called each other deer (sic), also keep some cash available for a reiny (sic) day
• They have no children but own nine reindeer which they wish to leave to a specified beneficiary. They also wanted the beneficiary to have the necessary funds to care for the reindeer.
• Their business (which is a registered charity) delivers more parcels in a single night than Amazon delivers all year. According to Santa News almost 90,000 extra elves were hired in 2021. This brings the total to nearly 200,000!
• On second death, they wished for all assets to be put back into the charity to help spread more Christmas joy.

Especially before his big night, Father Christmas decided that estate planning was needed. Whilst creating Wills for immortal clients might seem unnecessary Mr Claus requested that Wills be written ~ just in case. Most importantly for both him and Mrs Claus, they created Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) for both Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare. These documents would allow nominated attorneys to act on their behalf if they were unable to do so. Mr Claus explained that this was extremely important as he was expecting a bit of fog on Christmas night and Rudolph's nose was dimming with age. Just in case something happened, LPAs would be important.

Casey & Associates has now completed their Wills which upon first death passes all assets to each other, and upon second death distribute to their charity. This will help lower their Inheritance Tax (IHT) liabilities! They designated their favourite elf, Wunorse Openslae, to care for the reindeer and created a small discretionary trust to allow Wunorse to have funds to care for them for the rest of eternity. Both Mr and Mrs Claus created LPAs, nominating each other together with Wiser Older Elf and Wise Old Elf as attorneys.

If you want to be like Father Christmas and discuss your estate planning needs, consider booking a no-obligation appointment with one of our friendly and knowledgeable Consultants by calling 01732 868190 or by using our online form here.

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Our Covid-19 policy is now that if you wish to give instructions or require general information about our Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, or Trusts then we will carry out a telephone or Zoom appointment. However, if you wish to give instructions to one of our Consultants and you feel that you can only do this at a Face to Face meeting we are offering, at our Consultant’s discretion, a limited number of Face to Face appointments in most of the areas we normally cover (subject to Government advice). To see the areas we normally cover please click here. To arrange an appointment please telephone 01732 868190 or click here.

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