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Lovely Testimonial for Sarah Bruce

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Sarah Bruce Picture For Testimonial Sarah Bruce acted for a client in Haverhill with regard to probate matters. The client said

“I also wanted to say thank you for all your work you have completed for me over the last two years in relation to both my parents. It has been an emotional and challenging time and I am grateful to you for helping everything go very smoothly in the circumstances.”

Coping with the loss of a loved one is never easy and can feel overwhelming especially if you are responsible for dealing with the legal and financial aspects of their estate. Depending on the circumstances you may need to go through probate, which can be a challenging process at a very difficult time. Sarah Bruce, who works in our Haverhill and Saffron Walden offices, can help you through the process. We also have Leanne Mayes in our Haverhill office, Christine Gee in our Sawston office, or Melanie Pratlett, Head of Wills & Probate, who works mainly in our Saffron Walden office.

Death and Digital Assets

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Our lives are now carried out online far more than they were even 10 years ago.

E-mail accounts, Paypal accounts, Bitcoin, Etsy accounts, blogs, digital photos, media players, gaming accounts, social media accounts etc are all digital assets.

However, there is no actual definition of what a digital asset is.

What happens to those digital assets after your death? How can you protect those assets and not lose sentimental or financially viable items?

Unfortunately, the law is very unclear in this regard and there is no correct answer. There is no consistency between service providers on how they deal with these items. Some social media platforms can be taken offline, frozen or used as a memorial. Apple provide a legacy feature allowing someone to access their account after their death. Some of these digital assets are not deemed to be owned by you and some view email as information rather than an asset. It may be necessary to obtain a court order to gain access to such accounts. This is time consuming and expensive. Cryptocurrency i.e. Bitcoin is an asset that can only be accessed with a passkey. It is vitally important to leave a record of your passkey so that the account can be accessed after your death.

What you can do:-

  • Make a comprehensive list of your digital assets
  • Keep your passwords and other details in a password manager and provide the login details to your executor or leave a sealed envelope with your Will. Ensure you update the details in the manager when you update your password or other information.

Where There’s A Will There’s A Relative!

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Making a Will is a wise and important thing to do. You will have peace of mind knowing that your estate (that is, everything you own) will pass to your chosen beneficiaries.

Without a Will, your estate could pass to relatives you have not seen for years.

However, some people chose not to include a member of family in their Will. This may be a child or sibling and could be for a number of reasons, for example, a falling out or estrangement and even though most people would like to think that the relative would not try to contest the Will, there is always a risk that the relative could claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 and if this happens then dealing with your estate can be lengthy, complex and expensive.

If you have a reason for leaving a relative out of your Will then we strongly recommend that you leave a personal letter with your Will explaining the reason why you have not included this particular person (or persons). You will not be around to explain why and a personal letter would help against any potential claim.

Contentious Probate; 25 Years Not Too Late To Bring A Claim.

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Chief Master Marsh has given judgment in the case of Bhusate v Patel & others permitting a widower to bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (“the Act”) 25 years and nine months after the deadline to do so.

Ordinarily a claim under the Act must be brought within six months from the Grant of Probate or Letter of Administration. However, the Act does state at section 4 that with permission of the court a claim can be brought out of time. Prior to this case permission had never been sought for pursuing a claim for anything like this period of 25 years.

It was very relevant to the application that the Claimant in this case could only speak basic and broken English, and could read very little, despite having lived in the UK for over 38 years. It is also relevant that as the family had been unable to agree matters in relation to the sale of the deceased’s property that by the time this matter was heard the property had increased substantially in value. Following Mr Bhusate’s death intestate (without a will) no one had properly administered the estate. It was successfully argued that it is open to a claimant to bring a claim out of time when there was no claim at an earlier date.

The Court was satisfied in this case that there were‘compelling reasons’ why it was right and proper that the court should exercise its discretion in her favour in allowing a claim significantly out of time.

It was relevant that if Mrs Bhusate had not been permitted to proceed with her claim she would have been left with no remedy at all and no benefit from her husband’s estate, and would effectively be left homeless.

Should you require advice about any claim you may have in relation to a deceased’s estate then please contact us for an appointment.

