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Preparation of Wills & Trusts by Kennan Kay & Co

Will & Trust Preparation

By making a will you can decide what happens to your property and possessions after your death. It is the best way to make sure your estate is passed on to family and friends exactly as you wish. If you die without a will, your assets may be distributed according to the law rather than your wishes.

Dependent upon your needs we can arrange a will tailored to your needs. You may need a single, mirrored or business will and may want to include Protective Property and Discretionary Trusts.

A will documents who will benefit from your property and possessions after your death. There are many good reasons to make a will. Please Note: Our fees for a non-complex will are £200 plus vat of £40, totalling £240.

For your information we have prepared some of the more common questions we are asked together with the answers from our experts, Please see below.

If we have not answered your particular question please feel free to contact us using the form opposite or by calling 0151 9341410

Frequently Asked Questions About Wills & Trusts

Kennan Kay & Co have prepared 10 of the most common questions asked when preparing a will and trust.

A Will is a document in which a person (known as the testator) may express their wishes as to whom they wish to leave their estate to when they die.

Everyone should make a Will so that their last wishes are recorded and their estate passes to the people they want to benefit.

If you die without making a Will you will die what is known as “intestate”. Your personal representatives (known as administrators) will therefore have no choice but to distribute your estate in accordance with the law under the intestacy rules and it may mean that your estate will pass to people who you do not wish to benefit.

Collectively, everything an individual owns is classed as their estate. This will include their house, bank accounts, stocks and shares, insurance policies. It will also include any business property and any property they may own abroad.

An executor is someone who is appointed under a Will by a testator to deal with the administration of their estate when the testator dies. An executor should be someone the testator trusts. The duties of an executor are to administer the deceased’s estate which will include collecting in the deceased’s assets, paying all debts and liabilities, arising at date of death and during the course of the administration of the estate. These will include the funeral expenses. The executors will pay any legacies arising under the will and will then be in a position to distribute the residuary estate (that which is left after the payment of debts and liabilities etc) to the residuary beneficiaries.

A testamentary guardian is a person appointed under a Will by a testator who has the authority to look after and care for any children of the testator who may be under the age of 18 at the date of death of the testator. Where both parents have parental responsibility, such appointment will only take effect on the second death, since the survivor will continue to have parental responsibility. If only one parent has parental responsibility and has children under the age of 18, then it would be prudent for that parent to make a Will if only to appoint a testamentary guardian.

A beneficiary is a person who is entitled to a share of a person’s estate who has died. This can either be under the deceased person’s Will or under the intestacy rules that apply when someone has died without leaving a Will. There are various categories of benefits a person can take when they are named as a beneficiary in a Will; that person may be entitled to a fixed sum of money known as a pecuniary legacy, or to a certain item of the deceased known as a specific legacy, or to a share of the deceased’s residuary estate, that which is left after the payment of all tax, liabilities and expenses of the estate, in that case the person is known as the residuary beneficiary.

Every individual has an inheritance tax threshold of £325,000. This means that, particularly on death, if the valuation of that person’s estate is below the threshold no inheritance tax is payable by the estate. However if the value of the estate is above the threshold then the estate will be taxable at a rate of 40% on anything over the threshold. There are some exemptions and reliefs that apply in various instances where no inheritance tax will be payable.

A Will may be challenged in one of three ways.
  • 1. If it can be proved that the testator did not have testamentary capacity to make the Will.
  • 2. If it can be proved that the testator made the Will under duress.
  • 3. If the Will is invalid because it was not executed properly.
A person who thinks that they are a dependent of the deceased and has been omitted from the Will may bring a claim under The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.

Kennan Kay & Co offers a first rate confidential and sincere service and is sympathetic to clients’ needs. The staff at Kennan Kay & Co have a wealth of experience in this field who are equipped to deal and resolve any difficult scenarios.