Wills, Probate & Power Of Attorney

Wills, Probate & Power of Attorney.

Providing peace of mind so that you can be sure that your matters or those of your family are in order. We are sensitive to the needs of our clients whether we are drafting a will, dealing with probate, Power of Attorney or Court of Protection orders.

Blain Boland & Co

We Are Here To Help.

Whether you are planning your future or dealing with the loss of a loved one, our solicitors are sensitive to your needs and will work with you to protect your interests and ensure your wishes are fulfilled. We can give you peace of mind that whatever opportunities and challenges come your way, we can help you achieve the best outcome.

Our Private Client team help individuals and couples plan for their futures through the drafting of Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and registration of Enduring Powers of Attorney. We also provide services for Deputyship applications through Court of Protection.

Blain Boland & Co

What We Do For Clients.

We work with clients to sort matters out following a bereavement by dealing promptly and efficiently with the administration of the estate. Our aim is to reduce the administrative burden and stress associated with bereavement so clients can focus on their family at a difficult time.

Our specialist probate solicitors can also provide legal advice and assist you where there is no will. This is known as intestacy.

Our Services.

We offer a range of services to Employees with issues at work.

We can offer one-off advice on an issue at work, through to full tribunal representation where necessary. We offer practical and honest advice to our clients and their issues.

We work with you to understand the underlying issue, and work with your to create a resolution to provide you with your preferred outcome to the situation.

Wills.

Drafting a will is the only valid way for you to decide how to distribute your assets after you pass away.

We take on board your circumstances and situation to give you any applicable advice on your Will to suit you. Reasons to consider a will include:

You own a house with somebody as tenants in common; the will determines who receives your share of the property.
Address any inheritance tax issues by appropriate planning through your will or trusts where necessary.
Appoint Guardians for your children.
If your will is over 5 years old and your relationship, or financial circumstances have changed.
Blended families – Where you have divorced and remarried and have children from both your old and new relationship. In this case it is possible to unintentionally disinherit the children from your first marriage, as without a will all assets would pass directly to your new spouse.

Probate.

Probate is a two-step process when dealing with the estate of the deceased. In some circumstances, particularly when the deceased owns property, or has a significant amount of money in a bank or in shares or bonds it will be necessary to apply for a Grant of Probate.

If there is a property involved a Grant will be necessary, however some banks and building societies will accept a death certificate in order to close accounts. There is normally a limit each financial institution will release without a Grant of Probate.

The Grant of Probate will need to be obtained by the executors of the deceased estate. Following the issue of the Grant of Probate the executors then have the legal power to deal with the estate through closing bank accounts and selling property.

In the case where the value of the estate is under the defined limit for inheritance tax, the application for probate is made directly to the Probate office. The time from submitting the application to obtaining the Grant is usually around 3 months.

If there is Inheritance Tax due on the Estate, this will need to be checked and verified by HMRC before the application can be made. This can add significant time to the process to obtain the grant.

Court Of Protection.

Where an individual does not have a power of attorney, an application may need to be made to the Court of Protection to make decisions about your health, welfare, financial affairs or property where the individual cannot make these decisions themselves.

Where an individual loses capacity and does not have a power of attorney in place, a court of protection application may be necessary to resolve any issues arising.

Whilst a power of attorney may cost around £300 and take around 2-3 months to be completed, a Court of Protection application can take 6-9 months and can cost around £1,500 or more dependent on the circumstances.

Whilst the cost difference may be worrying, the extra time taken to complete the application means the delay can adversely affect the person who the application is being made for.

Powers Of Attorney.

The current document to appoint attorney(s) is a Lasting Power of Attorney, there are two types:

Property & Financial – This appoints attorney(s) who can deal with just that – your financial affairs such as bank accounts and paying bills, and can deal with the sale and purchase of property.

Health & Welfare - It is important to note that the donor must have capacity to give instruction to appoint their attorneys.

A power of attorney can be used when the donor is unable to perform these actions themselves, in most cases this will mean they have lost mental capacity to make these decisions, or they are physically unable to perform these actions and need assistance with them.

We can deal with preparing the Power of Attorney documents for all parties involved to sign, as well as serving notice on all necessary parties, submitting the application to the Office of the Public Guardian and releasing the document to you.

WHAT THEY SAY.

Professional - I dealt with Jonathan and Emma during my transaction both were extremely professional and patient with me throughout. I would definitely use them again.

Blain Boland were fantastic with our house sale. We were also leaving the country following our sale. They went above and beyond for us by providing us with correct paperwork to help with the export of our vehicles. Really much appreciated.

Jonathan was wonderful with the sale and purchase of our new home. He was efficient and kept us in the loop at all times. Thank you for all your help with what could have been a very stressful time for us.

Emma has been very professional - kept me well informed - very smooth process everything went to plan. Would definitely recommend.

They were very professional, helpful, efficient and the voice of calm when the sale was getting stressful. I couldn't recommend Emma and Jonathan highly enough.

Frequently Asked Questions.

What is my holiday entitlement?

You can use the Government calculator to calculate your annual holiday entitlement.

What is the qualifying time period for a claim of unfair dismissal?

In most cases, the employee would need to be employed for 2 years or more to have ‘continuous rights of employment’. There are certain criteria where the two-year period is not necessary, and these include but are not limited to the following;

Raising health and safety concerns within the workplace or whistleblowing.
Dismissed from work for pregnancy or pregnancy related issues.
Discriminated against due to a protected characteristic such as your age, disability, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation under the terms of the Equality Act 2010.

How much time after my dismissal from work do I have to make a claim for unfair dismissal?

A claim must be raised within 3 months of the date of termination of your employment. The ACAS Early Conciliation varies this period, a  process which effectively stops the clock ticking.

Can I be made redundant while I am pregnant?

You cannot be made redundant for the sole reason that you are pregnant, this would be in breach of the Equality Act 2010 and you could bring a claim for discrimination. However, if redundancies are being made across the business and reasons outside pregnancy or maternity are highlighted you could still be made redundant in this situation.

My employer is doing something illegal, what are my rights?

You should firstly seek legal advice before taking any action; in this case you would become a whistle-blower that comes with its own rights and procedures. You should review your employer’s whistleblowing policy too.

MAKE AN ENQUIRY

Get in touch with an expert from Blain Boland & Co today to discuss your case and figure out the right next steps

Blain Boland & Co

Solicitors