News & Legal Updates

2021 brings a new year of opportunity and a chance to reflect back on what a challenging year we have all faced in 2020. The uncertainty, the current impact on our health and care services as well as the impact on families across the world will be long remembered and felt going into the future. … Continue reading "Protecting Your Future in 2021: Wills and Powers of Attorney – Part 1"

Thinking about yourself, or a loved one, going into either residential or nursing care can be daunting and stressful. To add to that stress, the move into care can be an expensive one. It can cost over £1,000 a week, depending on where you live in the United Kingdom. While some people may be able … Continue reading "Care Home Costs: What Do I Need to Pay and Is There a Way to Protect My Assets?"

Following the introduction of local protection areas across Scotland (Tiers 0-4), The Lord President, Scotland’s most senior judge, issued further guidance for parents and carers who share the care of their child(ren) and where residence, contact or another issue relating to a parental right or responsibility is regulated by court order. In general terms, the … Continue reading "Can I Travel for Contact? Updated Guidance issued for Family Court Orders"

Currently, every individual in the UK has a Nil Rate Band (“NRB”) allowance of £325,000, being the maximum value of assets one can pass to another upon their death without the estate being subject to an inheritance tax (“IHT”) bill. Where the full NRB allowance is not utilised (say, for example, if the whole estate … Continue reading "Inheritance Tax and Executry Estate Allowances"

Are you considering or have you recently been appointed as a financial guardian? Do you know what is expected of you in this role? The role of a financial guardian is an onerous task with an expectation to fulfil administrative responsibilities such as completing an inventory of the adult’s estate, preparing a management plan and … Continue reading "Operating a Financial Guardianship"

There are various ways to gift that can reduce an inheritance tax (IHT) liability on death. Some are outright exemptions and others require to be claimed as part of the executry administration process. We always encourage our clients to keep accurate records of any gifting they undertake. By doing so, it will assist the administration … Continue reading "Six lesser known IHT allowances"

OK, so you have a Will? Great. When was the last time you thought about it or checked whether it still expresses your wishes accurately? If the answer is fairly recently, well done. We advise all clients to regularly review their Will. It is far too easy for clients to put a Will in place … Continue reading "I need to make change to my Will. Should I use a Codicil?"

What is intestacy? If a person does not leave a valid Will, their estate requires to be dealt with by the intestacy rules contained in the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964, as amended (“the Act”). This sets out a fallback position, providing the order of inheritance and financial limits for surviving spouses and civil partners, children … Continue reading "Intestacy Rules: 5 things to consider when dealing with an estate where there is no valid Will"

Peace of mind insurance? Is this a new insurable risk that lawyers have found an answer to? No. But this is what a Power of Attorney could be considered to be. I often say to clients that a Power of Attorney is ‘like peace of mind insurance’ so I thought that it would be interesting … Continue reading "Blackadders, now offering peace of mind insurance…"

What are they? Legal Rights are a peculiarity of Scots Law designed to protect against the disinheritance of certain relatives regardless of what you have written in your Will. Whilst many of our clients have heard of legal rights it is fair to say that most are surprised to hear that what they have written … Continue reading "The intricacies of Legal Rights: 5 points to be mindful of"