Wills and Probate

Preparing a will is essential to ensure that your affairs are dealt with in accordance with your wishes after your death. It is an integral part of ensuring the financial security of your family if anything happens to you, particularly if you have children.

We can advise on all aspects of making a will. Our long experience ensures that we can give complete advice on the various tax and administrative aspects of carrying out your wishes. There are many considerations to be made when writing a will. We will ensure that your wishes are carried out as far as possible and that you do not have to worry about your estate as you grow older.

Wills And Probate Solicitor

The process of making a will ensures that when a person passes away, their property and possessions will be transferred to the person or persons of their choosing.

The validity of the will is dependent on:

A spouse or a civil partner has a legal right to part of an estate. In certain circumstances, an unmarried cohabitant who is dependent on the deceased may have the right to sue the estate for payment.

In cases where a person has died without making a valid will, they are considered to have died in intestate. This process means an administrator will pay any of the deceased’s outstanding debts. Assets will then be distributed to the deceased's living relatives. This process is usually much more complicated and expensive when compared with the distribution process of a person with a valid will.

Administration of Estates

When a person dies, their estate is overseen by a personal representative.
An estate is everything the deceased person owns. This includes money, possessions and property. Once any outstanding debts and outstanding taxes are paid, the rest of the person’s estate is distributed according to the person’s will.
The will’s executor or administrator is the person named in the will who has the responsibility of administrating the estate.
In cases where there is no will, the closest relative to the deceased is usually the executor.

The process of administering the estate includes:

The estate's representative makes decisions about the estate; however, the will’s beneficiaries need to agree with these decisions.

Capital Acquisitions Tax

A beneficiary of a will should be aware they may be subjected to capital acquisitions tax.
If you a person’s receives an inheritance from anyone other than their spouse or civil partner, they must pay tax. The amount of capital acquisitions tax a person owns is dependent on three group thresholds.

Enduring Powers of Attorney

It is a sad reality that as we get older we sometimes lose the capacity to make coherent decisions. In situations where someone is no longer able to take care of their own affairs and property, granting someone enduring powers of attorney gives them the ability to make certain decisions regarding the estate. It is always difficult to anticipate what is going to happen to us as grow older, but if you require specialised care in a nursing or care home, the costs of this can be huge. Granting enduring powers of attorney allows your loved ones to make the decision to dispose of your estate in a manner that allows for you to be cared for properly. At Denise Kelleher & Associates Solicitors, we can assist you to nominate a loved one to have this ability, so that you need not be concerned about your care later in life.