ASL Financial Advice
- Business Mortgage
- Business Loan
- Business Plan
- Investment in shares, commodity, unit trust, bond, gilt and foreign fund
- UK Inheritance tax planning
- Pension Advice and Pension Transfer
- National Insurance Contract Out Scheme
- Trust Creation, Will Writing and Long Term Care Insurance
Welcome to ASL Financial Advice
Commercial Finance Specialists
Beat the "Credit Crunch", submit your details now for a no obligation quote, we will search our large panel of lenders to find you the right facility
- Looking for the right commercial mortgage or re-mortgage, we can help to find the right loan for you
- Commercial Mortgages from £26k to £100m
- Occupier, Investment and Development finance
- We are independent and genuinely offer whole of market to our clients, so we can identify the right product and negotiate best terms available
- Our management team are proud to have over 36 years High Street Bank lending experience, so we know how to help you
- 5 - 30 year terms, interest only available
- Market-leading rates up to 80% of property value, also up to 100% in selected sectors.
- Special schemes from lenders not available on the high street
NO BROKER FEES
We specialise in commercial property finance . Overall, we would prefer to do the work of presenting and packaging your commercial deals in order to get the best fit for the customer.
Due to the sheer volume of deals we currently do, we have negotiated exceptionally competitive rates and terms for our clients which means that everyone benefits, in addition to this our expertise and relationships help get cases accepted that others perhaps would not be able to. We thrive on pitting the high-street lenders against each other to get the best possible deal for our mutual customers.
Roughly 95% of the customers we currently deal with tend to get submitted to our Prime lender panel, for the rest we have certain lenders on board that can take care of non-status and adverse customers.
We will take care of the client from start to finish.
I hope we can do business and look forward to the opportunity to process the first commercial mortgage referral from you to demonstrate how good our service really is.
We are specialists in:
- Commercial Mortgages
- Commercial Re mortgages
- Development Funding (Primary and mezzanine funding)
- Bridging Finance
- Shariah Compliant Commercial Products
Anyway, why choose to use us?
- We genuinely offer whole of market, with high street banks through to non status lenders – so we can identify the best product available for each client.
- Complete sale and packaging through to acquisition- so we are a one stop shop and do all the work.
- Professional service with integrity – Our management team has over 36 years bank lending experience, so we know how to negotiate the best terms with the lenders.
- We are able to give a decision in principle usually within 48 hours and even have products for clients without accounts or with poor credit.
You can submit business by one of the following methods :
1) By telephone on 01923234242
2) By email to info@globalaccountancyservices.com
3) On the website using the following l
http://www.globalaccountancyservices.com
1.Business Mortgages
- Commercial Mortgages from £26k to £100m
- 5 - 30 year terms, interest only available
- Schemes to suit all circumstances
- Market-leading rates and up to 80% of property value
- Need Self certificiation?, plans available for cases with no accounts or business plan.
- 100% of property value available (with additional security)
- Full Status products available
- Special schemes from lenders not available on the high street
- We have products available for people with all types of credit history, including those with CCJs, mortgage arrears, and IVA and bankruptcy (providing they have been discharged).
- No lengthy interviews or bank visits required.
2. Business Loans
- Bridging Loans are available for a whole range of finance requirements and can be on the basis of a 1st, 2nd or even 3rd charge, for any purpose.
- Covering all areas of the UK, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, we are able to arrange competitive bridging facilities through our network of lenders. Whether it be licensed premises, office block, land or residential properties, our lenders will look at all types of security.
- Bridging loans are commonly used for :-
- Property refurbishment or conversion
- Chain-breaking mortgage
- Purchasing property at auction
- Purchasing property where the surveyor recommends a retention
- To help homeowners who have been or are about to be repossessed
- To stop bankruptcy
- When funds are required within days rather than weeks
3. Business Plan
It is essential to have a realistic, working business plan when you're starting up a business.
