Terms of Business

This sample Terms of Business document outlines the standard terms and conditions under which we provide our products and services to you. When you engage us in relation to a product or service, you will be provided with a specific terms of business document relevant to the area of work you are instructing us in. We will not commence work on your matter until the Terms of Business have been signed and returned to us.

1. Introduction

This sample Terms of Business outlines the standard terms and conditions under which COUNTRYWIDE TAX & TRUST CORPORATION LTD (‘the Company’), provides its products and services in the areas of trust administration, wills, probate, and estate planning.

2. Services provided

Trust Management: We offer Professional Trustee services, trust administration and the management of family trusts, including the arrangement and preparation of trustee meetings and the surrounding documentation.

Document drafting: We assist in drafting will and estate planning documents, including the creation of documents that reflect your wishes regarding the distribution of your estate after death.

Probate: We offer a Professional Executor service, including applying for grants of probate and distributing assets according to the will or the laws of intestacy.

Conveyancing: The team undertakes all aspects of property work relating to Trust and Probate matters.

Estate Planning: Renowned for their technical expertise, our Estate Planning Team provide an offer advice and assistance in how to effectively structure estates, ensuring efficient distribution of assets and minimising tax liabilities.

Other services: We may provide additional services, such as inheritance tax advice and powers of attorney.

3. When your documents should be reviewed

The following are examples of changes in your circumstances where we would recommend that you consider contacting us and reviewing your planning, such as:

The death of either a Trustee or a Beneficiary. The imminent retirement of any Trustees. A significant change in state of health or the entrance into long term care of any Trustee. The birth or adoption of a child, grandchild or remoter issue of either Settlor. Any separation, divorce or marriage of the Settlor or a beneficiary. You or your beneficiaries receive or are due to receive an inheritance. The financial performance of any investments in the Trust concerns you. The financial circumstances of the Trustees or any of the beneficiaries alters. You sell or wish to consider selling your main residence.

This list is not exhaustive but if you have any doubts on how a change of circumstances may affect your legal documents, please contact the Company. Any planning should be based on bespoke advice tailored to your specific circumstances and you should engage us specifically in relation to this as required.

4. Client Obligations

By proceeding with your instructions, you agree to provide accurate, complete and up to date information necessary for the execution of our services. This includes, but is not limited to, details about assets, beneficiaries, and family circumstances.

You agree to cooperate fully with us, promptly responding to any requests for information or documents that are necessary for the completion of our work.

You are responsible for ensuring that your instructions comply with all relevant legal requirements, including the laws governing wills, probate, and trusts.

It is the Company's policy that we are unable to commence work on your behalf until the Terms and Conditions issued to you relevant to the area of work you are instructing us in have been accepted, and the relevant fees and payment terms agreed.

5. Joint instructions (where applicable)

These rules apply in areas where instructions have been taken jointly from more than one client in a meeting regarding more than one Will / legal document.

• You confirm that, you have requested that the Company act for both of you.

• You understand that, no information received in connection with the matter from one can be treated as confidential so far as any of the others are concerned.
• You confirm that there was no conflict which remained unresolved and prevented the Company from being able to act for both, or all of you.
• You confirm that should such a conflict subsequently arise following your initial instruction, this would lead to the Company being unable to act for both, or all of you, and this would include subsequent changes to either Will/legal document of which the other, or others, would not be aware.

6. Fees and Charges

The cost to you will be outlined at the point of sale, and a receipt will be provided to you.

In addition to the costs detailed on the receipt, there may be disbursement costs and other expenses. It shall be your responsibility to settle all the legal costs, disbursements and expenses that we incur throughout your matter. Where we are instructed by more than one person or legal entity to represent their joint interests, those instructions are considered to be joint and several and thus we reserve the right to look to either party for settlement of any outstanding costs, disbursement and expenses.

Payment is by debit or credit card, bank transfer or cheque.

