You may also be interested in
Planning for Succession and Making a Will
Things to Consider: Intestacy and Inheritance Tax
It is a common assumption that 'of course my whole estate will pass to my spouse when I die'. This is not necessarily the case. Other people have rights of succession in intestacy (where you die without leaving a Will), including parents and siblings. Under the current regime, a spouse’s right to the matrimonial home extends to a value of £300k. Moreover, children can ask for their entitlements to be paid to them at age 16. Is this what you would really want? And what about inheritance tax planning?
Testate Succession and Control
Making a Will gives you much more control over the succession to your estate, and enables you to engage in some testamentary tax planning. In addition you can decide at what age children inherit. Other aspects to making a Will include:
- Domicile- where you live can have an important effect upon the interpretation of your Will, but domicile is more than that. You are domiciled in a country with which you have your closest real connection, even if you do not live there. According to our law of succession, this will determine whether Scots law or some other legal system applies.
- Foreign Elements- if you own foreign property - say, a house in Spain - what happens to it? Will this be the same as happens to a Spanish bank account? Not necessarily. This is something on which we will be happy to give you some direction, but of course, we are not qualified in foreign law.
Legal rights
These exist whether or not you leave a Will. A surviving spouse is entitled to one-third of the moveable property if you die leaving a wife and children. Children can claim one-third of the moveable property equally between them if you leave a surviving spouse. If there is only a spouse, he or she gets a half of the moveables, similarly if you only leave children. Did you know that there are various ways of mitigating or defeating legal rights claims?
Businesses
Proprietors of owner-managed businesses need to consider who is to take over from them, how this is to be achieved, and how it may be possible to save some tax on the disposals. This can include making appropriate use of pension vehicles.
Contacts for Planning for Succession and Making a Will