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SHEPHERDS SNIPPETS Jan 2010
* Stamp Duty - exempt areas - some areas are now exempt for Stamp Duty Land Tax on prices up to £150,000 based on Post Code. Generally as from January 2010 Stamp Duty Land Tax is levvied at the rate of 1% of the whole price between prices of £125,000 to £250,000, at 3% between £250,000 and £500,000 and 4% thereafter
* Mortgage/Re-Mortgage/ other Financial Advice. We are pleased to introduce you to an experienced Independent adviser to assist you. Best done at an early stage. Considerable savings can be made.
* Bereavement. We at Shepherds have considerable experience of dealing with winding up of estates, large and small including advising on Legal Rights; Variations of a Will for tax or other reasons etc. Please consult Peter Shepherd.
* Current nil rate Inheritance Tax threshold £325,000. Depending on circumstances a married couple between them will have a nil rate inheritance tax threshold of £650,000.
*Did you know that?
- In Scotland, a child can claim Legal Rights in a parents estate where there is a Will. This however only affects moveable estate and not a house or land.
- In Scotland, marriage does not revoke an earlier Will.
- You can set up a trust either in your lifetime or in a Will for benefit of, say, grandchildren.
- You can give away your home to your family but retain the right to continue living there.
- In addition to a Financial Power of Attorney you can appoint a Welfare Attorney or Attorney or for a specific purpose e.g. selling your house.
- Since December 2005 a Civil Parner has equivalent rights to a spouse upon death.
Horror Stories
- X decided to take a Leased Shop Premises on a full repairing basis. He rushed into it without taking proper advice and found later to his cost that this involved him having to pay for major roof repairs. Take proper advice first - we can estimate fees which may save £000s.
- Y had children from his first marriage. He did not make a Will and when he died his estate went to his second wife. She did not make provision in her Will for his children and the estate passed to her own children.
- Z did not make provision for his long term partner. When he died following an accident she got nothing from his estate.
- A decided to go into business with B but they did not have a written partnership agreement. When things went wrong A lost out badly because of this. A Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) would have helped.
- C made a Will with a Will Writing Agency. After he had died his son had a great difficulty in tracing the Agency, because it had been sold and re-sold. We eventually tracked it down ina cardboard box in the back bedroom of a house in Kirriemuir, along with dozens of other Wills. We were then able to wind up the estate. There is no Central Register of Wills and it is most important to keep track of this important document. At Shepherds we will hold your Will in a fireproof storage free of charge - similarly with Title Deeds or other papers
- D thought he could save money by using a so-called Bucket Step Solicitors Service. He found they were based 80 mile away and could not provide local personal service. He spent what he might have saved on long distance phone calls, travelling etc.
- At Shepherds we do not claim to be the cheapest but high on Personal Service and Local Knowledge, and our costs are competative
- E and F were buying a house jointly but E was paying most of the deposit. When they separated E was in difficulty in asserting a claim for larger share of sale proceeds. It is possible to own a property in unequal shares to reflect unequal contributions or to have a separate agreement to cover this
- G was an enterprising individual who carried out numerous DIY alterations to his house. Unfortunately he did not get Local Authority approval so when he came to sell his house he ran into expense and difficulty in rectifying matters. Always obtain and preserve Building Warrants, plans, Certificates of Completion and Planning Permissions etc for alterations
- When she was going into a Nursing Home, H gave her house away to her family. The Local Authority sought to reclaim this saying she had done this just to avoid paying fees. A difficult and dangerous area but we can explain it to you. There are lots of pitfalls, but certain steps can often be taken after due consideration.
Stamp Duty Land Tax. On most purchases above £125,000, this will have to be paid by purchasers even if the purchase is exempt from payment through the value being the below the threshold a 6 page SDLT requires to be submitted to the Revenue within 30 days of completion of purchase. We take care of this for you in an online system.
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