by johnireland | Estate Planning Essentials
This is the decision parents postpone longest. Fees and Executors get dealt with quickly; the question of who would raise the children if both parents could not is left open for years — which leaves it to be settled by other people at the worst possible moment. What...
by johnireland | Estate Planning Essentials
When a business owner dies, practical problems start immediately, long before probate is granted. A sole trader’s bank account, or any account in a personal name, is frozen the moment the bank hears of the death, stopping payments to staff and suppliers...
by johnireland | Estate Planning Essentials
A Will covers what happens after you die. A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) covers what happens if you lose mental capacity while you’re still alive – and without one, nobody automatically has the legal right to manage your money or make care decisions for...
by johnireland | Estate Planning Essentials
From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits will count towards your estate for inheritance tax — legislated in Finance Act 2026, with HMRC’s technical note (updated 29 May 2026) setting out the mechanics. Pensions stop being the tax shelter...
by johnireland | Estate Planning Essentials
Leaving money directly to a vulnerable beneficiary — someone with a disability, mental health condition, addiction, or simply poor financial judgement — can do more harm than good. A direct inheritance above £16,000 can end means-tested benefits like Universal Credit...
by johnireland | Estate Planning Essentials
Sideways disinheritance happens when your assets pass to your spouse, who later remarries, and everything ends up with their new partner’s family. Your children get nothing. It is one of the most common estate planning failures in the UK. The root cause is...
