Wills, Probate & LPAs

Private Client services do what they say on the tin – they’re your confidential matters including, but not limited to:

• Wills
• Probate
• Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs): Health & Welfare and Property & Financial Affairs
• Court of Protection
• Asset Preservation
• Trusts and Tax Planning

It depends on your circumstances and who wants to make the Will. There are different costs for single Wills and mirror Wills (joint Wills). Please feel welcome to get in touch with our Private Client team at enquiries@birchallblackburn.co.uk

We support St Catherine’s Hospice in Lancashire and Queenscourt Hospice in Southport. Each year both hospices hold free or discounted Will initiatives in exchange for a donation.

Wills Week is held by St Catherine’s Hospice. The campaign offers discounted Wills to people in exchange for a suggested donation of £95 for a single will or £145 for a mirror will (couples). People can also leave a gift in their Will to the hospice.

Make a Will Month is held by Queenscourt Hospice. The initiative is similar to St Catherine’s in that people can make a Will in exchange for a suggested donation. People have the option to leave a gift in their Will for Queenscourt too.

Changing your Will may include, but isn’t limited to, changing the address of a person named in the Will, changing the beneficiaries and changing any inheritance details. If you, your Executor, or a beneficiary moves house, you don’t need to update your Will to show this. Similarly, if your Executor or a beneficiary marries or changes their name, this doesn’t usually mean you will have to change your Will. For example, if the Will refers to a beneficiary as “my daughter Jane Smith” and Jane marries and changes her name to Jane Cooper, then it’s obvious that this is the same person. However, if you yourself were to marry after making your Will, this would usually cancel your Will and you would need to make a new one.

Additionally, if you want to remove, change, or add a beneficiary or an appointee (eg. Executor, guardians for children, or pet caregivers) you will need to speak to us to make those changes. Call our friendly team on 0800 614 722 or email us at enquiries@birchallblackburn.co.uk to discuss how we can help.

You can include a number of assets and wishes in your Will. This includes, but isn’t limited to, parental responsibility for any of your children aged under 18, financial assets (cash, properties, valuables, vehicles and so on) and digital assets (cryptocurrency, access to social media accounts, digital photos/videos.).

When listing your digital assets, make sure you provide a list of login details to your executor. Don’t put them in the Will because the Will becomes a public document once Grant of Probate has been issued.

There are a few things you can’t legally include in your Will. You can’t put conditions in your Will, as they’re not legally binding. Named beneficiaries will receive their share of your estate whether they stick to your conditions or not.

If you hold any joint assets or tenancies, then they will automatically go to the named person on the contract/lease. For example, if you jointly own your home with your partner, your partner will inherit the property if you die before them. This is called the “right of survivorship.”

While you can include childcare arrangements in your Will, unfortunately, it’s not legally possible to include gifts to pets in your Will. But you can name a person who can take care of your pets. You can also leave a gift to charity in your Will.

There’s also no need to put pension and life insurance plans in your Will, as you should have already named the beneficiary for these when you started the plan. However, it’s always best to check with a specialist solicitor. Get in touch with us at enquiries@birchallblackburn.co.uk today.

What makes a Will valid? The Will needs to check off a few things including:

• Made by a person aged 18 years or more
• Signed by the person making the Will in the presence of two witnesses
• Signed by the two witnesses in the presence of the person making the Will (after they have already signed it)
• Made by a person who is completely aware of what a Will is, who the beneficiaries are and the assets to be included in the Will.
• The person making the Will wasn’t pressured or coerced by anyone or any group.

You absolutely can make your own Will without a solicitor. There are DIY Will kits available to buy online or in the shops, but it’s very easy to make mistakes when writing your own Will. We highly recommend using a solicitor or a specialist Will writing service so you can have peace of mind that your Will is legally binding. This is especially important if your situation isn’t straightforward. For example, you share a home with someone who isn’t your wife, husband or civil partner or you have property overseas.

You can keep your Will at home – ideally in a locked safe. But if you feel uneasy keeping it in your house, you can keep your Will with your solicitor or an accountant. They will store the original Will and send you a copy for your records.

You can also ask The Probate Service to store your Will for you. In this case, you need to lodge it with the service and make an official request when you want to take it out again. Our team are always here to answer any questions you may have about storing your Will.

If you die without making a Will, then this is called ‘dying intestate.’ If you’re married and your personal estate is worth less than £250,000, then your partner inherits everything. If it’s worth over £250,000 and you have children, then your partner inherits £250,000 and half of anything over £250,000. Your children will share the remainder of the estate.

If you’re not married and you don’t have a Will, then it depends on whether or not you have children or any surviving relatives. Your children will share your estate equally, but if you don’t have children and your parents are alive, then your parents will inherit your estate. If your parents aren’t alive then your estate will go to your siblings. If you don’t have any surviving relatives then your estate goes to the crown.

It’s vital to note that unmarried or cohabiting partners can’t inherit if someone dies without a Will. That’s why it’s important to make a Will so you can make sure your loved ones are provided for after your death.

Probate, put simply, means having the legal right to deal with a person’s estate when they die. The executor of a Will must apply for probate. They will then receive a Grant of Probate. This is a document that confirms the executor has legal permission and responsibility to deal with the deceased person’s estate.

Probate is required for the majority of estates with Wills.

Probate may not be required if the person who died only had savings or jointly-owned property, assets or land with someone else. Probate also isn’t usually required if the estate is worth less than £15,000. For more information on when probate is and isn’t required, please get in touch with us at enquiries@birchallblackburn.co.uk

Inheritance is received, on average, between 6 and 12 months after probate is granted. However, the time period varies massively depending on the type/amount of assets in the Will and the complexity of the estate. It also depends on whether or not the HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is experiencing delays.

If you lose mental capacity to make your own financial or healthcare decisions, a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) enables you to appoint another individual or individuals to make decisions on your behalf in respect of your financial affairs and/or health and welfare.

Your witness must be someone aged 18 or older and must be there in person to witness you signing the documents. The witness should not be named on the LPA as your attorney or as a replacement attorney on your documents.

An attorney named in an LPA must always act in the donor’s best interests. If an attorney isn’t acting in the donor’s best interests (e.g. paying themselves a fee if they’re not an LPA-authorised professional body or if they mix their own finances with the donor’s), then anyone can report this to the Office of Public Guardian. The case will be investigated and a Court official will visit the attorney to discuss the concerns. The Office of Public Guardian can remove the attorney from the LPA if there is evidence that the attorney isn’t acting in the donor’s best interests.