6 Ways to Avoid a Probate Nightmare
It is now 3 weeks into 2013 and many of those New Year’s resolutions are falling by the wayside.
One of the most popular resolutions is ‘sorting out my finances’ whether this is to get out of debt, save money or simply getting affairs in order.
But how do you actually achieve that New Year’s resolution?
We see all too often, through probate, the mess left behind when somebody has not got their affairs in order. This leads to needless complications, delays, stress and ultimately extra cost.
So to help avoid this we’ve created a checklist. Follow this and hopefully by 2014 ‘getting your affairs in order’ won’t need to be one of your resolutions!
- Checklist for getting your affairs in order
- Get all your paperwork in order and easy to find – making it simpler and quicker for your executors to administer your estate
- Check all relevant polices are in Trust and going to the right people – avoiding assets going into your estate and delays in releasing the money
- Make the most of tax exemptions now! – Lifetime gifts, annual exemption and regular gifts out of income are simple ways in which you can reduce your exposure to inheritance tax.
- Make a Will – many people simply don’t get around to it, don’t be one of them!
- Review your Will – well done for having one but it needs to be kept up to date;
- Let people know where your Will is – there is no point having one if nobody can find it!
Look out over the coming weeks for our series on ‘Avoiding a Probate Nightmare’.
