estate planning

Estate planning is the preparation of documents that concern your financial and health decisions when you are unable to speak for yourself, or you have passed away. The key estate planning documents typically include your Last Will and Testament, your Living Will and Healthcare Power of Attorney and your financial Power of Attorney.

Six common estate planning mistakes – getting your Will right.

Six Common Estate Planning Mistakes

Estate planning is a critical part of financial planning, but a task that often never quite makes it to the top of your To Do list. Having your final wishes clearly set out can relieve your loved ones of unnecessary stress and financial burdens. To help you along your estate planning journey we have listed 6 common mistakes that anyone can make when writing a Will.

Estate planning mistakes

Mistake #1: Assuming that Wills are only for the wealthy

According to a recent YouGov survey, nearly two thirds of the British adult population do not have a Will. Continue reading →

Estate Plan – the seven critical documents that you need

You may have heard of the term “estate plan”. Perhaps you know it has something to do with your Last Will and Testament. But what exactly is an estate plan and how do you set one up?

In short, an estate plan is a set of documents that allow you to control your health and financial affairs when you are alive, but unable to handle them yourself, and also take care of your financial affairs after you have passed away. There are five classic documents that form a complete estate plan, but two additional documents that we feel, in 2016, that you should add to round out your plan.

They key word here is “plan”. These documents all allow you to describe what will happen if you are unable to take care of things yourself. You name individuals to take on your responsibilities and provide them with clear instructions on what to do. Which means that you can only prepare these documents when you have full mental capacity. You cannot wait until you no longer have capacity. If this ever happens to you, through illness or accident, it is then too late to prepare any of these documents.

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The cost of a funeral: Guest Post

This is a guest post written by Juliette Kay

One of the biggest expenses that you may occur in life is one that you’ll never actually have to pay for—but your family will. It’s your funeral expenses, and the true cost of a funeral may surprise you. Here’s a rough breakdown of what you might expect to pay for various funeral options.

cost of a funeral

The average funeral, according to the 2014 Sun Life Direct Cost of Dying Report, can cost as much as £3,590. Adding in discretionary funeral costs, and expenses associated with the administration of the deceased’s estate, the final total can rise to more than £8,000. Continue reading →