We are specialist estate planning advisors. Our Senior Advisor, Sharon Webster was a solicitor in Private Client Law practice for 16 years and set up the firm 4 years ago. Sharon recognised that there was a gap in the market place for a firm to focus on the 3 key legal protection documents that individuals need: Wills, Powers of Attorney and Asset Protection Trusts, and to make the process of getting these documents in place easy, efficient, and cost effective.

That is what we do. We come to you at home or at work, at a time that suits you. We keep the process moving, so that you and your family get protected. We advise in plain English, using our specialist legal knowledge. We offer a holistic approach to ensure we cover your position and protect your family and your assets.

Each document that we produce is insured up to £1,000,000. Most of our clients are introduced to us either by personal recommendation, or professional advisors (IFAs, Accountants, Estate Agents) or large corporations.

Most solicitors do a little bit of everything rather than being specialists – a little like your local GP. As a general rule they will have had no more than a few hours training on wills and probate prior to qualifying. A good estate planning consultant can give better and more cost-effective advice and there is no reason why you should not use one.

Our advisors have law degrees, they have been in practice specialising in private client law as solicitors, and they have completed their Society Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) qualifications. Before you work with any advisor, see what their experience is and whether they carry PI Insurance. We have a great team who are backed up by a legal specialist, expert in what they do. So, we are confident that you will get the very best advice available.

We do not recommend these. Part of our service is to meet you either face to face or online. We make detailed attendance notes of these meetings to protect your position and ensure we have a record of your instructions.

In order for a Will to be valid, you need to understand the nature and extent of your estate, those that reasonably expect to inherit from it, and have the capacity to make a Will.

If you make a DIY Will or an online Will with no meeting, these can be prone to error, but also there is no checking of the above requirements for your Will to be valid. Such Wills can later be prone to become contentious, and challenged, with costs paid for from your estate.

Our job is to protect your position and we do that well. We also ensure you complete the process and are protected, rather than paperwork being left in the kitchen drawer!

By making a Will you decide who will inherit from your estate and how much they receive. Making a will clarifies your wishes and can help to reduce estate administration fees.

Our clients make their wills for a variety of different reasons. Here are just some of them:

• Control the distribution of your Estate: If you do not have a will then the way that your assets and property will be distributed will be left up to the authorities (Laws of Intestacy 1925).

Unsurprisingly, not many people want this to happen as it may result in a number of problems – not least the fact that a surviving spouse may have to share their inheritance with other relatives.
If you are unmarried and do not have a will these laws may also mean that your partner inherits nothing at all.
If you are single your money could actually end up going to the Crown.

• Appoint guardians for your children: A will is one of the most practical ways of appointing guardians for your children. In the case of a married couple, if you and your partner die without appointing guardians then the Local Authorities will do this on your behalf.
In cases where a couple is unmarried and have children born prior to 2003, it may actually mean that the father may not get automatic parental responsibility.

• Protecting your wealth: One of the most popular reasons for arranging a will is to ensure that your accumulated wealth is not wasted by beneficiaries or inherited by those you do not want to access your funds (e.g. on remarriage).

• Leave a legacy to charity: A will provides you with the opportunity to benefit your favourite charity (free of tax) by leaving a legacy.

• Look after a family pet: If you are not around your will can help ensure that your much-loved pet will be looked after.

• Set up trusts.: These can be established for the benefit of children to ensure that they do not inherit too early and waste money or assets you have given to them. You can also put longer term conditions in place to guarantee that trust funds are only used for certain things.

• If you do not have a Will, your assets will be distributed by the authorities according to some rules which were put in place over 80 years ago. These are known as the Laws of Intestacy (1925).

• Needless to say, these laws do not bear much relation to modern personal and family situations and they can have an extremely damaging effect – especially in the event of unmarried partners, especially if they have children.

• These Laws can also mean that a surviving spouse may have to share a large proportion of the Estate with children rather than having outright use of it themselves.

• If you are unmarried with no close relatives the Laws stipulate that that your Estate will pass to the Crown if you do not have a Will in place.

Yes. If you should die without a Will and fail to designate a guardian, the Courts will decide who takes care of your children (under the age of 18). The Courts do not know your children and therefore will not have an understanding of your wishes, so grandparents or close family members are not always an automatic choice.

We accept cash, bank transfer or cheque and receipts will be provided at time of payment.

We offer flexible payment plans where the cost of your legal documents can be spread over 3 months, with no interest being charged. Your copy documents are set to you at the end of your final payment.

We want to be as flexible as we can to help you to get these important key legal protection documents in place.

We aim to meet with you within 7 days of our initial contact. We send draft documents to you within 10-14 days. We telephone you within 5 working days to ensure you received the draft and to discuss any amendments. We then book in to sign or send your documents to you for signing.

We aim to have you through the process within 30 business days from the date of your consultation. You will receive a copy of your documents for your own records once signed.

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a binding document made whilst you are alive, and before you lose mental capacity, that transfers power to another person you have specifically chosen (your ‘Attorney’), to make your decisions about your own health and welfare, and/or property and financial matters on your behalf – as if you were making those decisions yourself.

The LPA protects your health and financial interests at a time when you cannot and ensures that your appointed representative (Attorney) will act in your best interests at all times.

Many individuals do not understand the vital importance of having a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) or a will in place, whilst they are alive.

It is often one of those jobs that tends to get put on hold, perhaps because some people do not really know what an LPA or a will is; how it can really benefit them; or are superstitious about even talking about such things; or more commonly, just think they will get round to it when they are ‘older’.

Life is precarious, and a person’s physical or mental health can, unfortunately, change overnight – whether in declining health, or as a result of an unpredictable life–changing event such as a catastrophic stroke, sudden accident, or stressful event. Do not make the same mistake of thinking that a Lasting Power of Attorney is just for the elderly. Any person aged 18 or over, should have Lasting Powers of Attorney in place.

Without a valid LPA in place, you may be powerless to make decisions about your relative’s health or finances whilst they are alive – leaving others to step in and take control instead. Do not just assume that you will be automatically consulted and involved in decision making over your spouse or parent’s health or financial affairs, if one day they lose mental capacity to make decisions for themselves.

Part of the problem is, that even discussing an LPA or will with your relative can be a very sensitive issue. We are trained to discuss these documents sensitively, with more focus on the protection that they give.

• Gives you control to appoint someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf, as if you were making them yourself.

• Saves time if critical or important medical and/or financial decisions have to be made quickly.

Without a valid Power of Attorney in place, an application has to be made to the Court of Protection to seek a Deputyship Order. This can be expensive and take time.
In the meantime, a ‘stranger’, who may be unfamiliar with your relatives’ wants or needs, may be appointed to act in their best interests instead, and could make decisions which you know your relative would not have wanted or wished to have imposed upon them.

A Lasting Power of Attorneys ends on your death.

On death, your Will takes over to deal with your estate and to carry out your wishes in respect of your estate. Your will confers powers to the appointed Executors after death, to act in your best interests and in accordance with the terms of your will.