Wills, Power of Attorney & Tax Planning

Professionally Qualified and Regulated Will Writing Service

Lightfoots offer a tailored will writing service that ensures your property and possessions go to the ones you love. We can make wills for individuals, married couples and common law partners. We can also advise on planning for the cost of nursing and care homes, or in the unfortunate scenario when issues arise regarding a will, we can act to resolve this.

Help and Assistance at this Difficult Time

When a loved one dies, or becomes mentally incapacitated, it is hard managing your grief and dealing with all that needs to be done. This is where we can help you in doing so in a friendly and understanding way. If a person has left a will then we can guide you through the process of applying for probate and, if there is no will, then we can advise you on the rules (the intestacy rules) that determine what will happen to their estate. In both cases we can advise you on the inheritance tax consequences and the payment of any tax.

Our experienced probate team is made up of Solicitors (each with over 20 years’ experience in this area of law), a senior legal assistant (with over 30 years’ experience), and experienced support staff. The team is supervised by a partner, Monica Havers, who is STEP qualified and has over 20 years’ experience working in wills and probate, tax and trusts.

To provide you with a guide of the likely costs please read our standard fees, listed here.

Dealing with the death of a loved one is a traumatic and distressing experience. Unfortunately, issues can sometimes arise about the will, or the way their affairs are to be handled, and which require sensitive handling.

Wills can be challenged in a number of ways, with reasons including lack of necessary understanding, undue pressure, neglect of reasonable provision for dependents and mistakes in the Will. Disputes can also arise where there is not enough money to pay all of the gifts mentioned in the Will or if beneficiaries of the Will do not think that those administering the estate are doing their job properly.

Why Can A Will be Challenged?

Reasons for a Will to be challenged include:

• If the person did not have the necessary understanding to make a Will or did not know what they were signing
• If they only did so as a result of undue pressure put upon them and you suspect that the Will does not truly reflect their wishes
• If they had an obligation to maintain someone else (for example, a child) and did not make adequate and reasonable provision for them in their Will
• If there is a mistake in the Will that needs to be rectified or an ambiguity that needs to be resolved.

Paying for Care

With life expectancy increasing, it is important to plan long term in order to consider how you would pay for your care should you need it. You may also have to confront and deal with this on behalf of your relatives.

We can help by advising you on your potential liability for the cost of the care that you need in your home or in a nursing home, any allowances and benefits that can be claimed to help with the cost of care and the possibility of obtaining NHS Continuing Care to meet the cost of your care in full and we can assist you with the application if appropriate.

Why Use Lightfoots?

There are non solicitors who offer these services, but do you want to use someone that may not be qualified or professionally regulated? The head of our department, Monica Havers, has many years experience and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). STEP members are the best qualified and experienced to assist you at this very difficult time.

We can advise you on managing your estate and all areas of taxation including trusts, protecting assets from nursing and care home fees, managing money for those who may not be able to manage it for themselves; and protecting vulnerable people.

Our trust and tax planning services include:

• Inheritance tax
• Setting up trusts