A business plan is a written document that describes a business, its objectives, its strategies, the market it is in and its financial forecasts. It has many functions, from securing external funding to measuring success within your business.
4.Investment in shares, commodity, unit trust, bond, gilt and foreign fund.
Investment strategy
Before making any investment decision, it is important that you consider what you wish to achieve: capital growth, financial security, tax-efficiency or a balanced portfolio that
combines all or some of these elements .
Your strategy should be unique to you and reflect your life stage, situation and ambitions. Your ASL Financial Advisor can work with you to assess your existing portfolio and to identify a strategy to help you to reach your goals.
Your Investment Attitude.
Risk-averse investing
Your attitude to risk and the length of time you are prepared to invest for will have an impact on our recommendations.
From cash deposit management to investments offering absolute returns or with initial capital guarantee or protected; we can offer a wide choice. Very often, investments that appear the safest option do not keep pace with inflation and therefore are a risk in themselves ; only informed advice will ensure that your capital and your income keep their value over time.
Identifying a client’s needs, recommending the most appropriate financial services and simple financial portfolio solutions, evaluating existing financial arrangements, reviewing and considering future client needs.
Sounds simple, but it takes an experienced, well qualified IFA to do this properly. Putting together a portfolio of investments and financial products to suit your personal needs, take in to account your attitude to investment risk, your income requirements, capital growth requirements, tax full advantage of tax allowances and provide as much flexibility and access as possible.
We have a specialist team that will make sure that upon reviewing your needs and objectives; you will be presented with the right solutions for you.
Balanced investing
Where appropriate, we will recommend that you rebalance your portfolio to optimize performance, control risk and increase the likelihood of you achieving your goals within your time horizons. We have been able to secure preferential agreements with our respected 'Manager of Managers' specialist and this approach means that our clients benefit from the best Funds Managers, who aim to achieve consistent returns through a diversified portfolio and providing ongoing monitoring and control.
The typical model portfolio incorporates UK and International stocks to allow your money to take part in the growth of equities and bonds but the percentage exposed to the market will vary with your attitude to risk and acceptance of volatility.
To ensure that you take advantage of the most suitable spread of assets to meet with your objectives; ask your ASL Financial Advisor to carry out an assessment of your existing portfolio and to present you with our recommendations.
Aggressive investing
To obtain above average returns; it may be necessary to invest in more speculative funds or investments than are normally available with retail products or through a typical high street IFA. Investments that can provide such returns include funds invested in Emerging Markets, Private Equities, Film Partnerships, Aviation Partnerships, Futures and Options and some Hedge Funds.
Many of our clients aim for these returns and ASL Financial Advisor is well versed in advising on such products and services. We have access to very sophisticated, and exclusive, investments that combine access to a range of investment strategies incorporating different sectors, asset classes and world markets.
ASL Financial Advisor can provide you with the investment strategy, and access to the appropriate products, that reflect your needs, circumstances, goals and attitude to risk, even as they change. By providing you with the latest information, and the framework that allows flexibility in your investments, we can provide you with the best chance of realising your financial goals.
5.UK Inheritance Tax Planning
IHT is essentially a form of death duties - the tax charged on what you leave behind when you die.
In some ways it's a fee charged by the government for allowing you to leave at least some of your wealth to your heirs.
Leaving aside questions over the appropriateness of this, the fact remains that it is there to tax at 40% the value of all the assets you leave behind on death apart from the first £312,000-worth (rising to £325,000 in 2009/2010 and to £350,000 by 2010/2011).
In practical terms, IHT has to be paid by someone's executors before they are able to manage their assets and potentially hand them on to the beneficiaries.
Calculating IHT
The basic calculation of IHT is simple - value all the assets that are left behind on death, add them up, knock off £312,000 (the "nil rate band", which rises to £325,000 in 2009 ) and tax what's left at 40%.
There are some extra points to this calculation.
For a start, if the deceased gave away assets within the seven years before death, those assets have to be counted into the value of the estate though any tax due may be reduced from the 40% level.
There are also a number of exemptions which mean the property or amount in question can be left out of the calculation.
The most important of these is property left to a UK-domiciled spouse. Other exemptions include charitable gifts and bequests.
Basic IHT Planning
Many will have spotted that you can avoid IHT entirely by leaving all your property to your spouse. However, this could increase your IHT bill in the long run.
To take a simple example, suppose that both husband and wife each have assets of £300,000. If on husband's death his share is left entirely to wife, there will be no IHT. But when wife dies there will be IHT on £600,000 less £312,000 = £288,000 @ 40% = £115,200.
If husband had left the £300,000 direct to the children there would be no IHT then or indeed on the wife's death because both nil rate bands would have been used. This is an example of how important it is to use the nil rate band - though practicalities must always be borne in mind.
There are things that can be done throughout life. There are little exemptions such as an annual exemption of £3,000, exemptions for certain marriage gifts and a useful one known as normal expenditure out of income. In other words, what the taxman is keeping an eye open for is simply gifts out of capital.
It is also possible to think in terms of giving sums away, surviving seven years and thus getting that gift out of your IHT "reach".
Reliefs available for agricultural and business property can also be planned into your thinking.
One factor that should certainly be in your planning is to make sure you have a proper will. Of itself it won't save IHT, but will at least make sure your assets go where they are intended to and that any IHT planning you have done is effective.
Inheritance inclusions
A person's estate includes everything owned in their name; the share of anything owned jointly; gifts from which they keep back some benefit, such as a home given to a son or daughter but still lived in by the parent; assets held in some trusts from which they receive an income.
Against this total value is set everything that the deceased person owed, such as, any outstanding mortgages or loans, unpaid bills, and costs incurred during their lifetime for which bills have not been received, as well as funeral expenses.
Avoiding IHT
Any amount of money given away outright to an individual is not counted for tax if the person making the gift survives for seven years. These gifts are called 'potentially exempt transfers' and are useful for tax planning.
Money put into a 'bare' trust - a trust where the beneficiary is entitled to the trust fund at age 18, counts as a potentially exempt transfer, so it is possible to put money into a trust to stop grandchildren, for example, having access to it until they are older.
However gifts to most other types of trust will be treated as chargeable lifetime transfers. Chargeable lifetime transfers up to the threshold suffer no tax but amounts over are taxed at 20% with a further 20% payable if the person making the gift dies within seven years.
Gifts that are exempt
Some cash gifts are exempt from tax regardless of the seven-year rule. They include: wedding gifts of up to £5,000 to each of your children; wedding gifts of £2,500 to each grandchild, and wedding gifts of £1,000 to anyone else; other gifts of up to £3,000 a year (plus any unused balance of £3,000 from the previous tax year); gifts of up to £250 each to any number of people each year; gifts to charities, the National Trust, national museums, the main political parties and most registered housing associations.
6.Pension Advice and Pension Transfer
Planning your retirement can be a difficult and complex task. Whether you are looking to set up your first pension, are looking to transfer your current pension or just about to retire, it makes sense to talk to an expert to find the right retirement solution for you
Before seeking advice on pension provision it's worth getting the basics right first.
Occupational schemes
Company pensions are set up by employers, for their staff. They can be “final salary” or “defined benefit” schemes. These are schemes where a Trust is set up for the members. Money is paid in from the company, the members or both. The money is then invested.
Members get benefits in accordance with their contractual terms (typically a proportion of the final salary for each year that they have worked there). These are expressed as a pension value, but normally members can opt to reduce their pension by taking some of the money as a cash lump sum on retirement.
The fund is monitored by Actuaries, whose job is to determine whether or not there will be sufficient assets to meet the pension payments. If the fund is doing well, the company, and in theory even the employees, might be able to reduce or stop their payments. If the scheme does badly (e.g. its investments fall in value) then the COMPANY is expected to make up any shortfall.
Alternatively, an employer may set up a "defined contribution" or "money purchase" scheme. In this case the monthly contributions are put into a fund earmarked for that particular employee who, when he or she retires, is able to take a tax free lump sum and, with the balance, buy an "annuity."
Annuities are sold by pension providers and insurance companies and guarantee the policyholder an income throughout his or her retirement.
Personal Pensions
Many employees prefer to set up personal, "portable" pensions of their own. For those who are self employed, this is also the case.
In this case, as with defined contribution schemes, contributions are set aside in the pension plan and used to purchase an annuity between the ages of 50 (rising to 55 on 6 th April 2010) and 75.
One of the great attractions of pension schemes as a method of saving for retirement is that there is tax relief on contributions up to government set contribution limits. There is no other investment you can make which will give you 20% or 40% tax relief, depending on the highest rate of tax you pay.
Which sounds most appealing, paying tax to the government or saving it for your old age?
Stakeholder pensions
With the government's introduction of Stakeholder pensions in 2001, there are now plenty of low-cost pension offerings being put out by pensions providers to enable people, especially those on lower incomes (even those not working), to set aside funds for their retirement.
The key to Stakeholder as to any other pension is to start contributing as early as possible and keep making contributions for as long as possible. That way, your pension pot has time to fill up and for the investment returns on the fund to compound through reinvestment. The result should be a significant sum of money to invest when you retire.
If you haven't set up a pension yet, then armed with these basics it is now time to ask us to obtain some quotations from pension providers. There is no time like the present. Once you have a range of options to consider you can then compare and contrast what's on offer.
No one will suggest that a pension should be the be all and end all of your personal finance arrangements. But putting one in place is an important long-term investment decision. Even if retirement seems a long way off right now, just think of what life would be like if a state pension of the equivalent of £100 a week was all you had to live on…
PENSION TRANSFERS
There are mainly two types of company pension scheme, although there are a few variations. These are either Final Salary or Money Purchase types of scheme. Group Personal Pensions or Stakeholder Pensions can be offered by your employer, but they do not fall under the same occupational company pension scheme rules and regulations. For information on transferring from a Personal or Stakeholder Pension Scheme please refer to Regent.
Reasons for considering a transfer may vary due to circumstances but normally fall into one of the following categories:
- You have left a company and have "Retained Benefits" with your previous employer
- You have been made "Redundant"
- The scheme is being "Wound-Up"
- You are considering "Early Retirement"
- You want to release "Tax Free Cash"
- You want to "Draw-Down" or "Phase" your benefits
- You are unhappy about the level of your scheme charges or fund performance
Any of the above can have different considerations and financial implications.
For you to consider an occupational scheme pension transfer (particularly from a final salary scheme) is a very complex issue. So much so, that the Regulator (FSA) has set a minimum qualification for any Adviser (if you seek advice in this area) to qualify to provide advice on a transfer out of an "Occupational Company Pension Scheme".
A Pension Transfer Specialist, who must be "G60" qualified, has to produce a full transfer analysis and advise you as to what your options are, and the most appropriate course of action based on your personal circumstances. Many advisers do not hold the appropriate qualifications and authorisation to carry out such advice.
Regent has many G60 qualified advisers - we are specialists in this field.
In addition, Regent is a firm of pension actuaries. We are therefore also able to help with the more complicated pension benefits and structures such as a Small Self Administered Scheme (SSAS).
This joint in-house capability is almost without equal.
If you have any retained or preserved benefits with a scheme you will have various options to consider:
- Leave the preserved pension with your ex-employer
- Transfer it to your new company pension scheme if available
- Transfer it to a Stakeholder or Personal Pension Plan
- Transfer it to a SIPP
- Final Salary Guarantees and Scheme Wind Ups if applicable
If you are not sure what to do and want advice or simply have a question please contact us.
