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Can I Sign My House Over To My Daughter In The UK?

Can I sign my house over to my daughter in the UK? Yes, you can sign your house over to your daughter in the UK. Many people gift their home or other property they own to their children. You might want to minimise Inheritance Tax or help get them onto the property ladder.

Yet the process isn’t always easy. There are also alternatives to the most common method of gifting – not to mention potential downsides of signing over your house to your daughter or son in full.

To be connected to a specialist solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Here is a thorough grounding in the rules surrounding transferring ownership of your house to your children:

Can I Transfer Ownership Of My House To My Daughter In The UK?

In the UK you can indeed transfer ownership of your house to any of your children. The most popular way to do this is by the legal process of “gifting”. There are a few reasons why you might want to do this:

Give them a rung on the property ladder – most young people these days cannot afford to buy property of any kind without some form of assistance from their parents.
Minimise Inheritance Tax – Inheritance Tax applies to assets valued over £325 000 (or £650 000 for couples) and starts at a rate of 40%. Gifting property to your daughter or son is a potential way to minimise this tax. This is because property tends to be the most valuable asset a person owns.

How Does Gifting Property To My Daughter Minimise Inheritance Tax?

Gifting your entire house to your daughter is known as a “Transfer by Way of Deed of Gift”. This can minimise – and in some cases completely eliminate – the amount of Inheritance Tax due.

However, this is not unconditional. If you continue to derive any benefit from the property (the most common example is continuing to live in it), it is likely any mitigation of Inheritance Tax will be either minimal or zero. This means you will normally need to:

Pay rent or not live in the property – you cannot live in the property without paying rent in line with the average local rate. Not paying rent cancels the exemption from Inheritance Tax.
Live for 3-7 years or more – a “gift” takes a certain period to come into effect. Inheritance Tax due only begins to be reduced starting three years after you’ve gifted it. Every year after that up to seven years, the amount due is reduced. This is called “tapered relief”.
Sell it for the going market rate – you also can’t try to sell your house to any of your children at a reduced rate. Or rather, you can. But any minimisation of Inheritance Tax is likely to be offset by the difference in market rate and the price they paid.

The above stipulation that you are no longer the primary householder of a home you’ve gifted is an important one. The rules relating to it are known as GROB (Gift with Reservation of Benefit).

Make no mistake, these rules can be quite complex. If you are planning to do this, it is a very good idea to speak to a specialist solicitor to get legal advice before you proceed.

Can I Sign My House Over To My Daughter And Still Live In It?

Yes. As we’ve seen, many parents like to sign their houses over to their daughter or son and still live in it. Yet, as we’ve also touched on, there are significant limitations governing the way you can do this if you want to derive any benefits.

Plus, if you are doing this to minimise care home fees, your local council may judge you are doing what is called “a deliberate deprivation of assets” and still take the property into account when setting your fee level.

Can I Put My House In My Children’s Name To Avoid Inheritance Tax?

Yes, you can gift your house to your children in order to minimise or avoid Inheritance Tax. However, those regulations regarding the need to live for another seven years to completely negate the need to pay the tax and not derive any benefit from the gift remain in place.

As an alternative to gifting in full, you might want to sign your house over to your daughter by transferring equity or gifting half (so at least half of the value is not subject to Inheritance Tax) and splitting the bills.

Considerations And Risks When Gifting Property To Your Children

As well as those specific rules and regulations, it is important to bear in mind that there are certain considerations and risks of gifting property to your children:

No rights – you are no longer the legal homeowner and no longer have any rights to the property. If you were to have any serious disagreement, they would be allowed to evict you (hopefully this would never happen, but it has been known to).
Subject to settlement – if your child was to be part of a divorce battle, for example, the house might be sold as part of the settlement.
Financial costs – if you are transferring equity, the person receiving the equity might still have to pay Stamp Duty or Capital Gains Tax.

All in all, the complexity of signing your house over to your daughter or son makes consulting a specialist solicitor before you start a vital step in the process.

