Who needs a Will?

Many people, particularly young adults, think they have no need for a will.

Imagine a young lady, unmarried but living with her partner in a home they bought together.

Two months before the wedding, she is critically injured in a car accident and later dies.

Who do the doctors update?

Who decides about the type of care she should receive?

And what happens to the house she bought with her partner?

These are all reasons why every adult, no matter their age or family status, needs basic estate-planning documents that dictate their wishes if they die or become incapacitated.

Members of the Military service should strongly consider devising a Will. Because of the risk involved in their jobs, it is imperative they have peace of mind and that their wishes are followed in the event of their death.

In fact, almost 65 per cent of people in Britain do not yet have a Will – taking away the control they have over what happens to their money and belongings when they die.

Making assumptions that your money and belongings will automatically go to your partner, children or parents should be avoided as there are many conditions in probate law that mean your estate is at risk if you die intestate.

The Solution?

By taking the time to make a Will now you can ensure that your loved ones receive exactly what you want them to instead of the law deciding who gets what.

WAP UK offer a friendly and flexible Will writing service. The team visit you in your home or wherever you are more comfortable, at a time that suits your life.

Your consultant will provide advice and guidance about the best ways to plan your estate and take detailed instructions with which to make your Will.

Once this process has taken place, your Will is drafted by professional and knowledgeable Will writers to ensure your wishes are followed in the event of your death.

Why do I need a Will?

Thinking about making a Will is something that the majority of us would rather put off – a job for the future, for old age, for any other time than now, but it shouldn’t be.

Why? It’s really quite simple, if you die intestate (without a Will) what is already a stressful and upsetting time for your loved ones will be made worse by having your assets distributed according to the law rather than your wishes.

Why choose Wills & Probate?

Here at WAP UK, we are a long established and professional Will writing firm.

We ensure that every aspect of inheritance and wealth management will be carried out in line with your wishes in the event of your death.

By employing WAP UK, you are guaranteed the following benefits:

Peace of mind

Professional service

Flexibility and Convence

Value for money

and the Wills and Probate guarantee

For more information visit www.wapuk.co.uk

The Wills and Probate Guarantee

As a member of the Society of Will Writers, WAP UK guarantees the advice and Wills that we produce, comply with the law and will represent your wishes in the way you intended.

Making Your Will

Making a Will is the only way to ensure that your wishes are carried out after your death. If you do not make a valid Will, your property will pass according to the Law of Intestacy. This may not happen the way you would have wanted and also takes much longer than if you have had a will. During this time your beneficiaries may not be able to draw money from your estate.

SINGLE?

You will want your estate divided amongst friends, relatives and charities of your choosing and in the proportions you want.

MARRIED?

Don't assume "my other half will get everything". Brothers and sisters or parents may have a claim. Often you children have a right to part of your estate. If you are living as a couple but not officially married, you may be treated as a single person and a surviving partner may get nothing at all.

A PARENT?

You should consider who would look after your children in the event of your death. This is particularly important in the case of one parent families or unmarried parents living together. A valid Will nominating guardians is invaluable in such cases. If no one knows what you would have wanted, the Court will decide on the future of your children.

RETIRED?

Maybe you made a Will a long time ago. It probably needs updating to include additional grandchildren or deletion of persons you no longer feel you wish to leave anything to.

For more information, or to speak to one of our team, visit wapuk.co.uk

Don’t let your loved ones inheritance disappear

Many inheritances are ‘lost’ due to lack of planning by those leaving them.

Leaving an inheritance directly to a child may not always be the best solution, with increasing divorce rates there is always a possibility that money will be lost to your departing spouse.

Secondly there may be a threat of legal action against the recipient of the inheritance, as in todays society the chance of being sued has greatly increased.

Similarly the chance of the recipient having financial difficulty may be higher and creditors may claim against inheritance to recover money.

The final lost could be more indirect, if a recipient is in receipt of means tested benefits these may be lost if an inheritance is received.

£6000 will affect any benefits and an inheritance of over £16000 will mean no benefits can be claimed.

For more information please ring us on 0800 043 2811

Make sure you decide who gets what...not the government.

By taking the time to make a Will now you can ensure that your loved ones receive exactly what you want them to instead of the law deciding who gets what.

WAP UK offer a friendly and flexible Will writing service. The team visit you in your home or wherever you are more comfortable, at a time that suits your life.

You consultant will provide advice and guidance about the best ways to plan you estate and take detailed instructions with which to make your Will.

Once this process has taken place, your Will is drafted by professional and knowledgeable Will writers to ensure your wishes are followed in the event of your death.

Visit WAP UK for more information

If you don't appoint a guardian...

It is an unfortunate fact of life that there may come a time when you - or someone close to you - will have to make provisions in a will for the guardianship of children. It is a subject that many refuse to tackle head on but alas it is something that - if you are a parent and your children are under the age of eighteen - you should be prepared for.

Any adult of your choosing can be a guardian to your child or children. This can be a close family friend with whom the children in question already have a bond or a family member not already directly involved in their care, such as a grandparent, aunt or uncle.

Appointing a guardian is something that requires a lot of contemplation and discussion before a decision is made, however it will put your mind at rest knowing that your children will be cared for should anything happen to you.

For more information contact Wills and Probate UK on 0800 043 2811 or visit www.wapuk.co.uk

Panorama Program

"In response to the BBC panorama program, aired on Monday 9th August 2010, Wills and Probate UK would like to reassure current and future clients that they need not worry about the services provided by our company.

We have been actively campaigning for regulation of the Wills and Probate profession for over 3 years. We are glad the Panorama program has highlighted the con artists who operate in this industry and we believe it is simply impossible to establish the needs of a client over the internet. We are greatly looking forward to legislation being introduced to stop these companies, as were highlighted in the program, continuing to mis-sell products to their clients.

Wills and Probate never appoint themselves as named executors to the Will, therefore no part of Probate is handled by ourselves. Any Probate matters are passed directly to a local solicitor or a professional Probate company, Kings Court Trust Corporation, based in Bath.

Wills and Probate are a long established company and we have an excellent reputation for the outstanding service we provide."

If you would like to contact Wills and Probate UK regarding any of the issues highlighted in the program please call us on 0800 043 2811.

Elderly Care Vs Family Inheritance

We frequently meet clients who are concerned about the prospect of spending all their savings on paying for care in their old age, leaving little or no inheritance for their families.

Making the decision to move into a care home is difficult. Statistically one in three women and one in four men will require some form of long term care. The average cost of care in a residential home is about £25,000 per year.

The ability to pay for the care is assessed by the local authority, this is means based and the state will only pay for the very poorest people. If there is a shortfall of funds to pay for the care, this must be met from assets. There is no end to the extent to which local authorities can access assets. It is clear that the State cannot afford to bear the nation's care costs, making it increasingly important for our expanding ageing population to seek expert legal and financial advice.

We are always happy to discuss what best suits your needs and circumstances where care home fees are involved.

Visit us at www.wapuk.co.uk or ring us on 0800 043 2811

Shoking Statistics Released

Internet advice company unbiased.co.uk have recently carried out a survey into Wills. The study revealed that only 1 in 5 people have updated their Will in the last 10 years. Personal finances can change dramatically over a period of 10 years, it is important that people make sure their Wills are up to date to ensure their personal wealth is left as exactly as they wish at the time of their death.

Worryingly 10% of the people questioned had undergone a relationship change, such as a divorce or getting re-married, in the past 10 years and have not updated their Will to reflect this.

WAP UK can give you the advice you need when your circumstances change.

Family Protection, Lasting Power of Attorney

No one likes to think about losing the ability to manage their own affairs, but the NHS estimate that over 2,000,000 people lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves due to dementia, mental health difficulties, brain injuries or other illnesses that may occur even in the prime of life. It is important that you nominate someone you trust now to make important decisions on your behalf.

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) were introduced by the Mental Capacity Act 2005. They allow individuals to appoint Attorneys to look after their property and financial affairs (a Property and Financial Affairs LPA) and also to make health and personal welfare decisions (a Health and Welfare LPA) when they lack the capacity to make these decisions themselves in the future.

Call WAP UK today on 0800 043 2811 and they will talk you through the LPA process.

Have you thought about care home fees?

Evidence suggests that anything between 40,000 and 70,000 homes are sold each year to cover the owner’s care fees. Parents are seeing nest eggs which they had built up as intended inheritances for their children decimated extremely quickly once in care.
With advance planning, this need not be the case.

