Probate and Estate Planning: Making Things Easier for the People You Love

There is rarely a perfect time to talk about Wills, probate or what will happen to everything we own when we are no longer here.

Life is busy. There is always something that feels more urgent, and estate planning can easily become one of those jobs we promise ourselves we will get around to eventually.

But I think there is a much nicer way to look at it.

Making things easier for the people you love

Estate planning isn't simply about preparing for death. It is about making sure that, when your family is going through an incredibly difficult time, you haven't left them with an additional mountain of paperwork and unanswered questions.

That is where organising your affairs sooner rather than later can make such a difference.

When somebody dies, their estate needs to be dealt with. Depending on the circumstances, the executors named in their Will may need to obtain a Grant of Probate before they can deal with certain assets.

Where there isn't a valid Will, the estate is instead dealt with under the rules of intestacy, and an appropriate person may need to apply for Letters of Administration.

However, obtaining the Grant is only one part of administering an estate.

Someone still needs to work out exactly what the person owned and owed, contact banks and other organisations, deal with property, establish whether there are tax matters to address, pay outstanding liabilities, maintain appropriate records and eventually make sure the estate reaches the correct beneficiaries.

And remember, the person taking responsibility for all of this may also be grieving.

Give your executors a roadmap, not a detective story

This is why one of the most practical things you can do for your family is to make your financial affairs easier to understand.

Think about what would happen if somebody had to start piecing together your financial life tomorrow.

Would they know where your Will was kept and who prepared it? Would they know which bank accounts you have, whether you own Premium Bonds, ISAs or investments, or whether there are pensions and life insurance policies to investigate?

Would they know where to find information about your property, your debts or your important documents?

Would they even know where to begin?

Very often, it isn't necessarily the size or value of an estate that causes families difficulty. It is trying to discover what exists and where everything is.

That is why I encourage people to think about estate planning as something much wider than simply signing a Will.

A Will is incredibly important but imagine the difference between leaving your executors a collection of paperwork they have to work through themselves and leaving them a well-organised record of your affairs.

After all, your executors aren't mind readers!

When we appoint a child, relative or trusted friend as an executor, we are giving them an important responsibility. Making their job easier is something we can plan for now.

What a sensible estate plan can include

A sensible estate plan might therefore bring together your current Will, details of your chosen executors and trustees, any Lasting Powers of Attorney, information about your property and finances, pensions and life policies, significant debts, trusts or other arrangements, professional advisers and a Letter of Wishes where appropriate. It can also include clear records of significant lifetime gifts where these may be relevant.

This doesn't mean writing down passwords or leaving sensitive financial information somewhere insecure. The aim is to create a useful roadmap so that the people you trust know what exists, where the relevant information is held and who they may need to speak to.

Why it is worth keeping your plans current

There is another very good reason not to keep putting estate planning off: life doesn't stand still.

Families change. People marry and divorce. Children and grandchildren arrive. Property is bought and sold. Businesses are created. We may inherit money, lose people close to us or experience changes in our own health.

The Will that suited you several years ago may not necessarily reflect your circumstances or wishes today.

Some decisions also need to be made while you have the mental capacity to make them. For example, if somebody has already lost capacity, their family cannot simply decide to put a Lasting Power of Attorney in place for them.

That is why I would always rather see families having these conversations earlier rather than discovering that something important has been left until it is too late.

Questions an estate-planning review can bring to the surface

A review can also bring questions to the surface that you may not previously have considered.

Does your Will still say what you want it to say? Have you chosen the right executors? What would happen if you lost capacity? Are there children from a previous relationship whose inheritance you want to protect? Is there a vulnerable beneficiary who may need additional planning? Could inheritance tax be relevant? Most simply of all, does your family know where your important documents are?

Not every family needs complicated trusts or sophisticated tax planning. Sometimes the most valuable improvement is simply making sure the basics are correct, current and properly organised.

I often think the best estate planning leaves your family with instructions rather than a detective story.

We cannot prevent our loved ones from grieving, but we can reduce some of the practical stress they may face at the same time.

We can make our wishes clear. We can keep our important information organised. We can review our Wills, consider LPAs and think carefully about the people we are asking to look after our affairs.

Most importantly, we can make sure they know where to start.

Start the conversation

Estate planning isn't simply about deciding what happens after you die. It is an opportunity to take care of the people who matter to you while you are still here and able to make those decisions yourself.

So, if your Will has been sitting untouched in a drawer for years, you aren't quite sure where all your important paperwork is, or you simply don't know whether your current arrangements still meet your family's needs, an estate planning review can be a very sensible starting point.

You don't need to solve everything at once.

You just need to start the conversation.

This article provides general information about estate planning in England and Wales and should not be treated as individual legal or tax advice. The appropriate probate and estate-planning arrangements will depend on personal circumstances.