Posts tagged “Probate”

Like an umbrella on a rainy day, a life insurance policy is protection against the unexpected. Should you put yours in a trust?
You might have heard trusts mentioned in relation to Will writing and estate planning. 
Trusts are also a consideration if you’re planning to take out some life insurance. 
 
Many of us think about life insurance as protection for a rainy day. It can help our loved ones manage financially when we die. Normally they receive a lump sum free of income tax and Capital Gains Tax, so how might a trust help? 
The probate process takes a long time after you've laid flowers on a loved one's gravestone.
Concerns continue about probate application delays. The government says it has put measures in place to speed up the probate process
 
Despite the government’s target to complete probate applications within 16 weeks, delays mean it can still take up to a year. 
When you lose a close friend or family member you must deal with your grief and many practical issues too. 
 
If you’re an executor for your loved one’s estate this is a very challenging time. Although it’s a necessary administrative process it’s sometimes confusing and stressful. 
As this couple standing in a graveyard know bereavement is difficult.
If your husband, wife, or civil partner died in the last 21 months you could be eligible for the Bereavement Support Payment (BSP)
 
It is a welfare benefit to help you financially following your loss. It replaces the Bereavement Allowance (previously the Widow’s Pension), Bereavement Payment, and Widowed Parent’s Allowance. 
As well as the support of friends and family you need financial help when your partner dies and there are children to think about
The ownership of your home can affect who can inherit it when you die.
In a recent High Court case a widow was awarded £80,000 from her brother-in-law’s inheritance following a dispute over property ownership. Here’s what happened. 
 
Her husband has made a Will leaving his estate in full to her. However, after his death, there was a dispute concerning the family home that she had shared with him. The property was registered to her husband and his brother. It had been owned by their mother until she died in 2009, but it wasn’t clear whether the brothers held the property as joint tenants or as tenants-in-common