Local law firm continue to support Will Aid raising £3,075

Private Client team – Alan Douglas, Rebecca Griffiths, Michelle Forster and Sara Frost.

The Wills and Probate team at Nicholson Portnell have been hard at work participating in the annual Will Aid Scheme.  Sara Frost, Alan Douglas, Rebecca Griffiths and Michelle Forster are all members of the specialist Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. They have prepared simple Wills free of charge for clients who have made a donation to the Will Aid Scheme.  Will Aid is a charity which raises funds from solicitor’s clients in this way and distributes those funds to their partner charities across the UK and around the world.  The nine charities including Save the Children, Age UK and the British Red Cross.

 

Nicholson Portnell has supported Will Aid since 2018 raising a cumulative total of £3,075 for the charities.  Nicholson Portnell hopes to support Will Aid again in 2022.

 

Making a Will and ensuring it is kept up to date is one of the most important things that you can do for your family. 

 

To discuss making a Will, or for any other aspect of estate planning or probate advice, please contact the Wills and Probate department at Nicholson Portnell on 01434 603656 or reception@nicholsonportnell.com.

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Inheritance Tax Update

 

Rebecca Griffiths

Rebecca Griffiths

It was announced last month that HMRC received £5.36 billion from inheritance tax in 2021/22, an increase of £700m from the year before.  As with everything, this figure has been affected by the pandemic but rising property prices is likely to have had an impact too.

As no changes were announced in the 2022 Spring Statement to inheritance tax legislation, it is expected more estates will become liable and this amount of revenue will simply go on increasing.

The situation continues to be:

 

Nil Rate Band

–         the amount a person can usually leave before inheritance tax is payable

  

£325,000
 

Residence Nil Rate Band

–         an additional allowance available in certain circumstances,

typically when the family home is left to children

 

  

£175,000
Rate of inheritance tax 40%

 

and it is still possible to claim:

  • an exemption from inheritance tax, if the estate passes to a spouse / civil partner or to charities
  • relief from inheritance tax of either 100% or 50% on certain agricultural and / or business interests
  • any unused Nil Rate Band and Residence Nil Rate Band from a predeceasing spouse / civil partner

In January 2022 HMRC amended their reporting regulations. Before then, an inheritance tax return was required with all probate applications, even if no inheritance tax was payable. In certain circumstances, non-tax paying estates no longer need to submit a return however the information still needs to be declared and so it is not clear if this will save much time, but it should at least save some paper!

 

Should you need assistance with inheritance tax planning or the administration of an estate or the making of a Will or Lasting Powers of Attorney please contact…..

 

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New ‘No Fault’ Divorce Procedure

The new ‘no fault’ divorce procedure is due to come into operation on 6 April 2022. The application will only need to detail that there has been an irretrievable breakdown in the marriage.  There will no longer be a need to prove this by citing adultery, unreasonable behaviour, or periods of separation.

Kathryn McGeary

Kathryn McGeary

 

The current divorce system in England and Wales, which is nearly 50 years old, requires one spouse (the petitioner) to start the divorce proceedings and, as part of the process, make an accusation about the other spouse’s (the respondent) conduct.

 

The petitioner can choose from three reasons – adultery, unreasonable behaviour or desertion. If one of these three reasons cannot be proven then the separating couple face two or five years of living apart in a ‘separation’ period before the marriage can be legally dissolved.

 

The new law has been introduced with the aim of trying to avoid confrontation where possible and reducing its damaging effect on children, in particular. The Divorce, Separation and Dissolution Act will remove the need to ‘blame’ one spouse with the couple signing a sole or joint statement that the marriage has broken down and cannot be saved.

 

This statement will also stop one spouse contesting a divorce as a statement of irretrievable breakdown of the marriage will be conclusive evidence for the court to make an order for divorce.

 

If you are facing the prospect of separation or divorce, and require further advice please contact Emma Heather or Kathryn McGeary at Nicholson Portnell Solicitors.