7. National Insurance Contract Out Scheme
The UK state pension is made up of two different tiers – a basic state pension and the additional state pension. From April 2002 this additional state pension has been known as the State Second Pension (S2P) but it used to called the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS). So when you retire, you may get a combination of S2P and SERPS if you’ve been contributing before April 2002.
But you can choose to give up some of your state pension and build up a private pension instead though an occupational scheme (if you belong to one), a personal pension or stakeholder pension to replace the income you won’t get from the state pension. This is known as contracting out of the state second pension (S2P). You may have been contracted-out of SERPS.
In return, for contracting-out, you will pay either reduced National Insurance contributions or get part of the NI contributions you have paid rebated – this rebate is then invested in the private pension you have.
The rules on contracting out operate slightly differently for occupational schemes and personal or stakeholder schemes (see Contracting out of Occupational Schemes, Contracting out of personal pensions).
Deciding whether to contract-out of S2P can be a very complex decision. It will depend on the options open to you and on a number of factors such as your age and attitude to risk.
Some occupational schemes are already contracted out, so in those cases, you won’t actually have much choice about your options.
If you contracted out of SERPS or S2P in the past, there is a chance that you may have been given poor financial advice and may be entitled to redress.
Contracting out through occupational schemes
If you join an occupational scheme that is contracted out, then both you and your employer will pay a lower rate of National Insurance contributions. With some occupational schemes - called contracted out money purchase schemes (COMPS) – the government also pays an additional top-up rebate to the scheme which will be invested on your behalf.
Contracting out through salary related schemes
The decision to contract-out an occupational scheme is made by employers and trustees of the scheme. Employers’ schemes don’t usually allow individual members to contract back in to the state scheme. But even if you could opt back into the state scheme it is probably not good advice to do so. You could be giving up very valuable benefits by leaving an occupational scheme such as the employer’s contribution.
However, if you’re a member of an occupational scheme that is contracted into the state scheme, you can choose to contract out, and in this case part of the National Insurance contributions that would go towards S2P is paid into a personal/ stakeholder pension instead.
For an occupational scheme to be contracted out it must meet certain conditions. It must offer at least 90% of scheme members benefits which are as good as or better than the benefits from a benchmark ‘reference’ scheme. The main conditions the reference scheme must meet are:
- It must provide a pension which is equal to 1/80th of earnings for each year of service up to a maximum of 40 years. Earnings in this case are taken to be earnings between the lower and upper earnings limit averaged out over the last 3 years before the pension starts
- It must also provide a pension (worth at least half your pension) for your widow or widower if you die before or after 65.
These are minimum terms and your own scheme may offer a better deal.
Most contracted-out salary related schemes are likely to provide a replacement pension as good as the state pension you will be giving up – although of course it is not guaranteed.
There is a chance you could lose out if inflation runs at high levels. The state scheme is linked to inflation. Salary related schemes have to increase pensions in line with inflation but only up to a maximum of 2.5 per cent a year.
Contracting out worked differently prior to 1997. You built up what was known as a guaranteed minimum pension (GMP). This was based on SERPS and if your GMP fell short of the SERPS you gave up, you got a top up from the state to make sure you didn’t lose out.
Contracting out through money purchase schemes
In this case, your employer has to invest an amount equal to the National Insurance contributions saved (both your and your employers contributions) into the money purchase scheme.
These contributions build up a fund to provide what are known as ‘protected rights’. These protected rights include:
- a pension payable from any age from 50 onwards (this will be increased to 55 by 2010). The pension can be provided through an annuity or income withdrawal.
- You can shop around and choose your own annuity.
- a pension for your widow/ widower or civil partner worth at least half your own pension
- if you die before you retire, a pension for your widow/ widower or civil partner – equal to whatever amount the fund will buy at the time
- from April 2006, if you choose a tax free lump sum up to a quarter of the value of the fund.
There is no requirement to increase pensions in line with inflation. If you do want to protect your pension you will have to arrange built-in increases through your annuity.