Need To Find Just The Right Legal Expert To Discuss Signing Your House Over To A Family Member?

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Can An Executor Withhold Money From A Beneficiary In The UK?

It is illegal for an executor to withhold money from a beneficiary in the UK. But that isn’t to say that beneficiaries receive what they are entitled to from a will via an executor instantly.

In fact, being an executor is a fairly complex role. It can take time to get permission, gather the assets, pay any debts, and finally distribute the deceased’s estate to the beneficiaries.

To be connected to a specialist wills solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Here is everything you need to know about how long an executor can hold or withhold funds from beneficiaries named in a will:

Can An Executor Withhold Money From A Beneficiary In The UK?

No. However, an executor’s job is to retain the assets of the estate for a short period of time. They may need them in order to pay off debts such as private healthcare fees or rent, for example.

That said, an executor is not permitted to hold onto assets for any selfish reason.

The only circumstance where an executor might conceivably hold onto the assets is when the debts or fees the estate owes (including any to the executor themselves) total more than the value of the estate.

How Long Can An Executor Hold Funds In The UK?

Strictly speaking, there is a limit on how long an executor can hold assets from an estate in the UK before distributing them:

365 days – is technically the time limit, though it’s not usually strictly followed.
8-12 months – is the average length of time it takes an executor to settle an estate.
More than a year – that said, complex estates often take longer than a year to settle even with the executors and all other parties proceeding actively and diligently.

What Does An Executor Do?

If you are concerned that an executor of a will you are a named beneficiary of is withholding money from you, do be aware that it could just be the demands of an executor’s role that are taking the time.

An executor’s job is relatively complicated. That’s why you should only agree to be the executor of someone’s will after careful consideration. An executor needs to:

1) Value The Estate

The first thing an executor needs to do is value the estate. This might include:

Having property valued
Locating all shares and investments the deceased owned
Finding all bank accounts, pension funds and the like
Gathering (and potentially valuing) any valuable personal possessions
Discovering any outstanding debts

2) Pay Inheritance Tax

Once the value of the estate is known, the executor can calculate how much inheritance tax is due. This has to be paid (often from the estate) and submitted within 6 months of the death date.

3) Getting A Grant Of Probate

Only after inheritance tax has been paid can the executor acquire the legal right to actually do anything else with the deceased’s estate.

This right is called the Grant of Probate and must be applied for. This alone can take 3-6 months to acquire. Sometimes, it can take longer.

4) Locate And Bring Together Assets

The executor should hopefully already have located the deceased’s key assets so they can be valued as part of the estate. Now is usually the time when those assets are dealt with in accordance with the will.

This might mean bank accounts are closed. Or perhaps a property or shares are sold so the funds from their sale can be distributed.

This process can be all the more challenging if the deceased didn’t leave detailed records about what these assets are or how they can be accessed.

5) Settle Debts

Settling any debts that the estate owes may also cause a delay in an executor distributing money to a beneficiary even if they are not deliberately withholding.

This is because an executor needs to give a little bit of leeway to any creditors the deceased may have owed money to. If they distribute too soon and a creditor comes forward later, the executor will be left responsible for clearing the debt.

Needless to say, this is a poor reward for all the executor’s work so far.

6) Distribute Money To Beneficiaries

Again, delays can be caused by the need to locate all the named beneficiaries of the will before starting to distribute them.

This process can be easy or it can be more complicated. For example, imagine a relative named in the will has become estranged and emigrated to a different country.

What Do You Do If An Executor Is Refusing To Pay A Beneficiary?

The first thing to do if you believe an executor is refusing to pay a beneficiary is to contact them directly. Ask the executor what the delay is. It may be any of the reasons above – and many more besides!

Only if you are confident this isn’t the reason there is a delay in receiving any money or other assets you might be due from a will should you consider legal action.

The process for getting an executor to provide details of what they are doing is fairly simple. All you need is to get a court order. Finally, you can have an executor removed if there is evidence they are indeed actively withholding money from a beneficiary.

