Estate Planning Solicitors in Glasgow
Estate planning can be a complicated process, we can help.
How we can help
Expert Estate Planning Advice
Estate planning is, ultimately, a strategy for transferring your assets to your next of kin both during your lifetime and after your death. When properly crafted, a financial estate plan can safeguard your possessions and wealth for future generations, ensuring that your assets are distributed according to your wishes.
To ensure your estate is effectively protected against issues such as inheritance tax or divorce settlements, it’s essential to have an expert estate planning solicitor by your side.
What is Estate Planning?
Estate planning is, ultimately, a strategy for transferring your assets to your next of kin both during your lifetime and after your death. When properly crafted, a financial estate plan can safeguard your possessions and wealth for future generations, ensuring that your assets are distributed according to your wishes.
To ensure your estate is effectively protected against issues such as inheritance tax or divorce settlements, it’s essential to have an expert estate planning solicitor by your side. By inheriting your estate, your beneficiaries will need to pay inheritance taxes before they receive anything in your estate, property, or finances.
The amount of inheritance tax your loved ones will have to pay will depend on the total value of the estate. By effectively planning in the future with an estate planning solicitor, you can help avoid or reduce the amount of inheritance tax that will be on your estate. Estate planning can also allow you to set your wishes regarding your funeral and create a clear plan of how you want your estate to be executed and managed following your death.
How can estate planning lawyers help?
A solicitor can play a crucial role in estate planning, offering guidance and support during what can be a complex and emotional process.
At Neil Kilcoyne Solicitors, our experienced estate planning solicitors bring expertise in estate laws and regulations to the protection of what matters to you most. We ensure that your plan is legally sound and tailored to your unique circumstances. Whether it’s drafting a will, setting up trusts, or designating beneficiaries, we ensure every detail aligns with your intentions.
Plus, our experts can help minimise potential tax liabilities, ensuring more of your estate is preserved for your loved ones. Providing strategies to protect your assets from inheritance taxes and other financial burdens.
✅ Expert advice
✅ Customised planning
✅ Tax efficiency
✅ Dispute prevention
✅ Ongoing support
✅ Peace of mind
Having a solicitor by your side ensures that your estate planning is handled with the utmost care, respect, and expertise, providing reassurance that your legacy will be preserved as you envision.
What Do You Need to Consider When Estate Planning?
There is much to think about when estate planning, to plan effectively you should consider:
- Where do you want your money to go? Weigh up all your options and ensure your money goes to whom you want it to go to and outline how you want it to be used. You should bear in mind that a percentage of your estate may pass automatically to a spouse/civil partner and children, including adopted children. This happens by virtue of prior rights and legal rights, and should always be considered. These rules apply specifically to those domiciled in Scotland. There are ways to avoid or minimise these claims against your estate through planning.
- How do you want to give your money away? Do you want to try to reduce inheritance tax by thinking about giving your money as gifts while you are still alive or could you set up a trust?
- What do you want to happen to your property/properties? Consider if there is an outstanding mortgage, as well as passing down the property to a spouse, which would mean it is not subject to inheritance tax.
- Keep up to date with the Residence Nil Band Rate, these complicated rules are often changed.
- Create an in-depth list of all your assets so that they are all protected and go to the right place.
Our experienced Estate Planning Attorney’s can guide you through the important questions you need to consider and make sure all bases are covered.
Estate Planning At Neil Kilcoyne
Neil Kilcoyne & Co are experienced in dealing with small and large estates and complexities from all angles including will writing, executry & probate, international probate, inheritance tax and bonds of caution. Our estate planning attorneys can help you plan effectively for the future as well as advise your family after you’ve died.
Get in Touch
Contact our team of dedicated lawyers on our 24 hour solicitor helpline to start getting the legal assistance you’re looking for.
With offices based in Glasgow in Scotland, we’re able to give you the help you need, when you need it. Get in touch with a member of our team today to book an appointment or for a free telephone consultation.
FAQs
Often, people think that estate planning is only important for wealthy people, however, estate planning is crucial for anyone who wants to make it clear what they’d like to happen to their finances and possessions after their death.
Whether your estate is considered a small estate or a large estate depends on the total value of the money, property, shares and all other assets.
If an estate totals £36,000 or less it is considered a small estate. If an estate totals more than £36,000 it is considered a large estate.
Before any of the assets of an estate can be distributed by the executor after the deceased has died, confirmation, or probate as it is also known has to be granted.
In Scotland, there are two types of confirmation; confirmation for a small estate and confirmation for a large. With a small estate, the executor of the estate should collect a list of everything the deceased owned to calculate the total value and apply for confirmation with the local Sheriff Clerk of where the deceased lived, or local to the executor for assistance.
If the estate is a large estate valued over £36,000, the Sheriff Clerk can not assist with the inventory, and it is advisable to take out legal advice with Estate Lawyers and Solicitors like Neil Kilcoyne to help you navigate the lengthy process of filling out Inheritance Tax forms and administering the estate. Dealing with a large estate can be complicated and time-consuming and there can be legal consequences for mistakes and errors that are expensive to fix.