The pension you will get from a money purchase scheme will depend on the amount paid into the scheme, how well the investments held in the pension scheme perform and the level of annuity rates when you retire. So you take the risk of the investments performing poorly (see Employers’ pensions, xxxxxxx).
So you cannot say with certainty whether you will be better or worse off by being contracted-out through a money purchase scheme. Although, it is possible to make estimates based on assumptions about investment growth and annuity rates in the future.
HM Revenue and Customs will also pay an extra age-related rebate based on a
percentage of your earnings between the lower and upper earnings limits. This rebate is paid once a year direct to your pension scheme when HM Revenue and Customs receives your employer’s end-of-year tax returns. This payment is on top of the rebate you and your employer receive through paying lower rate National Insurance contributions.
To find out whether your employer’s pension scheme is contracted in or out, you can ring the HM Revenue and Customs contracting out helpline on 084591 50150.
Contracting out through a personal/ stakeholder pension
If you belong to a scheme which is not contracted out or are not a member of an employers scheme you can choose to contract out through a personal pension or a stakeholder pension.
If you contract out through a personal or stakeholder pension, you and your employer carry on paying national insurance contributions but you will get a refund of part of the contributions – this is known as the national insurance rebate. The rebate you get is designed to compensate for the additional state pension you give up. You will also get tax relief on that part of the rebate which is a refund of your NI contributions (but not your employers contributions).
The rebate plus the relevant tax relief is invested on your behalf into a personal or stakeholder pension and used to provide benefits when you retire.
The rebate and low earnings
The amount of NI rebate paid into a personal pension is linked to the amount of S2P you are giving up. But it is more complicated if you are earning less than the lower earnings threshold (£13,500 in 2008/9). The way S2P works is that even if you earn lower than this, your S2P is worked out as if you did earn the lower earnings threshold – this is why it is a more generous scheme for people on lower incomes than the old SERPS. However, the rebate you’d get is based on your actual earnings – which is lower than the earnings figure used in working out your S2P. This means your rebate would not be enough to fully make up for the whole S2P given up. However, if this happens you will get what’s known as a ‘residual’ S2P to make up for the loss.
The rebate must be used to provide the same ‘protected rights’ that apply to occupational money purchase schemes:
- a pension for you payable from age 50 onwards (this will increase to 55 by 2010)
- a pension for your widow/ er or civil partner if you are married at the time you start the pension. The pension must be worth at least half your pension
- if you die before you retire, a pension for your widow/ er equal to the amount of pension the fund can buy
- if you so choose, a tax-free lump sum up to a quarter of the value of the fund.
The size of the rebate you get is linked to earnings – as S2P is earnings related. But it is also age-related - the amount of rebate you get increases the older you get. This is because it costs more to provide a pension for someone who is closer to retirement than a younger person.
As with any money purchase type scheme, the pension you will get from a money purchase scheme will depend on:
- the amount paid into the scheme – which will depend on the size of the rebate which is age-related;
- how well the investments held in the personal/ stakeholder pension scheme perform - you take the risk of the investments performing poorly; and
- the level of annuity rates when you retire.
So you cannot say with certainty whether you will be better or worse off by being contracted-out through a money purchase scheme. Although, it is possible to make estimates based on assumptions about investment growth and annuity rates in the future.
So, you need to consider some very important issues before you decide to contract out with this type of pension, or indeed contract back into the state second pension.
When you retire, your contracted-out pension may provide a pension income of more than what you would have received from the state scheme if you had stayed contracted in. However, it may provide less. You need to consider whether you want to take this risk.
Many experts believe that the current National Insurance rebates (the amount the government pays into contracted-out personal and stakeholder pensions) isn’t enough to match the benefits you could currently get from the state second scheme and that, whatever your current age or earnings, any NI rebate will have to achieve significant growth just to keep pace with state benefits, let alone beat them.
However, there are other considerations. Contracted-out personal pensions and stakeholder pensions offer a level of flexibility that is not available in the state scheme. You can start taking your pension from age 50 onwards (55 from 2010) and take up to 25% of the fund as a tax-free lump sum. For some people, flexibility outweighs the risk of ending up with lower benefits. The amount you get will depend on how well the rebate money is invested and other things such as your age and marital status (married, single, divorced, widowed or separated) when you retire.
Unless you have a good understanding of all of these issues, you should get independent advice.
You will still be entitled to any additional State Pension built up before you contracted out. Moreover, contracting out is not a one-off decision. If you want, you can contract back in at any time in the future. However, you will only be able to do this from either the beginning of the tax year in which you make that decision or the beginning of the following tax year.
To obtain a forecast of how much state pension you might receive you can either go to www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/statepensionforecast for an online forecast, or you can telephone the State Pension Forecasting Team on 0845 3000 168.
To rejoin the state second pension you’ll need form CA 1543, available from your pension provider or from HM Revenue and Customs. Complete this form and send it back to your provider or to HM Revenue and Customs.
Future changes to contracting out
The Government has announced that it intends to abolish contracting out for money purchase pension schemes (also called defined contribution or DC schemes) and personal and stakeholder pension schemes.
Possible misselling
When you are deciding to contract out or contract back in, much depends on your attitude to risk and you may be happy enough to take the risk of contracting out. But, remember that if you were advised to contract out of SERPS or S2P into a personal pension and the adviser didn’t explain the risks involved (for example that the personal pension and could provide a lower pension than the state pension) then you may have been missold and may be entitled to redress. According to Which? research an estimated 4.5 million people who contracted out of the state second pension (formerly SERPS) into a personal pension look likely to get less than they would have done had they stayed in the scheme.
8.Trust creation, Will writing and Long Term Care Insurance Etc.
Trusts are used as a part of estate planning as a way of controlling or protecting what happens to assets and property after the owner's death. Common types of Trust include: Protective Property Trusts, Life Interest Trusts, Nil Rate Band Discretionary Trusts and Trusts for Disabled Persons. We can advise on these and other Trust options to meet your requirements.
Although the 2006 Budget appeared to be the death knell for the trust industry, following the passing of the Finance Act 2006 trusts are still alive and well, and will continue to be a tax planning and assets preservation vehicle for an even wider range of people.
Whether you are seeking to set up a trust in your lifetime, or you are the trustee of a trust and need to understand your obligations, or you are a beneficiary and need to know your rights, our experienced team can help guide you through the issues. Consisting of solicitors, members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and a member of the Association of Taxation Technician, our team has a wealth of experience regarding the creation, administration and termination of:
- discretionary trusts
- accumulation and maintenance trusts and the issues that arise out of the Finance Act 2006
- life interest or interest in possession trusts
- will trusts or trusts that arise under the intestacy provisions
- trusts for pension and life assurance death benefits
- asset preservation trusts created for your self or others
- trusts for the disabled and vulnerable beneficiaries
- special needs or personal injury trusts
Whatever the structure of the trust concerned, we can advise on inheritance tax, capital gains tax and income tax compliance issues that arise at any time during the lifetime of the trust, ensuring the trustees are up to date with their compliance. We can also assist beneficiaries regarding their own tax issues which arise out of their entitlements.
The team has also set up and manages a number of private charitable trusts
Will
Statistics suggest that many people still die without making a Will. Worse still, many people die leaving behind them a Wills that is woefully out of date, either because the law has moved on or personal circumstances have changed. Making a Will and subsequently reviewing it from time to time is the only way you can guarantee on your death that your estate will go those people or organisations you chose.”
Whether this is your first Will and your wishes are straightforward, or you need a Will to mitigate inheritance tax or preserve assets for your immediate beneficiaries and beyond, this team will provide a plain English solution to your needs.
The team, which is made up of solicitors, tax advisers and members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, sees the Will as the by-product of the advice service we give in connection with the issues surrounding the succession of your estate. We will always ensure that the instructions we follow are yours, and are being given freely without pressure from others.
