Peace of mind today for a more secure tomorrow.
Over fifty percent of adults in the United Kingdom don’t have a will. Are you among them? As uncomfortable as it is to discuss our own mortality, even more uncomfortable is how vulnerable we are, not to mention our loved ones and our assets if we pass away without a plan.
Get things started the right way.
Why is a will good to have right now?
You can’t live like there’s no tomorrow if you don’t have a plan in place today. With a will and/or estate plan, you can:
Distribute Assets Your Way
Ensure your assets are distributed in accordance with your wishes.
Ensure Your Legacy’s Future
Secure your legacy for those who will carry it into the future.
Safeguard Your Children’s Future
Put protections in place for minor children if the unthinkable happens before they reach 18.
Power of Attorney Protection
With an estate plan that includes power of attorney, you can also put protection in place for yourself if you become unable to manage your own affairs.
Let Hearthstone draft documents to protect …
Your Home.
It doesn’t matter whether your affairs are modest or magnificent. A will ensures that your hopes for the future are realised.
Your Life.
A well designed estate plan can secure quality of life in the face of debilitating events like a stroke, an accident, or the onset of a degenerative condition like dementia. This documentation secures your investments, assets, and the legacy you’ve spent building so they can thrive even if you aren’t at the helm.
Your Family.
Did you know that if you pass away without a will before your children turn 18, they will likely go into social care rather than the care of your surviving family members? A will and estate don’t just protect your family’s interests, it can keep them together.
Your vision for the future.
A standard will might not protect against what Government and Local Authorities can throw at your survivors. To know exactly what you need to keep your legacy secure, you need specialist advice from professionals backed by the experts at APS Legal & Associates.
Why Hearthstone?
Because the only thing that matters more than having protection in place, is having someone you trust to put it together.
By partnering with Hearthstone, you get:
- A professional team that takes care of you the way you take care of your family.
- Specialist advice from professionals who have their fingers on the pulse of this industry.
- A people-first approach that tailors your plan to your needs; not “one-size-fits-all.”
- A cost-effective service when compared to solicitors and banks.
Services you can trust from people who get it.
Consultations are free and transparent, and we’re happy to arrange in-person meetings with our knowledgeable advisers whose expertise includes services like:
- Property Protection Trust
- Inheritance Tax Planning
- Flexible Life Interest Trusts
- Single & Mirror Wills
- Disabled Discretionary Trusts
- Discretionary Trusts
- Lasting Powers of Attorney
- Advanced Decision
- Right of Residence
- First Registration of Property
- Transfer of Property Ownership
- Secure Document Storage
- Deed of Severance
Protect the life you’ve built for the people you love.
Book a 1-to-1 with a Hearthstone adviser today.
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Wills and Estates FAQs
Put simply, a Will, otherwise known as a Last Will and Testament, is a legally binding document that details a person’s wishes for their assets, etc., after they have passed away. You need one because without this document, there is no guarantee that your assets, wealth, or even the care of children under 18 will be cared for as you would prefer in the event of your passing.
For your will to be legal, you must be an adult aged 18 or older of sound mind and body, putting the document together voluntarily. You are also required to have the document witnessed by two adults over the age of 18, who are then required to also sign the document in your presence. If you are unable to attend, you can ask someone to sign on your behalf. In England and Wales, you and your witnesses can sign your will remotely (via video conferencing). When you select witnesses for your will, be aware that they cannot be left anything in your will.
Wills and Powers of Attorney both provide a level of security to you in the event of the unforeseen and the unthinkable, but they do so in different ways. The easiest difference between the two documents is that with a will you are dictating what happens to your assets after you die. With a power of attorney, you are dictating who is allowed to make key decisions about your assets and/or your medical care if something happens to render you unable while you are still alive.
If you pass away without a will in place (known as dying intestate), your wealth and assets, as well as arrangements for any minor children will be distributed according to predefined legal rules known as the “rules of intestacy.” The result is the very real possibility that your estate will not be distributed how you’d prefer.
The short answer to this is yes. The more complex answer is that there are only two ways to go about it: either make a “codicil” to your will or write a new one. A codicil is like an amendment to your existing will and is a good way to make small changes to your will as life goes on. If something very big has changed since you originally wrote your will, however, (marriage, divorce, children, inheritance, changing the executor of the current will) you should consider writing a new document entirely.
Yes, you can write your own will. We wouldn’t recommend it though. As with most things in life, doing it yourself without the advice and support of someone very knowledgeable in this area can mean missing details or making mistakes that result in pitfalls down the road (if not long-term). By contrast, an experienced, professional estate planner and will writer, can make sure your documents are robust, valid, and address all of your needs, offering you unparalleled peace of mind.
To understand estate planning, you must first understand what an estate is. An estate consists of everything that makes up an individual’s net worth. That means land and real estate, insurance policies, financial securities, cash, jewellery, investments, vehicles, and any other assets and liabilities a person owns or has a controlling interest in. Thus, estate planning is the act of drawing up a plan for how your estate will be transferred to beneficiaries and next of kin. An estate plan can include your final will and testament as well as a power of attorney, but also can include trusts, business succession plans, charitable donations, and more. A thorough understanding of tax implications is required to maximize effective estate planning.