A legal document, which allows you to appoint your most trusted people, attorneys, to make decisions on your behalf. These may be decisions about your financial affairs (as set out in a Property and Financial Affairs LPA), and your health needs (set out in a Health and Welfare LPA).

If you don’t have a LPA in place and you lose the ability to manage your affairs, for example through accident or illness, then your family would need to apply to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order. This is very costly, time-consuming and emotionally difficult; and comes at a time when your loved one may be struggling to cope.

LPAs can also be used for temporary financial decisions, where someone may be absent abroad for long periods or where a person may have disabilities which makes getting to the bank or paying bills difficult.

What is the difference between Property and Financial Affairs and a Health and Welfare LPA?
Property and Financial Affairs LPA
Choose one or more people to make decisions about matters relating to:

• Paying household bills or transferring money in and out of bank accounts.
• Collecting benefits or salaries owed to you.
• Selling or transferring your home.
• Managing the upkeep of your property.

This type of LPA can be used for short periods of time or on a more permanent basis.

Health and Welfare LPA

Choose one or more people, to make decisions about matters relating to:

• Your daily routine (e.g. eating, taking medication).
• Your medical care.
• Moving into a care home.
• Decisions about life-sustaining treatment.

This type of LPA can only be used when you have lost the ability to make your own decisions.

In simple terms a Living Will is a way in which you can let medical professionals know your wishes now, about your health care and treatment in the future, at a time when you may not be able to express them yourself. A Living Will, also known as an Advance Directive states the circumstances in which you would like treatment to stop or which treatments you would like to refuse completely (it cannot be used to request certain types of treatment). It can also contain details of how much involvement you would like your loved ones to have in these decisions or if you would like to leave them to medical professionals.

The document is legally binding and must be followed by the health care professional administering treatment as long as it is valid and applicable to the situation.

A legal document which allows you to express your wishes as to how your money, property and possessions should be distributed when you die. Choose a single Will if you’re single, widowed or not living with a partner. Choose a mirror Will if you’re married, in a civil partnership or living together (co-habiting).

• A Will puts you in control. You choose who will benefit from your estate (your property, money, business interests and possessions) and how much they should receive.
• You may wish to prevent certain people from inheriting and this can only be achieved by writing a Will.
• Dying without a valid Will means that your possessions will be distributed according to the laws of intestacy, which are out of date and do not consider the modern family set up.
• It’s far quicker and cheaper to deal with an estate where there is a Will than without one. Where there is no Will and as such no executors, then your next of kin will become responsible for your estate; these could well be people you would not have wanted.
• You may wish to leave gifts to friends, charities or other family members who might not otherwise be entitled under the rules of intestacy; you can only do this by making a Will.
• By writing a Will, you can choose how your children should be cared for and by who. Without this it could mean that your children are cared for by Social Services whilst the court decides who should look after them long term
• You can also choose your most trusted people to act as your executors. They will carry out your wishes and make sure your estate is given out as you intended.

By planning ahead and writing your Will you have the peace of mind knowing that, when the time comes, you will have done all you can to make life as easy as possible for those you have left behind.

This online Executor Toolkit allows you to apply for a Grant of Probate and fully administer an estate online.

• Low cost Estate Administration service
• Stay in control when administering the estate
• Stay on track with automated checklists
• Work at your own pace and at any time of the day
• Technical support included
• One-off fixed fee
• Our Legal Team will help you to handle the legal tasks and stay on track

With this Service you can:

• Register a death
• Arrange a funeral
• Secure property, arrange care for dependents and pets
• Apply for the Grant of Representation (also known as the Grant of Probate, Administration or Confirmation)
• Securely produce all relevant HMRC forms
• Generate over 50 pre-populated letters for notifying organisations, beneficiaries and other interested parties
• Generate Estate accounts in accordance with the law in England & Wales
• Organise the clearance or sale of a property
• Arrange bereavement counselling

Our Legal Team will complete, and Fast Track, the Grant of Representation (also known as the Grant of Probate, Administration or Confirmation) Application for you in addition to all the great benefits of the Executor Toolkit.

• Fast track Grant of Probate included (Grant of Probate Application time is reduced to weeks rather than months)
• Funds are released more quickly
• Free property sale if required
• One off fixed fee
• Save money and stay in control by completing some of the work yourself
• A professional will handle the legal tasks and help you stay on track
• Includes technical and legal support

• Stopping mail to the address of the deceased
• Notifying government and financial institutions
• Placing statutory notices
• Calculating if Inheritance Tax (IHT) is payable (if yes this service is not suitable for you)
• Arranging other relief, e.g. transfer of Nil Rate Band, if required
• Preparing any Oath or tax forms needed
• Completion of the Grant of Probate Application and any additional forms for you
• Liaising with the Probate Registrar on your behalf, so an appointment is not needed

In addition, we will carry out other tasks on your behalf, for example, filling out a StopMail application; a service which removes the deceased name from direct marketing lists and stops unwanted mail, placing statutory notices and lots more.

Book a Callback and our Legal Team will be in touch to go through how we can support you.

Hand everything over to an SRA Regulated solicitor who will keep you informed throughout the entire process, and assume all legal liability for administration of the estate

• Simply hand everything over to a Solicitor
• Regular updates to keep you informed of progress
• Your Solicitor will assume liability for the administration of the estate

• It’s a digital filing cabinet which helps you to organize everything;
  • From your legal paperwork to where important documents are stored
  • Everyday financial stuff, such as where you bank, who you hold your insurance policies with and your mortgage company
  • Keeping a note of your digital information, such as where you store your photos, accessing your e-books and music library
• Adds reminders to your files so that you never forget a renewal date again.
• Allows your most trusted people to access this information whenever it is needed.

Go Premium – customize your CloudVault

It’s convenient – Access it when you want, add new information whenever you need and update it as and when.

It’s secure – The safety of your information is extremely important to us. We use the latest technology to ensure that everything is protected.

It’s manageable – All in one place, minimal effort, and simple layout.

Make it your own – customize your vault.

Keep it all together - Upload and store your documents and information with a single click

Set yourself reminders about all the important things.

This could be to remind you to review your will, send a letter or that all-important anniversary! Create new nags whenever you see the bell icon, or make a list