 

Jenny Carpenter
Partner
Contentious Probate Litigation Solicitor

Increase in Probate Court Fees

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Historically probate court fees have been a fixed amount (currently £155 when applying through Solicitors or £215 when making a personal application) with a charge of 50p per office copy of the Grant required. The only exception to this is where an estate is valued at less than £5,000 where there is no fee payable.

As from April 2019, the probate fees are set to be paid on a sliding scale dependent on the value of the estate rather than the fixed amount. For estates worth less than £50,000; no fee will be payable. However, for estates exceeding this sum, the fees will range between £2,500 to £6,000.

It is currently, and will continue to be the case, that executors will need to fund the probate court fees upfront before access can be gained to the deceased’s bank accounts. Currently; most banks are willing to release funds for inheritance tax prior to probate being granted and may be willing to release funds for court fees too. However, often estates are property rich and cash poor and it may be necessary for executors to fund the fees personally. They will of course be able to reimburse themselves from the estate when the estate is in funds.

The government have failed to explain why it is choosing to place this burden on bereaved families and have failed to comment upon why the changes were not included in the recent Budget.

Although the exact date when the new fees will take effect is not yet known, they are anticipated to apply for applications received after that date rather than deaths which occur after that date. We recommend that if you are in the early stages of dealing with an estate that an application is made sooner rather than later.

What Is A Deed Of Variation?

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You may be surprised to learn that it is possible to alter someone’s Will after their death, providing that any beneficiaries left worse off by the changes agree. The changes can be made by what is known as a deed of variation.

If someone dies intestate (without a Will) then the intestacy rules govern who inherits. A deed of variation can also be used to change the inheritance in the same way as if there was a Will.

There are various reasons why it may be a sensible idea to change a Will or redirect inheritance under the intestacy rules. These include:-

  • to reduce the amount of Inheritance tax (IHT) or Capital Gains Tax (CGT) payable
  • to provide for someone who was left out of the Will
  • to move the deceased’s assets into a Trust
  • to clear up any uncertainty over the Will

Deeds of variation are a useful inheritance tax (IHT) planning tool because any inheritance from an estate that is redirected to others will be treated as if the deceased made the gift. This means that the person allowing the redirection does not have to survive the gift by seven years in order for it to fall outside of their own estate and therefore not be subject to IHT. A common example would be a child who is to inherit from their parent’s estate. If the child is already financially sound then they may not require the inheritance which would only increase the size of their estate, giving rise to further IHT charges on their own death. In this situation, the child may wish to redirect the inheritance to their own children who could benefit from the money.

A deed of variation could also be used to alter the division of a Will to benefit a charity. Making such a change could potentially attract a lower 36% rate of IHT of the estate that is chargeable which would reduce the IHT bill.

It is important to know that a deed of variation must be made within two years of the date of death. Furthermore, once a deed of variation is signed it cannot be revoked so it is paramount that careful consideration is taken before entering into a deed of variation.

For more information, please contact our Private Client department for expert and professional advice regarding wills and probate issues.

Hayley Ford, Private Client Solicitor

Why Appoint Professional Executors?

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Executors are the people you appoint in your Will to carry out the administration of your estate when you pass away.  Although many people choose to appoint family members or friends, it is also possible to appoint professional executors such as Solicitors.

Here are some reasons why you may wish to appoint professional executors:-

  • Appointing professional executors removes the responsibility for the job from family and friends, particularly the surviving spouse or civil partner. It relieves friends and relatives of the duty at a time when they will be grieving.
  • Estates with assets overseas, business or agricultural interests, or those with complex trusts will require specialist advice in order to be dealt with correctly.  Appointing a professional executor with specialist knowledge will help with the administration and make sure common pitfalls are avoided.
  • If a Will leaves ongoing trusts, perhaps for minor children until they reach a specified age or for vulnerable beneficiaries who are unable to manage their own property and financial affairs, appointing professionals will ensure the trust is run correctly.
  • If you have members of your immediate family who do not get on then it may not be a sensible idea to appoint them as your executors. Professional executors, however, are neutral and will ensure that your wishes are carried out.

Although professional executors will make a charge for their services, their appointment can be invaluable.

For more information, please contact a member of our Wills and Probate department for expert and professional advice.

 

Hayley Ford