Planning for the future is very important, but all too often we leave things too late. Peace of mind is something that is hard to place a value on.

In addition to advising on inheritance tax (see the Wills section) we can assist you with income tax and capital gains tax planning.

Here are just some of the things we can advise you on: 

• Lasting Power of Attorney: Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 it is possible for you to choose who to appoint to administer your affairs in the event of mental incapacity.  Mental incapacity can affect not only the elderly – premature dementia or an accident can have the same effect.
• Long Term Care Planning: It's hard to imagine not being able to live in your own home, and look after yourself.  Planning at the right time to make sure any care you may need in the future is in place is important for some people.  Sometimes it is possible to protect the value of all or part of your home from having to be spent on care. Find out more about the rules about paying for a permanent care home place.
• Inheritance Tax Planning: When trying to minimise the inheritance tax payable on your estate (and maximising the amount left to your beneficiaries), there are many different options, depending on the circumstances. Subject to your particular situation, the size of your estate and various other factors, we can provide you with a list of options and their pros and cons.
• Trusts: A Trust is a fund which contains assets that are controlled by you and/or a nominated third party as Trustees for the benefit of a specified individual or specified individuals. They are governed by complex legal regulations and separate tax rules. A Trust can be set up at any time during the lifetime of an individual or may be written into a Will to take effect on death.  We can tell you a lot more about what a Trust can do for you.
• Guardians: If you have young children, you should consider appointing guardians to take care of them if you die while they are still young. Even if you have appointed godparents the choice of guardians is sometimes a decision made based on a different set of criteria.  This is usually done whilst making your Will.
• Living Wills: A Living Will can record your wishes, with respect to certain medical procedures that are/are not to be employed on loss of mental capacity (‘Advance Directive’). Alternatively, a Living Will can record your beliefs on such procedures for the family (as your appointed Health Care Proxies) to consider should a difficult decision with regard to your health have to be made.