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At Tower Bridge Legal, we find ourselves dealing with questions that touch on mortality itself, on the accumulation of decades of endeavour, on what a person leaves behind and to whom. Our private client team brings to this area of practice the same exacting standards we apply across the firm, recognising that the documents we draft and the estates we administer will shape the fortunes of families long after our involvement has concluded.
Dying without proper arrangements in place visits consequences upon a family that few anticipate. Intestacy, as solicitors term it, triggers a statutory regime that operates without regard for what the deceased might actually have wanted.
Spouses discover they do not inherit everything as a matter of course. Unmarried partners, however long they shared their lives together, may find they are entitled to nothing at all under the law. Children from earlier relationships introduce competing interests that can set siblings against one another. We encounter these situations with dispiriting regularity, and what strikes us most forcibly is how readily they might have been avoided.
Inheritance Tax: A Growing Concern
The question of inheritance tax occupies an increasingly prominent place in our conversations with clients. Thresholds that once seemed generous have stood largely unchanged while asset values, particularly property, have climbed steadily higher. An estate that would comfortably have escaped the charge 20 years ago may now face a liability amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds.
We have witnessed families compelled to sell homes that had passed through generations. Thoughtful planning undertaken in good time can materially reduce this burden, though the window for effective action is not unlimited and narrows considerably as health declines.
The scope of our wills and probate practice reflects the breadth of circumstances our clients present to us. We prepare wills ranging from the uncomplicated to the highly intricate, the latter involving trusts, provisions for beneficiaries in multiple jurisdictions, and arrangements designed to preserve wealth across generations while accommodating the realities of modern family structures.
Wills & Probate Services
From Trusts and Probate to Resolving Disputes
We establish and administer trusts serving purposes as varied as protecting vulnerable individuals, managing assets during minority, and mitigating exposure to tax. When death occurs, we guide those charged with administering estates through every stage of the probate process, attending to the formalities, the tax filings, and ultimately the distribution of assets to those entitled to receive them.
Disputes, regrettably, do arise. Even families that have always been close may find that bereavement and the division of assets awaken tensions that had lain dormant. Wills are challenged on grounds ranging from want of capacity to undue influence. Claims are advanced by those who consider themselves inadequately provided for. Executors find themselves accused of favouritism or self-dealing.
Our legal team possesses the expertise to handle such matters, whether that means pursuing a legitimate claim or defending an estate against one. We recognise throughout that these disputes unfold against a backdrop of grief and fractured relationships, and we conduct ourselves accordingly.
FAQs About Wills & Probate
Is a will truly necessary if I am married?
The belief that marriage renders a will unnecessary ranks among the most persistent misconceptions we encounter. English law does not provide that a surviving spouse inherits everything automatically. Where someone dies intestate leaving both a spouse and children, the spouse receives the first portion of the estate together with personal effects, but the children acquire an entitlement to a share of anything beyond that threshold.
A surviving husband or wife may consequently find themselves needing to release capital, perhaps even selling the family home, in order to satisfy the children’s legal entitlement. Complexities multiply where children exist from previous relationships. A properly considered will places beyond doubt who receives what.
What occurs when someone dies without leaving a will?
The estate falls to be distributed according to intestacy rules fixed by Parliament, which operate mechanically and without reference to what the deceased might have preferred. Where there is no spouse and no children, the estate passes to parents, then siblings, then remoter relatives, and ultimately to the Crown should no qualifying relative be identified.
These outcomes frequently bear little resemblance to what the deceased would have chosen had they turned their mind to the question.
What exactly does the probate process entail?
Probate encompasses the entirety of administering a deceased person’s estate. This involves establishing what assets and liabilities exist, valuing the estate, addressing inheritance tax obligations, obtaining formal authority to deal with assets in the form of a grant of probate or letters of administration, collecting in those assets, discharging debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to those entitled.
Until the grant issues, financial institutions will typically decline to release funds and property cannot be sold or transferred. Modest estates may sometimes be administered without a formal grant, depending on the nature of the assets and the policies of relevant institutions, but estates of any substance generally require one.
What timeframe should be anticipated for probate?