7. Data and Confidentiality

We are committed to safeguarding your privacy and will treat all personal and financial information confidentially.

If we have made an error in the drafting of your legal documents, or you require changes to be made you should contact us immediately upon receipt. We will then correct any error or make any cosmetic amendments (a fee may be applicable). Please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have.

In order to deliver our services to you effectively we may send your details to third parties such as those that we engage for professional compliance, accountancy or legal services. We may also send your details to public authorities such as the Land Registry and HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

To fulfil our obligations under Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations in respect of prevention of money-laundering and other financial crime we may send your details to third party agencies for identity verification purposes and credit searches.

Please refer to our privacy policy for further information on how your data is protected: https://ctt-group.co.uk/tax-trust/privacy-policy/

8. Liability and Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claims, damages, or liabilities arising from your failure to comply with any laws, regulations, or instructions provided by you in connection with our services.

In respect of the advice, we render and work we undertake we will limit our potential liability to you to £2M. In instructing us, you accept that in the event of our negligence or breach of contract, you cannot claim more than that sum from us or our insurers, and that you have no claim against any of our staff personally. In respect of any claim or potential claim against us we limit the time you have in which to claim to 3 years from the date of the alleged act or omission or 12 months from the date you became aware of it as appropriate.

9. Rights of Cancellation

You have a right to cancel the agreement with us provided you do so in writing, including electronic mail, to reach us within 14 calendar days of receipt of payment.

It will have been explained to you at the point of sale that you could either:

Instruct us to proceed immediately in which case you would not be able to cancel this agreement if we had started work.

1. Please Note: This does not affect your statutory right to cancel however, you may be required to pay for goods or services supplied, if the performance of the contract had begun with your written agreement, before the end of the cancellation period.
2. Take no action for 14 calendar days after receipt of payment, the Terms of Business and the Right to Cancel Forms, provided to you. We would then proceed to prepare your Will(s), or other legal documents and you would no longer be able to cancel the contract.

1. You will have been informed that should you elect to wait until the statutory 14 days have elapsed and you were not to survive this period, then there would be no recourse

for any claim to be made against the Company by your estate / survivors / intended Beneficiaries, as a result of you having chosen this option.

10. Identification Requirements and Money Laundering

We may be required by law to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of our clients and/or any third parties involved in your instructions. To comply with the law, we may need to obtain proof of your identity, depending on the nature of the work we are carrying out on your behalf, as soon as possible.

Please note, the identification requirements may vary depending on the individual circumstances of each case. We therefore reserve the right to request further documentation should we deem it appropriate in order to satisfy the Money Laundering Regulations and any other governing legislation.

11. File Retention and Retrieval

In the event that you require us to retrieve a file from storage or send any of your papers to you or a third party, we may levy a charge for the service. We may also levy a charge where your instructions in relation to the retrieved file of papers involve perusing, corresponding or any other such work.

Should you require us to send your file of papers to you in the post, we may require such postage costs to be paid in advance of releasing the papers. We shall not release any file of papers to any third party unless we have your written consent to do so. The party collecting the file on your behalf will need to supply us with photo identification and a copy will be retained for our records.

12. Complaints

Whilst we assume that you will be pleased with our service, in the unlikely event that you do have any cause for complaint, this can be made to:

By email at: clientcare@ctt-group.co.uk (preferable)

Or by writing to: Gables House, 62 Kenilworth Road, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 6JX

13. Conflict of interest

We will endeavour to avoid situations of conflict to ensure that a client's interests are not compromised. We will advise you if we become aware that an issue of conflict exists. If you should be concerned about such an issue, then please immediately refer your concern to the person taking your instructions. We assure you that we will always act independently and in your best interests as our client.

This sample Terms of Business document outlines the standard terms and conditions under which we provide our products and services to you. When you engage us in relation to a product or service, you will be provided with a specific terms of business document relevant to the area of work you are instructing us in. We will not commence work on your matter until the Terms of Business have been signed and returned to us.