FAQs

Residential Property

Yes, you can still use your Help to Buy ISA to get the bonus, even if your partner has previously owned a home. The Help to Buy ISA eligibility is based on an individual basis, not as a couple, provided you have never owned a property anywhere in the world. Note that while you can use your ISA and claim the bonus, you will likely not qualify for first-time buyer stamp duty relief because your partner has owned a home before, unless you purchase in your sole name.

Let your solicitor know you are using a Help to Buy ISA as soon as possible, ideally when instructing them or immediately after your offer is accepted. You must close the ISA and provide the closing statement to your solicitor to claim the 25% bonus. Do not simply withdraw your money, or you may lose the bonus; you must specifically request to “close” the account for a property purchase.

There are no direct fees to open or use a Help to Buy ISA, but commonly your solicitor will often charge a small additional administrative fee (usually around £50 to £100 plus VAT) to process the paperwork required to claim the bonus and request the bonus. The bonus itself cannot be used for the initial property exchange deposit, only the final completion so you will still need to find deposit funds usually amounting to 10% of the purchase price (although the savings in the ISA can be used towards this).

If you never use your Help to Buy ISA to buy a first home, you will not lose your savings, but you will miss out on the 25% government bonus which can only be used for the purchase of your first home. The money remains your own and you can withdraw it at any time for any purpose.

You can no longer open a Help to Buy ISA however, if you have an existing account, you can save up to £200 a month until November 2029.

A Help to Buy ISA is a government-backed, tax-free savings account designed to help first-time buyers purchase a home by providing a 25% bonus on savings. Although new accounts closed on 30 November 2019, existing savers can contribute up to £200 per month until November 2029 and claim a bonus of up to £3,000 until November 2030. You can save a maximum £200 per month (except the first month when you would have been permitted a £1,000 saving) and you need to have saved at least £1,600 to get a bonus (minimum £400). The maximum bonus available is £3,000, earned on savings of £12,000.

These are a Bankruptcy Search against you (required only if you are having a mortgage) and a Land Registry Search. This search gives you priority at Land Registry to complete registration of your purchase without any further entries on the title. These searches are only undertaken just before completion.

This is your moving day. Generally speaking, the keys to the property should be at the Estate Agent’s by 2pm.

Although the contract provides that the property is to be insured by the buyer from exchange, the seller must continue their insurance cover until legal completion to ensure they are fully protected in case of a claim.

The pre-contract report is prepared by your lawyer and includes copies of all relevant documents received with an explanation as to what they are and how they may affect the property. You should ensure that you read this in full and let us know if you have any issues to raise.

These will be applied for on receipt of the contract pack and generally take 2-4 weeks to be returned. These consist of a Local Authority, Drainage Environmental, and Chancel Search.

Most properties are sold with vacant possession which means the seller must have vacated on or before the latest time for completion. There must be no one remaining in occupation and the seller must, as a general rule, clear the property of all goods and rubbish except those included in the sale.

Sewer and drain searches confirm whether or not the property is on mains drains and water and also usually provides a plan showing any mains services or drains running under the property. It will show whether there is a separate charge for surface water drainage from the property.

The Local Authority Searches contain questions asked of the Local Authority about the property you are buying to include the registers of Planning and Building Regulations; Tree Preservation Orders and Public Highways. This search only relates to the property you are buying and will not, for example, show proposed development in the locality.

Environmental searches contain useful information on previous known contamination of the land, whether the property is affected by radon gas and whether it is within 250m of a flood plain.

The contract pack is sent to the buyers solicitor and will contain the Contract, Land Registry Title, Property Information Form and the Fittings and Contents form.

This document is between the Landlord and the property owner which allows the owner to occupy the property for a specific period of time. This is generally for 99, 125 or 999 years. If the term of the Lease drops too low (anywhere from 50-70 years), it will need to be extended.

Whether selling or buying this needs to be signed before completion by all parties to the transaction. Upon completion this together with any other Deeds and documents are sent to the Buyer’s lawyers. The registration or change of the title at Land Registry cannot take place without this Deed.

This is the point where the contracts are made legally binding and the agreed completion date is fixed. Once exchanged, you will not be able to withdraw from the contract.

The contract is the legal document setting out details of the property to be bought or sold; the parties involved; the agreed sale or purchase price and any special terms and conditions previously agreed.

After checking the documents within the contract pack, enquiries may be raised to deal with any outstanding issues on the property title or any of the documents supplied.

The contract which is currently in use provides for the buyer to insure the property from exchange of contracts. The insurance must (where a mortgage is taken out) be checked by your lawyer before exchange to ensure it complies with your mortgage offer conditions.

In simple terms, a property chain is a line of buyers and sellers who are all linked together because each sale depends on another.

For example:

Your buyer needs to sell their house to buy yours.
The person they’re buying from needs to buy another house.
And so on.

It becomes a “chain” because everyone has to complete on the same day for the transactions to work smoothly.

If one person pulls out, has mortgage issues, or faces delays, it can affect everyone else in the chain.

A chain-free sale means there’s no linked transaction — for example, a first-time buyer purchasing from someone moving into rented accommodation — which can make things quicker.

Instruct a conveyancer early
Do this as soon as you decide to market or event better beforehand so we can prepare paperwork in advance and identify and gaps.
Complete property forms promptly
Fill out the TA6 (Property Information Form) and TA10 (Fixtures & