As Financial Advisers we help our clients throughout different cycles of their lives from
saving for their first home, obtaining the best mortgage rate, the best Life Cover, school
fees planning, tax planning and investing for the future, only to begin the process again
once the kids are old enough to start their own financial plan.
Being a Family run business helps when it comes to relating with clients that financial
planning should be a family affair, not just with the family at mind but the family at the
centre. From making the most of spouses allowances to starting a pension or ISA for
a child to ensuring that it is your nearest and dearest that eventually benefit from your
assets whether that be written in your will or put in trust in your lifetime.
Shoring up the foundations of the estate you have built up over the years focuses
strongly on asset preservation and estate planning. Our clients can access our
bespoke service to ensure their assets pass to the exact people they wish and can
protect against divorce and bankruptcy. Writing a Will may also help you to reduce
your Inheritance Tax Liability payable at a whopping 40% on the value of your estate
above the current threshold of £325,000.
Did you know if you die without a will, you could be leaving your family with an
avoidable Inheritance tax bill? If you die intestate, IHT would be payable on the value
of the residuary estate that passes to children, as they are not exempt from IHT. This
tax can easily be avoided if a will is prepared in which the estate passes to your
surviving spouse who is IHT exempt!
Another important arrangement is a Lasting Power of Attorney to ensure you can give
someone you trust, usually a family member, the power to make financial or health
decisions on your behalf should you not be able to.
The truth is, you could lose mental capacity at any time — either from a serious injury
or accident, a disease or illness. By the time you need it, you may be too late if you
haven’t set up a Lasting Power of Attorney.
One of the most important things anyone can do is to secure the future for their family
and loved ones and Writing a Will and arranging an LPA should be one of the
cornerstones of your financial planning.
Pippa Vaughan-Avery DipFA MLIBF CertLTCP
Financial Advisor at Abacus Assurance Financial Services Ltd and Associate
member of the Will Company