In addition to the preparation of the Will itself we can offer advice on:
- giving effect to your funeral wishes
- appointing executors and guardians
- how best to deal with gifts of specific assets or cash amounts
- how to provide for minor children
- assets preservation trust structures to ensure that your intended beneficiaries are protected “from themselves” or others
- inheritance tax efficient nil rate band trust structures
- business property and agricultural property relief for inheritance tax purposes
- life interest trusts and discretionary trusts
- the extent of your inheritance tax liabilities
- the apparently competing interests of the new spouse and your children
- identifying potential claimants against your estate and how best to avoid those issues arising
Writing a Will is not the end of the matter. We always advise that Wills should be reviewed every three to five years, and certainly when your circumstances change. The passing of the Finance Act 2006 shows the need to have competent advisers who can advise whether your existing arrangements still work or need to be updated in light of the new laws.
If you are thinking about changing your Will to provide for a cohabitee or are contemplating a new marriage or a divorce, our expert Family Law team will be able to guide you through the process.
Other Services
Long-Term Care Advice
Long-term care provision in the UK has been the subject of much debate and analysis over the past decade, yet the issue of how to fund the cost of that care for future generations remains unresolved. Much of the debate has revolved around how the State should address the problem. As a consequence, the general public is unsure as to where its responsibilities and liabilities lie.
Lasting Powers of Attorney
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a formal document which, when properly executed, gives the person appointed (the attorney) authority to act on your behalf in your property and financial affairs if at some point in the future you become incapable of doing so yourself. You can choose also for your attorney to act for you in decisions affecting your personal welfare including healthcare and medical treatment.
The Discretionary Trust Will
Our Discretionary Trust Will incorporates a discretionary trust which is designed to preserve assets for couples who own a home which is worth more than £50,000.
Why have a discretionary trust?
Following changes in the law in October 2007 there are no IHT tax benefits arising from the creation of a discretionary trust. However, discretionary trusts are still valuable for two purposes:
- To avoid a local authority using a deceased's share in the marital home to cover the cost of long term medical or nursing care for the surviving spouse/partner after they move into long term residential care. Under the "Deferred Payment Scheme" each local authority has an equity release scheme to enable residents of care homes to fund part of their care fees by releasing capital from their former marital home. This is done by placing a "charge" on the property and if the surviving spouse has inherited the deceased's share in the marital home this will be drawn down by the local authority against care costs. But if the deceased's share has passed to a discretionary trust then the local authority's "charge" cannot recover its costs against the funds preserved in the discretionary trust.
- A discretionary trust can be used to ensure that gifts intended for children/grandchildren from a former relationship are received by them, without the danger of the surviving spouse/partner reducing the amount that goes to them.
How does it work?
The scheme works by first ensuring that both parties own their own defined share of the property ("tenants in common"). That enables each of you to gift your share in the property under your Will. When the first of you dies, some or all of your share in the property is put into a trust - the maximum amount that can be put into the trust would be the current IHT tax-free allowance applying when you die (this tax-free allowance rises over time and is set by the Government).
If your share of the property is worth more than the tax-free allowance, then what is left over is given directly to your spouse/partner as a tax-exempt gift in your Will. However, in most cases, the tax-free allowance will greatly exceed your share in the property (even after repayment of your mortgage which in many cases is made from a life insurance policy written specifically for that purpose).
The people who benefit from the proceeds of the trust can be whomever you wish (often children or grandchildren), but would always include the surviving spouse/partner. After the first death, rather than give your share in the house to the trust, your executors will accept either an IOU or a charge over the property, which is repaid on the second death. This enables the survivor to have control and ownership of the entire family home until they pass away.
On the second death, the IOU or charge is treated as a debt prior to the second spouse's estate being considered for IHT purposes. The money paid into the trust can then be distributed to the beneficiaries tax-free, and the second to die can gift their share in the property using their own tax-free allowance.