There are ways to protect the family home for the next generation, contact WAP UK on 0800 043 2811 to find out all the information you need.

Why Choose Wills and Probate

WAP UK are a long established and professional Will writing firm.

They ensure that every aspect of inheritance and wealth management will be carried out in line with your wishes in the event of your death.
Below are the benefits of employing WAP UK:

Peace of mind

Until a legally valid Will is made there is no certainty bout the fate of your wealth and possessions in the event of your death. WAP UK provides you with an effective and efficient service to put your mind at rest.

Professional service

Specialists in writing legally valid Wills, our consultants will deliver the exact requirements with a friendly, professional service.

Flexible and Convenient

Allowing for initial Will discussions to take place at a time, date and place of your choosing, our consultants will ensure you are at your most comfortable when taking your instructions.

Value for money

WAP UK will charge one fixed fee for taking instructions and preparing a Will. Whatever the family circumstances, you will receive a will to suit your requirements with no hidden charges.

Wills and Probate guarantee

As a member of the Society of Will Writers, WAP UK guarantees the advice and Wills produced by the company comply with the law and will represent your wishes in the way you intended.

Charity’s Will writing Service Challenged

The Telegraph recently reported the following case concerning Help the Aged’s Will writing service where the charity was the main beneficiary of will drawn up by its own recommended adviser. Mrs Southwell, who did not have any children, had made a will 10 years previously, leaving the bulk to her friend, Susie Crichton, with smaller legacies bequeathed to five other friends and six charities.

But shortly before her death, Mrs Southwell asked her social worker to help her draw up a will, claiming she did not have one and did not want her assets to go to the Government. The social worker contacted Help the Aged who sent round a Wills and Legacies adviser. But not one of the previous beneficiaries received a penny from this new will. Instead the bulk of her £350,000 estate went to Help the Aged.

Not surprisingly, when Mrs Crichton and her family learnt what had happened they proceeded to challenge the will. Helen Foster, the head of Wills and Legacies at Age Concern and Help the Aged was quoted in the article saying: "The Charity is aware of the dispute around this will, however we have defended our position as a legally- recognised beneficiary of the will. "Mrs Southwell did change the beneficiaries in her first will when constructing her second legal will and testament. As a charity it is not appropriate for us to speculate on why she reached this decision, but we utterly and profoundly reject any suggestion that pressure was brought to bear. The decision to amend the will lay solely and only with Mrs Southwell."

This case once again highlights the benefits of using an independent and professional Will writing service.

Why do I need a Will?

Many people, particularly young adults, think they have no need for a will.

Imagine a young lady, unmarried but living with her partner in a home they bought together. Two months before the wedding, she is critically injured in a car accident and later dies.

Who do the doctors update?

Who decides about the type of care she should receive?

And what happens to the house she bought with her partner?

These are all reasons why every adult, no matter their age or family status, needs basic estate-planning documents that dictate their wishes if they die or become incapacitated. Contact WAP UK on 0800 043 2811 or visit their website www.wapuk.co.uk for more information.

Lost Wills cause Heartbreak

The last wishes of soldiers killed in Afghanistan are not being honoured as the Ministry of Defence have lost their Wills, with heartbreaking consequences.

Servicemen and women who wish to make a Will before they are deployed on active service are given the opportunity to fill in a Ministry of Defence Will form which is then placed in a sealed envelope.

Corporal Rob Deering was killed by Taliban in Devember 2008. His fiance is now battling to save the house they shared after the MoD lost a Will he produced just weeks before being deployed. While preparing to leave, Corporal Deering was asked to produce the document twice after the first copy was lost. Now the second copy cannot be found and a previous Will made in 2006 is being used for probate, this Will differs from the later Will which had been drawn up. Relationships with his family have broken down over the missing Will and his grieving finace is now taking legal action to delay the distribution of the estate to allow the MoD more time to find the missing document.

There are many other cases of missing Wills within the Military. There has been calls for a full enquiry and one MP has accused the Government of 'bureaucratic incompetence bordering on cruelty' and failing in its duty to soldiers even after they have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Stories like this act as a stark reminder of how important it is for clients in the military to have their documents drawn up and stored securely. This ensure their loved ones are protected and their wishes are carried out.

www.wapuk.co.uk