Beyond You

 Estate Planning & Trusts

 Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person’s life, for the management and disposal of their estate during life and after death. 

 Mitigating inheritance tax is often the core of estate planning but it can also include how to protect your assets, for example, if your children divorce.  You may also want to maintain control over who receives the inheritance and when it is paid while making sure that you have a safety net so that your own standard of living is not at risk if something unforeseen should happen.

 We can review your existing position and summarise your current potential inheritance tax liability and provide guidance on immediate action that can be taken to reduce an inheritance tax liability or prevent it from increasing.   This could include writing existing life policies in trust. 

 Legislation recently introduced now means that pensions can be an efficient way of passing on wealth to the next generation.  We can carry out cash flow forecasting to help you decide how much of your pension you need for yourself, and how much you can leave for your beneficiaries.

 We can also guide you through the various allowances and reliefs to ensure you are transferring assets at appropriate times to reduce your taxable estate.

 Once all the above has been considered and if there is a remaining liability, we can advise you on setting up appropriate vehicles that may assist in reducing the tax that you pay. Or we can ensure there is protection in place so that your beneficiaries have the means to pay the liability.

Schaefer’s EstatePlan

We have been advising clients for more than 35 years, and during that time we have gained a lot of experience about helping clients deal with life. One of the most important aspects of our work is financial planning so that future potential situations are considered and covered in the financial plans.

You may know:

 Ø  What financial assets you have, and how you want those assets distributed, but your Will might not provide sufficient detailed guidance. Wills also don’t cover Trusts that might exist for life policies and pensions. Are your instructions clear enough? Could your family/solicitor easily assess your full estate and where title documents are held?

 Ø  How do you want to be cared for medically if you lose the ability to speak for yourself? You may already have a health attorney appointed, but are your wishes in writing anywhere?

 Ø  Maybe it is somewhat morbid to think about your own funeral, but will your family know what you would like or, perhaps, more importantly what you would not want?

 Ø  Can your digital assets such as IPad and IPhone be accessed by your family? They may contain valuable photo records, as might the ICloud if you upload records.

 We have created the Estate Plan to make sure that your wishes and instructions are known to those around you, such as your family, beneficiaries, executors and trustees.