Murder mystery enthusiasts - I'm seeing posters everywhere at the moment recommending the first "Chiltern Kills" crime-writing festival, which is due to take place in Gerrards Cross, just 20 minutes from London Marylebone, on Saturday 7th October 2023. What with Chiltern Kills rhyming so nicely with Chiltern Wills, and also a certain commonality of theme... Continue Reading →

In an advance care plan or ACP, you can outline which treatments you would and would not want to be given, and how you would like to be cared for in the last days of your life, if you were too unwell to explain your wishes yourself. The aim is to give control over end... Continue Reading →

The Powers of Attorney Bill 2023 had its second reading in the House of Lords on 16 June 2023. Currently, the process for making a lasting power of attorney is largely paper-based. The Powers of Attorney Bill 2023 is a private members bill which will introduce significant changes to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Its... Continue Reading →

If you are setting up a Will trust for your family's long-term benefit, one of the key decisions to make is who should be trustee of your Will trust. This may, for example, be a Will trust to hold funds for your children until they are older, or perhaps a trust for the benefit of... Continue Reading →

Why use a trust in your Will? Will trusts are used to protect assets against possible future events such as remarriage or care fees. The assets are held in a Will trust for the ultimate benefit of your chosen beneficiaries - often your children - after death. For example, let's say a married couple, Robert... Continue Reading →

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 →