Protecting your future

Whether you are preparing for the future or are in the process of administering a loved one’s estate, Smith Partnership’s team of expert solicitors offers a range of legal services covering all aspects of wills and probate.

No matter how complex your finances, business affairs or family matters may be, we offer practical, jargon-free legal support that helps you overcome any challenges relating to wills and inheritance. Offering expert guidance along the way, our team focuses on giving you the resources you need to protect your assets. 

Contact us to find out what we can do for you.

Our services

As one of the East Midlands’ leading law firms, we provide an extensive range of will services tailored to the specific needs of your affairs. These services include:

  • Will writing
  • Estate administration
  • Grant of Probate advice
  • Inheritance Tax planning
  • Advising executors
  • Preparation of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA)
  • Support and advice on trusts
  • Advice on lifetime gifts and transferring equity
  • Deputyships and Court of Protection
  • Declarations of trust
  • Advice on care home funding
  • Living wills
  • Advice on contentious probate, inheritance disputes and contesting wills

If you’re in need of legal guidance in any of these areas or would like to speak to one of our experts regarding any other aspect of wills and inheritance, contact our team today.

Will writing

Drafting a will is an incredibly important part of the process in ensuring your wishes are carried out following your death. If you pass away without having left a will, your estate will be dealt with irrespective of your wishes and in a way that is defined by the law.

A will also plays a crucial role in ensuring the loved ones you leave behind are adequately provided for and our will and inheritance solicitors regularly assist clients in doing just that. Offering a dedicated will writing service, we offer the legal guidance needed to safeguard your finances, property and other assets for future generations.

Estate Administration

Ensuring a loved one’s estate is administered according to their wishes can be a stressful task. From making the necessary arrangements for proving the will through a Grant of Probate application to the added complications of Inheritance Tax and potential disputes, many executors choose to enlist the help of a legal expert to support them throughout the process.

Our wills and inheritance team can advise you on a wide range of legal challenges relating to estate administration. From advising on executors’ responsibilities and probate fees to applying for the Grant of Representation and dealing with cross-jurisdictional issues, you can rest assured that our experts are with you every step of the way.

Inheritance Tax Planning

Inheritance Tax planning can go a long way in maximising the value of the assets you pass on. This is especially the case if the value of your estate exceeds the Inheritance Tax threshold.

There are many ways of ensuring your estate is dealt with in a tax-efficient manner. From considering the tax implications of your will to arranging lifetime gifts and setting up trusts, the rules and procedures surrounding Inheritance Tax can be complex.

We regularly advise families on the benefits of family trust funds, including how to safeguard assets from Inheritance Tax liability and third-party claims and protecting your home from care fees.  

At Smith Partnership, we’re proud to have helped all manner of clients get the most out of their hard-earned assets – and our specialist team can help you do the same.

Deeds of Variation

If circumstances are such that a will does not provide optimal provision for those involved, a Deed of Variation allows beneficiaries to make alterations to the way the estate is distributed.

Beneficiaries can have many different reasons for drafting a Deed of Variation. Common examples include redirecting assets into trust to protect a more vulnerable beneficiary or maximising the estate’s efficiency with regards to Inheritance Tax.

There are a number of legal requirements surrounding Deeds of Variation, and our solicitors regularly advise clients on the most suitable course of action for them. Whatever the circumstances may be, our lawyers can help make sure that the estate provides maximum provision to those who need it.

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA)

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you appoint someone you trust as an attorney to make decisions on your behalf when you are no longer able to make them for yourself.

Depending on the type of LPA, these decisions can be both personal and financial in nature. For example, an LPA could relate to your healthcare or the way in which your property and affairs are managed.

Anyone aged 18 or over with the capacity to do so can make an LPA appointing one or more attorneys to make decisions on their behalf. An LPA can be drawn up at any time while you have capacity, but it has no legal standing until it is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.

At Smith Partnership, our experts have extensive experience in drafting LPAs. Our role is to ensure your wishes are carried out in whichever way you see fit, so feel free to get in touch with us today.

Living Wills

A Living Will is a form of legal documentation that enables you to specify your wishes regarding your future healthcare. Friends, family and healthcare professionals can reference a Living Will if circumstances mean you are unable to communicate your wishes at the time.

In many cases, a Living Will is used to communicate a person’s acceptance or refusal of medical care under certain conditions, which may include life support and CPR. As such, Living Wills play an important role in allowing individuals to exercise influence over their medical treatment.

Helping clients address the legal aspects associated with drafting a Living Will, Smith Partnership offers expert legal advice whenever they need it most.

What Makes Us Different?

At Smith Partnership, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Drawing on our expert knowledge and decades’ worth of practical experience, we take the time to listen and provide an answer to the specific issues you’re faced with.

Feeling safe in the knowledge that you’re being supported by a dedicated will lawyer can make all the difference in dealing with challenges relating to wills and inheritance. For this reason, our wills and Inheritance team provides pragmatic and informed legal advice designed to offer you a maximum amount of legal insight and support. With offices in Leicester, Derby, Stoke-on-Trent, Swadlincote and Burton Upon Trent, our team of legal experts are always on hand to help. 

Find out more about our regulations and complaints procedure by clicking the button below.

Contact our team today

To find out how our expert team of solicitors can help you, contact us today on 0330 123 1229, send us an email via info@smithpartnership.co.uk or complete our contact form.

FAQs

Creating a trust is a way of protecting assets for you and your chosen beneficiaries. You can place money into a trust and you will no longer be regarded as being an owner of the funds. Your trust will appoint trustees who will manage the funds, the beneficiaries and you can determine how these funds are managed. A trust can be created during your lifetime or by will on your death.

Your executor will need to send a copy of your death certificate to the life insurance company and the company will then explain what they require to encash the policy. We can assist you with this.

There is no requirement for your property to be sold to pay for care fees. What is expected is that you pay the monthly fees and most people ultimately sell a property when they move into care as the property will be empty.

You can give away money or property and, provided that you survive seven years from making the gift, that amount will be ignored for inheritance tax purposes. If you do not survive seven years from making the gift, your estate may need to pay some inheritance tax on the gift.

Inheritance tax is a tax payable when a person has died and their wealth exceeds the inheritance tax threshold. This is currently £325,000 for unmarried people and £650,000 for married people who leave everything to the surviving spouse on the death of the first. The taxable rate is 40% over and above the inheritance tax threshold.

You can change your will as often as you like, provided that you have the mental capacity to do so.

A beneficiary is a person who receives some form of benefit in a will.