Householders warned about trust fund sales

Doorstep Selling = no!

Local residents are being warned about doorstep callers offering to set up trust accounts to protect family assets against future care costs. One legal services company based in the East of England, has had representatives calling on households in Longwell Green, Warmley and Kingswood selling a scheme aimed at  ensuring the house and other assets are passed on to the children and not used to pay residential care costs if  they become unable to look after themselves in old age. While there is nothing illegal in the services being offered, the costs are high (some clients have been asked for advance payments of over £2000) and, depending on the circumstances, the schemes can have more drawbacks than advantages.

Darrell Collins, a partner at Keynsham solicitors FDC Law and a private client specialist warns that setting up a Trust Fund during someone’s lifetime is not only an expensive and complex option, it also means residents no longer own and have control over their homes. She also explains that tax liabilities can be passed on to the children. “I would never recommend anyone to buy anything as important as this from a person who knocks on your door. You should always go to a solicitor for such specialist advice, ideally a Member of Solicitors for the Elderly (who specialise in advice for elderly clients) and/or a STEP member (Society for Trusts and Estates Practitioners).  While setting up a Trust Fund can cost between £2-3000, there are simpler ways to protect your house against care fees which cost a fraction of that.   A Trust can be set up during the client’s lifetime transferring the family home into a trust to protect it from care fees but this is a more complex option which many of our clients choose to avoid as the cost of setting up such an arrangement, the lack of control over the family home once it is placed into trust, and the ongoing administrative costs often prove prohibitive.”

Another option is to set up a simple trust in the client’s Will. By placing the trust in the client’s Will, the client is free to continue to use the property during their lifetime and will not suffer any negative tax implications during their lifetime or any problems with loss of control of the asset. Rather than costing thousands of pounds to initially set up and run, this option would normally cost less than £300.”  

If you want to find out more about this or arrange an appointment to discuss the options get in touch with FDC Law in Frome, Midsomer Norton or Keynsham.

D.I.Y. Probate – a botched job??

Is DIY always the best way? Is DIY always the cheapest way? It’s a question that is being discussed more and more in the legal sector.

In the past, if an individual needed a will or someone to deal with the estate of a loved one, they would approach a solicitor for assistance. However, now, more than ever, there are other avenues open such as approaching banks, will writers or even retailers (such as the Co-op) etc. Individuals can also try and run an estate themselves.

It is possible to apply for Probate and deal with an estate without seeing a lawyer but, as with all things in life, this approach is not without risks – risks that legal group Solicitors for the Elderly recently highlighted.

Like all things in life, a proper assessment of the risks involved is required before setting out to deal with an estate otherwise mistakes can be made and significant, and unnecessary, costs incurred in the future.

One of the things that the SFE pointed out is that they have noticed an increase in individuals who have initially tried to deal with a probate themselves but then turned to them for advice when they have made a mistake or found the paperwork too tricky.

The SFE highlighted an individual, Mrs. A, whose will had included a tax saving trust but when her husband dealt with the estate, he paid the whole estate to himself. The solicitor who he eventually approached was able to sort out the matter and avoid future complications occurring when Mr. A eventually dies.

They also highlighted the case of a Mr. G. who sold some shares that had made a gain during the administration of his late sister’s estate and had to pay tax. If he had known and had transferred the shares to himself, before selling them, he could have avoided that tax.

Darrell Collins, local SFE member and Partner with FDC Law, says that, "People are not always aware of the complexities and assume that the Probate work will be quite straightforward. It is true that it can be, but it is just as true that sometimes it isn’t. In all but the more straightforward of cases, it is important to seek timely specialist legal advice that can actually save you money and worry.”

If you would like more information on these issues or help with the administration of an estate, please contact us or call our office at Frome 01373 465051, Midsomer Norton 01761 417575 or Keynsham 0117 916 1088.

Midsomer Norton - blooming again

In this day and age when there are reports of constant pressure on town centre retailers from out of town developments and supermarkets, it seems more important than ever to ensure that our town centres are attractive places to shop and spaces to enjoy.

One of FDC Law’s offices is on Midsomer Norton High Street and, recently, we have been pleased to notice - and also help with - the work that has been going on to make the town centre more attractive and which, so far, has been very successful.

There have been a number of initiatives, not least the work to recover and reshape the town’s river bed which required a significant amount of mud being removed and the planting of lots of shrubs, herbs and flowers along the new river course - a big improvement, as we are sure that anyone who has recently visited the town centre would agree.

Work has also taken place with local retailers and the Chamber of Commerce resulting in hanging baskets being placed all along the High Street and a lot of effort has been made to improve the floral displays at The Hollies’ garden display in the centre of town, work that was sponsored by FDC Law.

All of this activity work will hopefully result in an entry for South West in Bloom 2011, for which we wish the town well.

FDC Law - New office now open in Keynsham

We are very pleased to have recently expanded our operations to include the busy market town of Keynsham on the outskirts of Bristol and are very excited to have the opportunity to become part of the town. Ben Whelan the Partner who is heading the new office lives locally and knows Keynsham well.

We have been considering opening an office in the town for a little while as we believe it is a town that deserves a wide a range of High Street services and we think an additional firm of solicitors can be of real benefit to the people of Keynsham.

The office is able to deal with enquiries from both individuals and businesses across a wide range of legal services including: residential and commercial property, wills, trusts and probate, family, elderly client, personal injury, employment and general litigation.

We already help clients from the area from our existing offices in Midsomer Norton and Frome but now hope to become a firm fixture on Keynsham High Street.

The office opened at the beginning of June 2011 and we have already had a very positive response from local people and businesses. We will be having a launch party but as the holiday season is now well under way, we will be holding the event in early September and hope as many people as possible will be able to come along to the office to meet our people and find out more about FDC Law. Full details of the event will be announced nearer the time.

For more information on the firm please contact 0117 916 1088, visit 60A High Street, Keynsham, or see our website.

No Will.

At a time when the newspapers buzz with austerity measures and belt tightening, it might come as no surprise to find that recent research indicates that over half the population has no will.  But then, as a population, we are supposedly becoming more financially aware, particularly as over the last quarter of a century, house ownership has continued to increase, along with house values, meaning that the consequences of dying without making a will can have serious financial implications for ones heirs, particularly from a taxation point of view.

The research, which was carried out by Standard Life, found that nearly two thirds (60%) of 35-44 year olds did not have a will whilst two fifths (38%) of 45-54 year olds, a third (32%) of 55-64 year olds and more than a fifth (22%) of over 65 year olds were also without a will.

Interestingly enough, the main reason given for not having a will by those who took part in the survey, was simply not having enough time or getting around to doing it.

The research also found that nearly a third of those who did have a will had not renewed it in the past 3-7 years, with 1 in 10 not having reviewed their will in over a decade, despite changes to the Inheritance Tax rules being introduced in 2006 and 2007.

When considering whether you should make a will, there are various issues to consider, not only the additional potential burden and stress put on grieving family members, but also the additional costs and legal fees in untangling estates and potentially incurring higher inheritance tax bills.

When weighing these issues against the actual cost, both in time and money, of visiting a qualified lawyer and getting a properly executed will, it seems like a relatively straightforward decision.

If you would like to talk to FDC Law about either making or updating a will, then get in touch with us for an initial, no obligation, chat about how the process works.

FREBA (Frome Rotary Education Business Alliance)

Last month, FDC Law took part in a mock interview day at Frome Community College. Brian Noctor spent a day at the College taking part in student interviews together with the Store Manager from Asda in Frome.

The event was organised by FREBA (Frome Rotary Education Business Alliance), an informal alliance between education, in the form of Frome Community College, and local businesses, with Frome Rotary Club in a facilitator role.

Frome Rotary Club works with Frome Community College to promote business links within the area and, specifically, in trying to provide work experience placements for the students and to give them a glimpse of a real business environment through mock interviews and work experience.

In March 2010, the 350 students in Year 10 were invited to submit job applications and from these 100 students were selected for interview. Students were interviewed by panels of 2 interviewees made up of local employers.

Each student underwent a 50 minute interview followed immediately by a feedback session in which they were able to discuss their reactions and feelings towards the interviews.

It was a very worthwhile and enjoyable day and really encouraging to see how positively the students engaged with the programme. It was also clearly evident that each of the students benefitted from the experience which, hopefully, will help to equip them to deal with their real life interviews in the not too distant future.

At FDC Law, we have always recognised the importance of engaging with local school groups and over the years have given work experience places to students at schools in both Frome and Midsomer Norton and university students from the local area who are looking to work within the legal sector. In 2011, we have already confirmed work experience placements to 3 students over the summer months.

Hopefully, the mock interview programme will continue over forthcoming years as this is a very worthwhile addition to the students’ educational programme, particularly for those that may be entering the jobs market in an uncertain economy.

Why use a specialist Solicitor?

Teams to support you.

There are many reasons why, when seeking legal advice, it pays to not only use a solicitor, but a specialist.

Some people may think that the importance of using specialist solicitors, rather than a general practitioner, is often over emphasised, but here at FDC Law, all of our legal advisers are organised into specialist teams that only deal with certain types of work, such as property matters, litigation or family issues. The importance to our clients of having specialists who are fully conversant with all areas of their particular field of law was again highlighted recently when one of our probate specialists dealt with an estate where a hefty inheritance tax bill was due on the death of the client. In the Will, the individual left her entire estate to her elderly sister but the Will stated that if the sister died before her, the whole estate should pass to charity. Upon checking the sister’s Will, it was noted that, on her death, all her estate was to pass to charity also.

Looking at the broader picture, we were able to offer the sister the opportunity to vary the terms of her deceased sister’s Will and thereby saving her estate hundreds of thousands of pounds. By varying the Will to leave some of the estate to charity now, she was able to reduce the estate below the tax threshold so that neither estate would pay tax.

In due course, this could have saved hundreds of thousands of pounds for the charities due to benefit, and the client was very pleased that we had raised the issue with them.

Of course, a ‘Will writer’ or general practitioner may also have identified this issue but the more you know about a given subject the more likely it is that more complex issues that do not arise every day will be identified.

Whatever your legal requirements, we are confident that FDC Law can help you so why not get in touch with us for an initial consultation?