Timescales vary considerably according to the nature and complexity of the estate in question. The grant itself typically issues within weeks of a properly prepared application being submitted, but arriving at that point requires work that may extend over several months such as assembling information, obtaining valuations, completing inheritance tax formalities. After the grant issues, assets must be gathered in, liabilities settled, and distributions impacted. A straightforward estate might be fully administered within six to nine months of the death.
Estates presenting complications, which can include a property requiring sale, business interests, tax enquiries, disputes among beneficiaries, and assets located abroad may lead to matters taking substantially longer. One immovable deadline exists – inheritance tax must be paid six months following death, after which interest begins to accrue on any amount outstanding thereafter.
May someone who benefits under my will also witness it?
A beneficiary who witnesses a will forfeits their entitlement under it completely. The same rule applies to the spouse or civil partner of any witness. The will itself remains valid and effective but what fails is the gift to the compromised witness. This represents one of the most frequent errors in wills prepared without professional assistance.
A family member asked to witness a signature, without anyone appreciating that they stand to inherit, may thereby lose everything they were intended to receive. Witnesses should invariably be persons who have no interest whatsoever in the estate.
Who has standing to challenge a will?
Two broad categories of challenge exist. Claims seeking provision from an estate under the Inheritance Act are confined to specified classes of claimant, which includes spouses and civil partners, former spouses who have not remarried, children of the deceased, cohabitants of two years’ standing, and persons who were being financially maintained by the deceased.
Challenges to the validity of a will itself such as alleging incapacity, undue influence, fraud, forgery, or defective execution, may be brought by anyone who would stand to benefit should the will be set aside. Dissatisfaction with what one has been left does not give rise to a valid claim. You need both recognised legal basis and the evidence to substantiate it.
With what frequency ought a will to be reviewed?
A sensible interval is every three to five years, with additional review whenever circumstances change materially. Marriage revokes any existing will unless that will was made expressly in contemplation of the particular marriage. Divorce does not revoke a will but causes gifts to a former spouse to fail, which may produce unintended gaps.
The birth of children or grandchildren, significant changes in assets or financial position, the breakdown of relationships, and the death or incapacity of appointed executors all warrant reconsideration. Tax legislation evolves as well – what represented sound planning a decade ago may now be less advantageous or even counterproductive.
In what way does a trust differ from a will?
A will operates as a set of instructions that take effect upon death, specifying who inherits what and who bears responsibility for administering the estate. It lies dormant until that point. A trust constitutes an arrangement whereby assets are held by trustees for the benefit of identified beneficiaries according to terms laid down in the trust instrument.
Trusts may be established during your lifetime or created by the terms of a will. They serve varied purposes such as managing wealth for those too young to do so themselves, protecting assets for vulnerable beneficiaries, ensuring property ultimately reaches intended recipients notwithstanding intervening life events, and achieving tax efficiencies.
Wills frequently incorporate trusts within their provisions. The two serve different purposes and yet often used together.
Will inheritance tax be payable on my estate?
That depends upon what your estate amounts to and upon who inherits it. Estates below £325,000 in value escape inheritance tax entirely. Where a residence passes to direct descendants, a further allowance of up to £175,000 may apply. Transfers passing between spouses and civil partners attract no charge whatever their value. Spouses may transfer unused allowances between them, permitting up to £1 million to pass free of tax where matters are arranged appropriately.
Charitable legacies are exempt, and estates leaving at least 10% to charity benefit from a reduced rate of 36% rather than 40%. Notwithstanding these various reliefs, many estates still attract substantial charges, particularly where residential property constitutes the principal asset. The tax falls due six months following death, and a portion must generally be paid before probate can be granted.
Our Approach
What distinguishes our approach is the attention we devote to understanding each client’s particular situation. A will is not a standard form document to be completed in a perfunctory manner but it represents the client’s intentions, their values, and their assessment of what is fair and appropriate in their own circumstances.
We take time to explore these matters thoroughly before putting pen to paper. The result is documentation that achieves precisely what the client intends, drafted with sufficient care that it will withstand scrutiny should anyone seek to challenge it.
How We Can Help
Tower Bridge Legal welcomes enquiries from those who wish to make a will for the first time, those revisiting arrangements made years or even decades ago, clients concerned about potential tax liabilities, those contemplating the establishment of a trust, who find themselves responsible for administering an estate, and those involved in disputes concerning wills or estates.
We would be pleased to discuss your circumstances and to indicate how we might assist.