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Will Aid 2021

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Emma Heather appointed as a Deputy District Judge on the North Eastern Circuit

Emma Heather, Partner at Nicholson Portnell, has been appointed as a Deputy District Judge on the North Eastern Circuit.

The appointment made by the Lord Chief Justice takes effect from 18th May 2020.

Emma’s busy litigation work for Nicholson Portnell will continue as the mainstay of her professional activities.

The Partners and Staff at Nicholson Portnell warmly congratulate Emma on the appointment.

Emma Heather

Emma Heather

 

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Buying or Selling? Quality Assured

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Making an Inheritance Act claim

Family Law
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Pension Sharing on Divorce

When a marriage breaks down the parties will usually seek legal advice as to how their assets should be divided.  Matrimonial assets include any pension benefits which the parties owned at the date of their separation. Generally only those pensions which have been built up during the marriage (and any period of living together immediately before the marriage) are taken into account.

A pension sharing order, if made, will  form part of a general financial  order made within the divorce proceedings and will state that one person should receive a specified share of the other person’s pension or pensions.  If it is agreed in principle that pensions should be shared equally and a number of pensions are involved or a person who is a member of a final salary pension scheme is close to requirement it may be necessary to ask a pensions specialist to give advice as to how the pensions should be shared in order to provide equalisation of income to each party on retirement.

Once a pension sharing order has been made a copy is sent to the pension provider(s) for implementation.  The NHS Pension Scheme currently charges £3,142 and the Teachers’ Pension Scheme £3,000 to implement a pension sharing order but most pension providers charge considerably less. With some schemes the person receiving the ‘pension credit’ will have to become a member of that particular pension scheme. Other schemes will insist that the credit is transferred to a separate personal pension plan in the name of the person to whom the credit is to be transferred.

If a person is some way from retirement he or she may agree not to pursue a clam for a pension sharing order or accept a reduced percentage in return for receiving a greater share of the other assets (for example the proceeds of sale of the family home). This is known as ‘off setting’.

It will be seen that pension sharing is a complicated issue which may involve lawyers, pensions specialists, accountants and independent financial advisers.

 

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www.advisingfamilies.org

The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners has launched a new website www.advisingfamilies.org

It contains lots of information, which is short, simple and accessible, addressing common issues, from why you need to write a will, to how you can provide for vulnerable family members or what you need to think about if you are retiring abroad.

 

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Surcharge Stories

It is now just over a year since revised rules relating to Stamp Duty Land Tax implemented.

The aim seemed straightforward; SDLT payable on the purchase of our home is payable at a basic rate, but if we buy an additional residential property we pay the normal rate plus a 3% surcharge.

However in practice the legislation can give rise to many surprises and anomalies;

For example, say Mr and Mrs C lived in a cottage provided by Mr C’s employer, several years ago they bought a buy to let property.  Mr C has now changed his job and no accommodation is provided.  They decide to buy a home to live in, without selling the buy to let.  They must pay a surcharge on the property they are now buying because they already own a property. If Mr and Mrs C had always owned their home, and were now selling and replacing it, normal rates would apply.

Married couples are treated as one entity; so, say a couple Andrew and Belinda, both home owners decide to marry and move in together into Andrews’s house;  Andrew can afford the mortgage so there seems no need to put the property in joint names.  Belinda decides to sell her house and replace it by a small flat, and the flat is nearby that will be more convenient to let out, than her former home.  Because they are a married couple the purchase of the new flat will be subject to the surcharge.  If they were not married it would be at the normal rate

These are two very specific examples. Lease Extensions, Transfers of Equity, Company purchases, people owning property abroad, partnership property and more can all be caught by the surcharge. There are also some surprising exceptions.  If you or your spouse any interest in another property, it might be worth getting advice on SDLT before buying, to help with budgeting.

It might even affect your actions – Stamp duty considerations might not have deterred Andrew and Belinda from marrying, but they might wish Belinda had bought her flat before the wedding, they could have saved enough to pay for an expensive honeymoon!

 

 

 

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