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To be connected to a specialist wills solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

How Much Does It Cost To Alter A Will?

It’s good practice to regularly update your will. Perhaps you recently got married or had children, two things which can significantly alter your life and future planning. Changing your will to reflect this is smart, but it isn’t free. So, how much does it cost to alter a will in the UK?

Let’s take a look at why and how you can change a will as well as how much it will cost you to do so:

Can You Alter An Existing Will?

Yes. There are two ways you can make changes to an existing will:

Write a new will – and then have the old one destroyed in order to revoke it. This is the ‘belt and braces’ approach, and is arguably more secure than option two as all of your wishes are contained in one document.
Write a codicil to your existing will – a codicil is a new document including the small amendment to your will and is used in order to change some minor details.

To be connected to a specialist Will writing solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

When Should I Change My Will?

Many people write a will and then forget about it until it’s too late. It’s a sad fact that most people don’t update their will to reflect important changes in their life, later leaving their closest and most beloved friends and family members out of their final wishes.

It’s a good idea to consider how much to alter a will you’ve already written when an event like one of the following takes place:

You get married or divorced
You have a new child or grandchild
A beneficiary or executor named in your will either dies or you decide to change them
You move home
Someone named in your Will, or your partner, passes away
There is a material change to your financial position, making it sensible to update your Will.

How do I alter my will?

Altering a will doesn’t always involve making changes to the original document. You can add a codicil amendment (which is another signed and witnessed document) or you can choose to completely replace the will with a new one.

1) Write A Codicil

Codicils are usually quite short official documents that detail changes ranging from single words or names to entire sections of your will. Like the will itself, a codicil needs to be witnessed and signed.

A codicil lets you make small changes to an existing will. These are the kinds of things that can have a big effect but don’t require the whole will to be rewritten. Some examples might include:

Altering how much a beneficiary receives
Selecting a new executor or trustee
Changing what you want to happen to your body after you have passed away

It is worth knowing that the whole reason that codicils were invented in the first place was to create a method by which a will could be altered without needing to rewrite the entire document (in an age where a pen and ink and several hours would probably be required to do this).

In the digital age, rewriting a will is a much shorter process. This means a codicil might be a good solution for a single change. If you want to make multiple small changes to a will though, it’s often easier to simply rewrite the Will even though this will be more expensive.

This is because having a pile of codicils to your will can make it difficult to interpret and can even risk different interpretations of your wishes being drawn or the codicils becoming detached from the Will and/or lost.

2) Rewrite Your Will

Writing a new will is often simpler and likely the best approach for all but the most limited single changes you want to make. Rewriting a will is much like writing your old one, but you also need to:

Revoke – any older wills or codicils explicitly in the text of your new one.
Destroy – your old will and any existing copies. You do not want multiple wills that conflict.
Assess – whether you have multiple wills covering assets in different jurisdictions and whether your new will conflicts with other wills in different regions.

How Much Does It Cost To Alter A Will In The UK?

The amount it costs to alter a will in the UK is usually quite modest, but depends on the method you use to update it:

A will solicitor – will almost always be the safest way to alter a will. It will usually cost between £50 and £100 to use a codicil to update your will using a solicitor whereas completely rewriting a Will will cost a few hundred pounds. Whilst some people baulk at the charges, remember you are paying someone for their expertise for advice to ensure that your wishes are adhered to on your passing, so the peace of mind this brings is invaluable.
Will writing service – there are many will writing services that offer paid subscriptions with the ability to make changes to your will.
Personally – you can write a codicil or new will yourself. But if there is any complexity, it is likely to be found invalid unless you have experience in relevant matters of law. For such an important document, it is well worth having it professionally drafted.

If you are in any doubt about altering your will, it’s always a good idea to discuss the costs and best way of doing so with an experienced will solicitor. Most will talk your situation over with you without charge and explain your options and your charges. You can then make an informed decision about what you would like to do.

