Larry King's handwritten Will

TV personality Larry King, who died earlier this year, left a handwritten Will leaving his entire estate to his children. His wife, who he was divorcing at the time of his death, is not happy with being left out of this new Will, and the case is heading to probate court.

Since he left a handwritten Will, he was unlikely to have sought professional advice, which has left a messy estate, and untold drama for his family to deal with.

Professional advice would have gone a long way in solving some of the problems left behind by King’s handwritten Will. An adviser could have told King that leaving his spouse out of his Will was likely to lead to a court case. Considering they were divorcing, it may have been a better idea to leave her at least something, as this would show the court that she was not being left financially vulnerable. The rest of the estate could then have been left to his children. Although this wouldn’t necessarily have stopped a challenge by his wife, it would have helped his estate’s case in court.

Mrs. King alleges that Larry was ‘of questionable mental capacity’ when he signed his new Will. An adviser would have assessed his mental capacity when he made the Will. This would lead to some protection against this allegation, as a good adviser would not have written the Will if there were any concerns, and could also testify in court as to their opinion of his capacity.

There’s a whole load of other problems with handwritten Wills - a lack of legal clauses and language, and the high chance that it won’t be signed and witnessed correctly. Some people don’t want to pay for the advice, but the financial problems caused by not getting your Will correctly written can be much more costly.

Don't take a chance...

It is very important that you do not leave the distribution of your estate to chance – things can get very messy. There are currently 31 million adults at risk of this, with research showing that 60% of UK adults do not have a Will. Having a Will is however the only way to make sure your wishes are followed. For example, if you are married and you want a sibling to inherit something, they are not going to without a Will. If you are unmarried and you want your partner to inherit your assets, they are not going to without a Will. These are just some of the issues that can arise – without a Will, things can get extremely complicated.

A Will doesn’t just distribute assets, it means loved ones spend less time dealing with your estate, allows you to choose guardians for your children, and lets you set out funeral wishes. Overall, it makes everything simpler for those left behind, and makes sure your assets go to who you want, without complications.

Please get in touch with us if you want a Will put in place, or if you want any other estate planning advice - we are always happy to help.

July update

Over the past few months we have been adapting to a new way of working, mainly offering remote advice and obtaining signatures remotely. We have also created a system to allow people to sign and witness their own Wills without us being present. Now that certain restrictions are being lifted and rules are becoming clearer, we can also visit people face-to-face whilst taking precautions.

If you or anyone you know needs any advice or wants to book an appointment, please contact Mark on 07973 791801.

Remote working

We can now offer all our usual services remotely, including Wills, LPAs, trusts, probate, insurance, mortgages, and funeral plans. Advice can be given over the phone and Skype, and all signatures and necessaries can be obtained remotely.

These are obviously uncertain times, and we are pleased to be able to offer our clients as normal a service as possible, because during periods of uncertainty, people need financial and legal advice more than ever.

Coronavirus

The obligatory coronavirus post! As the virus continues to spread, we are putting some contingency plans in place to ensure it will be business as usual if we are unable to meet face to face with people. We hope to be in a position to do remote meetings and signings from next week, which will not only help us if anyone needs to self-isolate or if the government recommends a ‘lock down’ - it will also help our clients, some of whom can be elderly or vulnerable, to receive advice and have their documents written and signed without us having to meet physically.

The important thing is for everyone to be sensible, follow the guidelines, and not panic. During these uncertain times people need various forms of advice more than ever, including estate planning and financial advice, and we are making sure we can provide as normal a service as possible to our existing, and new, clients.

The 'spousal exemption' for inheritance tax

In the UK, married couples and civil partners domiciled in the UK pay no inheritance tax when they leave assets to their respective partner. Unmarried couples, partners, or cohabitees however do not benefit from this ‘spousal exemption’, meaning that inheritance tax is due when the owner of the property dies.

Two men attracted some media attention a few years ago when they decided to get married. Not a big deal usually, but they were getting married for the sole purpose of one being able to pass his house to the other, free of inheritance tax, using the spousal exemption.

These men, Michael and Matt, had been friends for many years. Matt was in failing health and was also losing his sight, and Michael had lost his house in the recession, so Matt asked Michael to move in with him. Matt had never married, and because Michael became his carer in later years, he decided he would like to leave Michael his house after his death.

But this left Michael worried about inheritance tax. Because they were just friends living together, Michael would have needed to have sold the home to pay for the inheritance tax bill, leaving him homeless.

Their solution was to get married, so that they could use the spousal exemption. This worked - when Matt died, his house was passed to his spouse, Michael, free of inheritance tax. This was of course perfectly legal, and suited both men perfectly.

With the law falling behind the variety of family and living arrangements that now occur, there may be more like Michael & Matt, entering into ‘business arrangements’ to obtain a spousal exemption for inheritance tax.

Your 'digital Will'

Estate planning is all about putting your affairs in order, both to ensure that your estate goes to those you want to receive it, but also to make things easier on those left behind. But more and more of our daily lives and tasks are carried out online, and without having our digital lives in order, problems can arise.

Passwords are hard enough to keep track of for owners of accounts, let alone family members trying to log in to someone’s account after their death. And these passwords can lead to anything from social media, to bank and utility accounts. The accounts to do with finances are the most important, but it can also be distressing for family members to realise there is no way to access email and social media accounts. There are also other things which can make the grieving process more difficult - what about that cloud photo account that you can no longer access that has irreplaceable memories of the person you have lost?

It is therefore important to keep a secure log of your passwords - password management systems like Lastpass or Bitwarden do this by securely storing your passwords in a digital archive. As long as you ensure your family know the ‘master password’ to log in to it, they will then have all your passwords to hand.

A list of what is in your cloud storage accounts can also be helpful, if there are important documents in them, as well as a list of all active utility accounts, which can help family members see upcoming bills and statements. Another suggestion is nominating someone computer savvy as a ‘digital executor’ who will be responsible for sorting out your digital Will after your death.

This is just another part of ensuring that things are made just that little bit easier for your family in a difficult time - with good planning comes a much easier transition process after your death.