Estate Hygiene - How to prepare for the future
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What are the first steps in estate planning?
I'm joined on the line now by conveyancing and probate solicitor Gwen Bowen. Morning, Gwen. Morning, how are you, David? Very well, thanks. Now, we've lots of listener questions for you that we'll get to in a moment, but we wanted first just to go through some tips for estate planning because it can save a lot of time, a lot of money and perhaps a lot of arguments for families, can't it?
It can, yeah. And a lot of heartache. It can, of course.
Yeah. So what's the first basic steps here? Should you start listing people on your accounts to make sure someone has access to them? Or is that maybe
a bit risky?
How can families safely manage bank accounts and bill payments?
Yeah, you have to be very careful about this. Like a lot of people nowadays, of course, there's so much online banking and access with cards. It's very convenient for people, but it can also be open to abuse. And you do have to be very, very careful about when you're adding people to your accounts. And I think I said the last day that like open family discussion is really, really positive here in that mom or dad might need a little bit of help getting up and down to the bank or they might want someone to be able to withdraw money. And very often the person that they nominate can find themselves feeling a bit vulnerable or frustrated. observed that the people might be suspicious of their motivation.
So very often a good place to start is to sit down and say, look, I'm finding this a bit difficult. I need help with this. This is what I think we should do. How do you think we should run it? And the person who might have responsibility for paying the bills or getting the money out of the bank, it's a good idea that they keep very good accounts. Now, I'm a big fan of having your bills on direct debit, making sure, for example, if you have an older couple, and all of the monies are coming into an account in the sole name of one of them, like particularly pension payments or recurring payments, that those would be in an account that would be accessible to both of them. Because I have had it in the past where I've had one person who wasn't deceased, but they were incapable of dealing with everything and all the money was flowing into that account.
And it was really difficult for the wife to get any access and she was left in a very vulnerable position.
Who inherits money in a joint bank account when an account holder dies?
We have a text in actually on a related matter, Gwen. Our dad died having made one of our siblings a joint account holder to manage everyday things while he was alive. Sensible enough. What happens? The balance in that account is nothing was mentioned specifically in the will.
Okay, this is an absolute minefield. Putting money on joint accounts, you need to be very clear of what the intention is. So you would be asking, this is very something that you'd be looking at a drafting stage when you're talking to your clients. You'd be asking them about their accounts and whose names they're in. And if they mentioned that they were in joint names, you'd be saying, well, what was your intention there? Because legally, the position is if money is in joint names, particularly where it's a father and child, there's a thing called the presumption of advancement. And the presumption is that you meant to benefit that person. So very often you have to go back and you have to look at the bank forms and see what boxes were ticked.
But again, very often people come in to open these accounts in banks. And they're given a set of forms and they're ticking boxes. And they might be ticking a box saying, yeah, you know, that they understand that it's a joint account and that it will pass by survivorship to the other account holder. That might not be their intention. Or sometimes their intention is, I want Jimmy to have it because Jimmy will know what to do with the money for the rest of them. But that means you want Jimmy to be your exec. I mean, that he should have full control of the money. And yes, there can be huge rows. And obviously these cases... They're very expensive to run. It's an equity case. It's all about intention. And of course, the one person whose intention you need is deceased in that circumstance.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the first steps in estate planning?
0:02–0:33
2
How can families safely manage bank accounts and bill payments?
0:33–1:59
3
Who inherits money in a joint bank account when an account holder dies?
1:59–3:32
4
Should spouses or partners put their home in joint names?
3:32–4:35
5
Should you transfer your home before applying for the Fair Deal Scheme?
4:35–6:29
6
What does an enduring power of attorney do, and when should you set one up?
6:29–7:39
7
Can a non-biological child inherit a home without paying inheritance tax?
7:39–10:14
8
How many executors should you appoint in a will?
10:14–10:52