Want To Find Just The Right Kind Of Legal Specialist To Chat About Making Changes To Your Will?

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To be connected to a specialist wills solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

How Much Does It Cost To Contest A Will?

Contesting a will – or a contentious probate case, as they are more properly known – is definitely possible. But it can get expensive. So, how much does it cost to contest a will?

Let’s get into the how, why, and how much of contentious probate:

Why Contest A Will?

1) It’s Out Of Step With The Deceased’s Current Life

Most people don’t regularly update their will. This means that when they sadly pass on, their statement of wishes may no longer reflect their current situation in life.
For example, most people overlook the need to update their will even following very significant events like getting married. This means their will would ignore perhaps the most important person in their life.

2) Lost Mental Capacity

You may believe that a will is invalid because the person who made it did not have the mental capacity (sometimes called “testamentary capacity”) to make or change it at the time it was written.

When a person has been judged to have lost mental capacity and has no will, the Court of Protection (the part of the legal system covering these matters) may also order a “statutory will” to be created.

It’s not uncommon for statutory wills (which can be thought of as automatic wills made by the court) to be challenged by loved ones who believe the will does not represent the sadly departed’s wishes.

3) Undue Pressure Or Mistakes

Sometimes a will may not have been signed or witnessed correctly or another mistake made in creating it.

In thankfully rarer circumstances, a friend or family member of the deceased may believe that someone else pressured the person who has died into making or changing their will. Or that the will is some kind of forgery or represents an attempt at fraud.

Who Can Dispute A Will?

If a will has been judged legally valid, you can only contest it if you have what is called a “vested interest” in it. This is limited to the following people:

Beneficiaries named in the current or a previous will
Direct family members of the deceased
People who relied on the deceased financially
Creditors owed money by the deceased

Do You Have To Pay To Contest A Will In The UK?

Yes, it will cost money to contest a will in the UK. It can also be a stressful and emotional process – especially if the person who has passed away was very close to you.

This means it is worth thinking very carefully before you decide to contest a will. You should consider speaking with an experienced will or probate solicitor about your particular case before you decide to go ahead. They are in the best position to help you judge your likelihood of success.

How Much Does It Cost To Contest A Will In The UK?

The cost of a contentious probate case will largely depend on how long it takes to reach a result. For instance, your opponent in the dispute might quickly accept they are in the wrong. However, there is every chance they might not.

Some ballpark figures as to the general costs of contesting a will would be:

Quick acceptance following initial contest – if the person you are contesting the will with relents swiftly and accepts the will is wrong, you might only face fees of £500 to £1500.
Going into mediation or non-prejudicial negotiation – this kind of non-court discussion can resolve many cases but can cost anywhere from £7500 to £10 000. Around half of all contentious probate cases never go further than this stage.
Reaching a negotiated settlement – a longer process might cost anywhere from £10 000 to £25 000 or more plus disbursements (payments made to third parties to make the process go ahead).
Full court process through to final hearing – a cost of £60 000 to £100 000 plus disbursements would not be uncommon for this. Fewer than 1 in 50 contentious probate cases go to final trial though.

Who Pays The Cost Of Contesting A Will?

Every person involved in a will dispute will have to cover their own costs, at least at the outset. However, if you win your case, it is possible that the other side may have to pay your legal fees.

Yet this is not guaranteed. The court has a large degree of discretion when it comes to deciding who foots the bill. It could decide to split the costs, that both sides’ costs are paid by the deceased’s estate, or that it’s fairer for both sides to pay their own costs.

The court will also take into account factors like whether one side refused a settlement offer that later turned out to be very fair.

In short, it can cost a lot of money to contest a will. This makes it vital to work with a specialist will and probate solicitor who can guide you not only towards a successful result in your case, but also in how to minimise the costs of getting there.

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How Much Does It Cost To Make A Will?

Around 30% of the people who die in the UK every year do so before they’ve written a will. The first thing that prevents people from making a will is the unpleasant idea of ourselves no longer being here. The second is price. So, how much does it cost to make a will?

