If you have children aged under 18, when making your Will it is important to appoint children's guardians. The guardians would usually look after the children only if both of their parents had died. Making this decision during your lifetime means that you are in control of who is appointed as guardian, and it also... Continue Reading →

Stonewall estimates that around 1% of the UK population may currently identify as transgender, including those who identify as non-binary. That would mean there are about 600,000 trans and non-binary people in Britain, out of a population of over 60 million. As a result of this emerging phenomenon, many people will now find that they... Continue Reading →

If you are married and own a business, it is very common for the business-owing spouse to leave their whole estate, including their interest in the business, to their spouse on death. At that stage, there will then be no inheritance tax to pay, because of the spouse exemption from inheritance tax. This exemption means... Continue Reading →

Various clients have contacted me recently to ask whether or not they may need to register their Wills with HMRC's online register of trusts, known as the 'Trust Registration Service', or TRS for short. This has been in the news because the scope of the Trust Registration Service has now been extended to cover many... Continue Reading →

Usually it is not possible to give away your home to avoid inheritance tax but to continue living in it. However, there are still exceptions to that general rule, even now. Many parents like the idea of giving away their home to avoid inheritance tax in theory - but are not so keen on the... Continue Reading →

I often speak to concerned parents who worry - quite rightly - that their adult children's eventual inheritance may be vulnerable to a claim on divorce from a disgruntled spouse. There are certain ways to attempt to protect your child's inheritance from a claim by their spouse, but in the end the needs of the... Continue Reading →

Is it possible to remove the executor appointed in somebody's Will, after their death? The executors of the Will are under a duty to wind up the deceased's estate, to obtain a grant of probate or letters of administration if appropriate, and and in general to carry out their duties carefully, following the terms of... Continue Reading →

An interesting and alarming programme about Lasting Power of Attorney fraud recently aired on Radio 4's "You and Yours". It describes how criminals are using fraudulently created Lasting Powers of Attorney to sell people's houses without their knowledge. The victim of the fraud in this case is a woman who had moved out of her... Continue Reading →

Today is the second anniversary of my setting up in business as Chiltern Wills, now Chiltern Wills LLP. It's been such an exciting time starting from scratch, building up the business and seeing it begin to flourish, and I've learnt a huge amount along the way. I'd intended to have a soft start and to... Continue Reading →

Possibly one of the most generous inheritance tax exemptions available relates to making gifts out of your surplus income. There is no upper limit to the amount which can potentially be given away tax-free, within the bounds of your own income and subject to your own regular spending requirements. If gifts of this type are... Continue Reading →