PERPETUAL WILL FULL SERVICE
Ultimate peace of mind
The Perpetual Will, is a full service which is designed in order to provide our clients with the ultimate peace of mind.
The idea behind the perpetual will is to cover everything with regards to your will whilst you are still alive and to provide your family with total peace of mind by providing all of the necessary legal support through Inheritance Tax, Probate and Land Registry Processes.
We write your will and then provide safe and secure storage offsite storage of you Last Will & Testament(s) and associated paperwork. The storage facilities re fire proof, water proof and have the latest in security measures, this ensures that your original documents are kept in pristine condition until such a time as that they are required.
It is essential that your Will is kept in an immaculate condition when submitted to the Probate Registry in order to prevent any delays or rejection of a will which can be caused by the Probate Court believing that the will has been tampered with. * Please note that a Will that has been taken apart even for photocopying can be rejected by the Probate Court.
The Perpetual Will Full Service Explained in detail:
In addition to our storage facility, we also provide our Perpetual Will Full-Service clients with an update service with no extra costs. This gives you the opportunity to keep your Will as up to date as possible without having to worry about the associated fees of rewriting a Will.
As an out-of-date Will can also be as disruptive as not having a Will at all, we have found that this service has been incredibly useful for all those who use it. The real value of the Perpetual Will Full Service is to be found when our probate and estate administration services and Land Registry changes are required.
In the case of the first death for a married couple the probate issues tend to be minimal. However, any assets (not held jointly), over the £5,000.00 limit set by the probate service will be frozen until a Grant of Probate is achieved. The main issues facing the surviving spouse tend to be related to the other formalities. Things such as dealing with property deeds, life assurance policies, the cancellation or the name transfer of bills and services and pension issues. Unfortunately, if these issues are not dealt with swiftly, they can cause emotional and financial distress on top of what is already the most difficult time in most people’s life. Rest assured the complications will be minimised with the Perpetual Will.
What Services Does A Perpetual Will Client Receive?
As a Perpetual Will Full-Service client you can rest assured that you will be provided with the most comprehensive support during this distressing time. Once we have been notified of the death we will act swiftly and compassionately in order to take away the worry caused by these issues.
For a standard first death service that usually requires a very simple Grant of Probate and the transfer of property and household bills,
On the second death of the married couple we provide their executors with the full range of estate administration services.
VALUATION OF THE ESTATE:
At the beginning of an Administration of an Estate, an estimate of what the Estate is worth should be obtained, which includes an assessment of the extent of any liabilities in the Estate. This then allows for an application for Grant of Probate.
APPLYING FOR PROBATE:
The next stage is to submit all the paperwork from the above assessment, the Will and any Codicils to the Probate Court. At this point any inheritance tax due (excluding inheritance tax in any properties which can be delayed for a six-month period) has to be paid to HMRC.
COLLECTING THE ASSET:
Once the Grant of Probate has been obtained, it will need to be registered with various companies who are holding assets, which will have been frozen up to this point. We can then collect all the readily available assets such as from banks and deposit the available funds into an Escrow account (unless the beneficiaries have specifically asked us not to) and, as far as possible, settle any outstanding liabilities and pay any cash gifts.
DEALING WITH TAX:
During the early stages of the Administration, we will need to collect the information required to complete the final income tax return and Inheritance Tax and agree the tax position with the HMRC.
DISTRIBUTING ASSETS:
We will distribute the funds available, to beneficiaries, as soon as possible and allow for any claims that may be made against the Estate and any further tax claims. It may be prudent for the Executor(s) to keep adequate reserves to cover any further Administration expenses.
AND FINALLY:
Once we have established all the assets and liabilities in the Estate and the income tax position is finalised, we will need to send a final account to HMRC, showing any amendments to the assets and liabilities previously declared. We will also need to settle any unpaid inheritance tax. When this is agreed, the Executor(s) will receive a formal letter of inheritance tax clearance. On completion of the Administration, we will prepare a full statement detailing all the assets and payments made from the Estate. We will then send copies of this statement to the residuary beneficiaries together with any final payments.
Please note that It’s never possible to say precisely how long the Administration of any particular Estate will take because it depends on the nature of the assets and the legal matters that arise, however if you have elected to purchase our Perpetual Will Full Service, you can rest assured that all of the above will be professionally taken care of when the time comes with a simple telephone call. We will also provide an advert in the London Gazette and a local newspaper to avoid any potential late claims against the estate.
The cost required, for our Perpetual Will service is *£2,399 we will not charge the Estate with any percentage of Estate Fees however we will charge the Estate any Government Fees for things like submitting the Probate case to the Probate Court. If there are extra ordinary issues that arise, such as assets abroad or a contestation of the will, these services can be provided at a discounted rate quoted at the time of discovery.
FEES ASSOCIATED WITH THE PERPETUAL WILL
*In our line of work, is it essential that we take an upfront fee for our Estate Administration Services. The nature of the work involved is very time and resource consuming and we need to be able to cover any potential costs for all potential future eventualities. An upfront charge is the only way we can cover the risk(s) to the company in respect of undercharging for contracted works.