Because writing a will is one of the best ways we all have to protect our loved ones after we are gone. And, though most of us have a general notion that the ones we love will automatically inherit our things after we’re gone, the legal situation is often quite different.

To be connected to a specialist Wills solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Here is everything you need to know about the cost of will writing and why it’s worth seeing it as a necessary protection for our families:

What Is A Will?

A will is a legal document that lays out your wishes for your assets such as any property or money you have), how your young children should be cared for, and any personal wishes such as the way you would like to be buried after you die.

A well-written will can also ensure that your nearest and dearest do not have to pay an unnecessary amount of inheritance tax.

Why Write A Will?

1) Protect your family

Writing a will ensures that your assets will go to who you want them to after you pass away.

Most people assume that this happens automatically after they die. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Without a will, your grieving family may also be left to tackle a stressful legal process to get the fruits of your hard work.

2) Name a guardian for your children

Most people also assume that appointing godparents means these carefully-chosen individuals will care for your young children after you pass away. Sadly, this is another commonly-held belief that has no legal basis.

If you want to make the godparents of your children their legal guardians, you need to name them as such in a will.

3) Safeguard your assets or family business

Make sure your assets go to whom you want them to and heirlooms like a family business stay in the family.

How Much Is The Average Cost Of A Will In The UK?

Writing a will is very important. And, while writing one isn’t free, it’s very cost-effective as far as legal protections for your own future and that of your family go.

There are several ways you can draw up this kind of protection. But the average cost of a will in the UK differs most depending on how complex the will you want to create will be:

A simple will (£150-£250) – if you have no children and some fairly simple assets, such as bank accounts, and relatively few debts, a simple will should have a low cost. It’s the most common type of will made in the UK.
A complex will (£150-£300) – if you have been divorced and have children, for example, the complexities of writing a will increase. So does the cost.
A specialist will (£500 or more) – tax planning advice, trusts, properties overseas? The most complex wills start getting more expensive because of the value and nature of the assets they are designed to protect.

Why Use A Solicitor To Write A Will?

Technically speaking, you don’t have to use a solicitor to write a will. It’s also the most expensive way to write one, as you’ll have to pay solicitor’s fees. However, using a solicitor is always a smart idea. This is because of:

1) Peace of mind

Your will is an important legal document no matter how many assets you have. A will that can’t be enforced not only risks your wishes being overturned, it also creates a stressful situation for your loved ones – on top of dealing with your passing.

Using a solicitor gives you the peace of mind of knowing your will is valid and enforceable. If you use the wrong witnesses, don’t sign the will, or make any number of other common mistakes, your family will be in serious trouble when it comes to enacting your wishes.

2) Complexity

A simple will is something you might risk writing yourself under some circumstances. If you have overseas assets, a more complex family situation with multiple children from different relationships, or control a business though, writing a will that will stand the test of time becomes much more complex.

3) Inheritance tax and law

Inheritance law isn’t as straightforward as most of us would wish. A will-writing solicitor will be fully informed as to the complexities and be able to guide you in how best to protect your family from mistakes while ensuring you pay the necessary tax.

What If I Don’t Want To Use A Solicitor?

Not using a solicitor to write a will is risky but possible. You can:

1. Write a will yourself – you can do this online for relatively little cost, perhaps as little as £30.

2. Use a will-writing scheme – there are schemes such as Will Aid and Will Writing Month in England and Wales that offer free or very low-cost options for getting a will written.

3. Find a charity – there are several charities that provide free will writing services. Most will suggest a donation of some kind, not unreasonable given the free service.

Whichever method you choose though, writing a will is important. Worries about how much it costs to make a will pale by comparison with the costs of not making one.

Want To Talk To An Expert About The Way To Safeguard Your Family Should The Worst Happen?

Let’s talk. Solicitors Near Me will find you the perfect friendly, approachable specialist will solicitor to chat with.

Wills Solicitors Near Me

To be connected to a specialist Wills solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.