Charity team up with local solicitors for Make A Will Month

HAVE you ever thought about who will take care of children and pets or where specific items might go if you were to die?

Making a Will often remains on a to-do list.

Almost 70 per cent of co-habiting couples have no Will, meaning that on death, the surviving partner would have no automatic right to inherit.

Making a Will clearly sets out your wishes and can help deal with risks, such as succession planning if you run your own business or potential inheritance tax pitfalls.

It can also provide a vital source of income from any legacies left to charity.

It can offer peace of mind that your estate will be distributed as you wish.

Throughout April Wills, probate and trusts lawyers, from various Gloucestershire solicitors, are donating their expertise and time, free of charge to write or update straightforward Wills.

In return clients can choose to make a donation to local medical charity Cobalt.

Suggested donations are £95 for a single Will and £150 for mirror Wills.

Simon Cook, partner and head of the Wills, probate and trusts team at Cheltenham solicitors, Willans LLP, said ‘A Will and a lasting power of attorney are the two most important documents you’ll sign in your life and with changes to inheritance tax coming into effect this April, it is important to have your Will structured in a way to ensure you are prepared and benefit from all available reliefs. Long after you’ve made one, a Will should be reviewed regularly to make sure it reflects your wishes, especially if you have a life changing event.’

A life changing event could include:

• marriage or entering a civil partnership as a Will is automatically cancelled by these events

• divorce

• having children or other relatives you wish to benefit

• buying a new house or other expensive asset.

Make a Will Month is about highlighting the importance of making your wishes known and making sense of some of that legal lingo.

It’s also a great way of thinking about helping a local charity, whilst ticking off that forever put off task on the to do list.

Although there is absolutely no requirement to do so, you may choose to leave a gift to charity which can help reduce inheritance tax on your estate.

Julia Jenkins, Head of Fundraising,Cobalt said: ‘We’re so grateful for the support of local solicitors with this. All people need to do is ring up for a pack or download one from our website Cobalt Make a Will month along with a voucher to redeem at the solicitors. Then choose and book an appointment with their preferred solicitor’.

Legacies have enabled Cobalt to fund some life changing services and equipment over the years including contribution to local, national and international cancer and dementia research programmes.

For more information about Make a Will month contact fundraising@cobalthealth.co.uk or 01242 535922.

Follow Cobalt on Twitter @cobaltfr where they will be sharing hints and tips around Will making.

Notes for the Editor:

Charity information

Cobalt is an independent medical charity helping people affected by cancer, dementia and other conditions. We believe everyone should have access to the best medical imaging for their diagnosis. We invest in equipment, research and education to help this happen.

Each year we provide diagnostic imaging for over 50,000 patients at Cobalt Imaging Centre in Cheltenham, our ITM Imaging Centre in Birmingham and with our fleet of six mobile MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanners that travel throughout the UK.

As well as cancer, our equipment is able to assist in the detection of illnesses such as dementia including Alzheimer’s.

We offer free training and education courses on a local, national and international basis for doctors and healthcare professionals, ensuring our experience and research work is widely shared. We also visit local schools, companies and organisations delivering free cancer prevention and health education talks.

Donations we receive help fund scanning and diagnosis, research, prevention, specialised nursing posts and cancer facilities for local people. For every £1 of our total diagnostic and voluntary income we spend 88p on our charitable work.

Media contact: Liz Hunkin, Public Relations, Cobalt Health

Tel: 01242 535900 ext 557 Email:Elizabeth.hunkin@cobalthealth.co.uk

Date: 10.02.2017 Issued by: EH

Will facts

53% (23 million) adults in the UK do not have a Will.

When there is no Will, the Government decides who gets what from your wealth, referred to as an estate. A spouse or civil partner is first in line but won’t necessarily receive everything. Next are children or grandchildren, parents, siblings or their children, half-siblings or their children, grandparents, uncles and aunts or their children and finally half-uncles and aunts or their children.

If there are no relatives, the estate passes to the Crown, or the Duchies of Cornwall or Lancaster. These rules are known as the laws of intestacy.

22% believe they have nothing of value to leave.

Those with assets valued over the nil rate threshold of £325,000 will pay 40 per cent inheritance tax to the on any sum above that threshold. Writing a Will can help free loved ones of tax liabilities when you die.

If you’re tenants in common on a mortgage it’s important to say what happens to your share of the house.

Don’t forget to leave instructions around any digital legacy. Family will need to know how to access money kept in online bank accounts or a social media presence.