Glossary of Terms

Resources & Info

<ol><li>Get in touch using our contact forms and we’ll arrange a meeting with one of our estate planners.</li><li>You should prepare for your meeting: list your assets and think about decisions you’d like to make so that you’re confident in your choices.</li><li>Meet with your estate planner who will discuss your needs and put together a plan with you.</li><li>The elements of your plan will be created. For example, a will document will be drafted, a trust might be set up and an LPA may be created.</li><li>You will review the relevant documentation and sign in the presence of witnesses.</li><li>Periodically, you or we may review your plan to ensure it’s still best suited to your needs and wishes.</li><li>If you ever need to make changes to your plan, simply get in touch.</li></ol><a href="https://countrywidegroup.co.uk/im-planning-my-will">Get Started with Planning Your Estate</a>

<ul><li>Assets: List your assets: bank accounts, savings, pensions, shares and investments, property and important possessions (whether expensive possessions like a vehicle or something of sentimental value). Make a note if you own any of these assets with another person and then decide who you want to pass on your assets to.</li><li>Dependents and pets: If you have children, pets or a vulnerable adult in your care, decide who you’d wish to take care of them should you die before expected. You should consider this carefully and discuss with the person or people you choose.</li><li>Executors: Decide on the person or people best positioned to handle the administration and ensure your will is enacted. You should discuss this with the person or people you choose.</li><li>Charities: Consider whether you would like to make any charitable donations in your will.</li><li>Funeral: Consider whether there are any particular arrangements you want to be made for your funeral?</li><li>Complexities: Life and family are not always simple. There might be situations where you’d wish to exclude certain people from inheriting your assets. Perhaps there are complex family structures involving previous marriages and step-children. Be prepared to share these details with your estate planner as they may affect the decisions or recommendations made within your estate planning.</li><li>Lasting Powers of Attorney: Consider who you would trust to make decisions on your behalf with regards to your health or finances (these could be two different people). You may wish to discuss this with the people you choose.</li><li>Financial advisor: If you have a financial advisor or accountant, gather together their contact details.</li><li>Business: If you have a business, gather information about its ownership and assets. Think about what you’d like to happen to the business should you die. Do you want it to continue running? Who should run the business or own shares in your stead?</li></ul>If you have any further questions or wish to meet with an estate planner, <a href="https://countrywidegroup.co.uk/contact">get in touch</a>.

Will Writing & Estate Planning

<ol><li>Register their death with the local authority. You can do this on the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/register-a-death">government website</a>.</li><li>Pay for a death certificate from the local authority. This will cost £11 in England, £10 in Scotland and £8 in Northern Ireland.</li><li>Find the testator’s will. If you are unsure where the deceased kept their will you might ask their solicitor or estate planner, such as Countrywide Tax &amp; Trust.</li><li>Tell HMRC the estimated value of the estate.</li><li>Apply for a Grant of Probate or a Grant of Letters of Administration if there isn’t a will.</li><li>Gather together the deceased’s assets. You may need to gain access to bank accounts in order to do this.</li><li>Pay any outstanding debts the deceased had. You will need to consult their financial records and paperwork in order to do this.</li><li>Place a Deceased Estates Notice with The Gazette and perhaps also put a notice in the local newspapers. This allows any remaining creditors (people or organisations that the testator owed money to) to come forward.</li><li>After two months have passed and all debts are paid, the executor can distribute assets to the beneficiaries and complete the wishes outlined in the will.</li></ol>The probate process is admin-heavy and can be complex to deal with, especially at a time of grief. Professional help can be a great support at this time. 
<a href="https://countrywidegroup.co.uk/im-planning-my-will/probate">Find out more about our probate services.</a>

If someone dies but has not made a will, they have died “intestate”, which means that their estate is subject to intestacy laws rather than their personal wishes. Because they won’t have chosen an executor, their spouse or a close family member (such as their parent or child) is given the legal right to deal with their estate.
In this situation, it often comes as a surprise to the family member who will be taking on the estate administration. Sometimes it can be helpful to have an expert to guide you when it comes to follow intestacy laws. 
<a href="https://countrywidegroup.co.uk/im-planning-my-will/probate">If that’s you, find out more about how we can support you with probate.</a>

There are certain situations when an executor doesn’t need to apply for a Grant of Probate. This might be when as estate is small in value, if the deceased only had savings, or had jointly owned assets – for example, shares, bank accounts or property.
You should contact the financial organisations that the deceased used, such as their bank or even a financial advisor if they had one. They will be able to let you know whether they require a Grant of Probate in order to release the assets.

Find out more about how our expert team can help with probate

Wills & Probate

<ul><li>Bare trusts: These are basic trusts where the beneficiary has absolute right to the assets once they are over 18.</li><li>Interest in possession trusts: This kind of trust means that the beneficiary has an absolute right to receive income from the trust. For example, if money was placed into an interest in possession trust, the trustees would send all of the interest straight to the beneficiary.</li><li>Discretionary trusts: This is a flexible type of trust. Usually, a settlor decides when and how much of the assets in a trust are passed on to a beneficiary. However, with a discretionary trust it is the trustee instead who makes these decisions. This can be a useful way of protecting the assets in situations such as when the beneficiary is a child or if the beneficiary went through a divorce.</li><li>Accumulation trusts: These trusts allow trustees to grow the income of the trust and add it back into the trust. Like a discretionary trust, the trustees may also be able to pay the beneficiaries an income from the trust.</li><li>Mixed trusts: A mixed trust combines one or more types of trusts, meaning that the different types of rules will apply to each part of the trust.</li><li>Settlor-interested trusts: With this kind of trust, the trustees can make payments from the trust to the settlor or their spouse or civil partner. This is useful for people who can no longer work due to illness, for example.</li><li>Non-resident trusts: This is a trust where either the trustees do not live in the UK or the settlor did not live in the UK when they set up the fund.</li></ul>

If you’re a settlor, assets in a trust do not have to be considered as part of your estate. This can make probate a little easier (<a href="https://countrywidegroup.co.uk/im-planning-my-will/probate">find out more about the probate process here</a>) and also be beneficial for your inheritance tax.
Trusts are also private, meaning the details of which assets you pass on to whom will not be made public (unlike a will that is made a part of public record).
Trusts are a very useful tool for controlling and protecting your assets and the way you pass them on, whether that’s in your lifetime or after your death. They can be especially useful for passing on assets to children who might not yet be ready to look after the asset, or ensuring that if a beneficiary ever divorced or ran into debt, the asset would remain protected for their benefit alone.

Often people want to appoint trustees they trust such as family members or close friends. It’s also important to consider whether the person is capable of dealing with the responsibility and administration of a trust.
You can appoint a professional trustee (meaning a business such as Countrywide Tax and Trust). This allows you to benefit from their expertise in the running of the trust. You can appoint multiple trustees and a professional trustee can work alongside friends or family that you also choose for the role. 
A professional trustee can help to avoid any risk should friends and family members argue over the running of a trust. Plus, they are able to act in a completely impartial and fair way when distributing or taking care of assets for beneficiaries.

Trusts

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