Certainty are on LinkedIn
Certainty National Will Register now have a LinkedIn Group where we encourage active discussions relating to Wills, Pobate and the importance of registering and searching for Wills.
We invite the profession to join the group and welcome future contributions.
David Thomas is a Guinness World Record-holder for memory, his memory feats include reciting Pi (3.14159) to 22,500 digits without error and Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author. He has the power to recall many key facts, so remembering simple things such as where a Will may be kept shouldn’t be a problem. But of course, he can only remember facts he has learnt. Like the rest of us, David can’t recall what he doesn’t know.
Members can take advantage of TOUCH
Hertfordshire law firm, David Barney & Co Solicitors became members of Certainty in November 2010, recognising the significant benefits and opportunities available to their business and clients. In a recent interview, David Barney & Co reported that they had got off to a ‘flying start’ with Certainty.
Searching for a Will is no longer time consuming, cumbersome and expensive. Therefore, we feel is may be helpful to inform you of the Will search options which are now available to the legal profession.
Charities in the UK heavily rely on legacies left in Wills. It is a fact that while 74% of the UK population support charities, only 7% currently leave a legacy to them. Remember a Charity work with charities to encourage more people to consider leaving a gift to charities in their Will, after their loved ones have been looked after.
Published: 1st November 2009 Source: Julian Knight, Independent
It’s a difficult one Should people who are cohabiting have the right to claim the estates of their loved ones when they die in the same way bereaved spouses or civil partners do? The UK Law Commission says yes. But others say that if the cohabitees had meant their partners to have a share of their wealth they would have either got married or written a will. Dig deeper and the argument becomes one about protecting the “specialness” of marriage.
Published: 31st October 2009 Source: Stephen Womack, Mail on Sunday Personal Finance Correspondent
Pensioners are being urged to draft ‘living wills’ in case they become incapacitated. As The Mail on Sunday reported last week, thousands of families each year have to apply to the Court of Protection if a relative is struck down with dementia or other long-term illnesses.
Published: 4 October 2009 Source: Julian Knight and Chiara Cavaglieri, Independent
Enticing offers of discount or even free will-writing services may sound harmless enough, but many families who take this route risk paying dearly when it comes to sorting out the eventual estate. Will-writing companies, banks and solicitors may be taking consumers for a ride by appointing themselves as executors in the will and charging over the odds for taking an estate through probate.
Some banks and will-writers can offer their services as a loss leader; they can recoup their money tenfold by ensuring they are included in the will as executors, then levying bumper fees when the testator passes away. After death, it is difficult to remove executors from a will; as a result, estates can be hit with unspecified charges of as much as 4.5 per cent, or £22,500 on a £500,000 estate.
“Wills are now also being written by unqualified people who have no professional ethics whatsoever,” says Adam Walker, the director of Final Duties, an independent probate broker.
Published: Oct 19 2009 Source: Madeleine Brindley, South Wales Echo
CARDIFF residents have left £2.4m to Cancer Research UK in their wills over the last year, figures reveal.
The charity said that local supporters are playing a vital role in Cancer Research UK’s vision to beat cancer by helping to fund its life-saving research.
Published: Sep 26 2009 Source: Stephen Womack, Daily Mail
Families are being urged to take prompt action to cut potential inheritance tax bills amid fears that the precarious state of the country’s public finances could mean an end to generous thresholds. Inheritance tax (IHT) is charged at 40 per cent on legacies, though bequests to a spouse or charity are free of tax and the first £325,000 of any other bequest is tax-free.
Growing public resentment over the increasing number of people forced to pay inheritance tax has pushed the tax up the political agenda. In October 2007, the Conservative party pledged to raise the threshold at which the tax kicks in to £1million, allowing a couple to pass on £2million of wealth between them.
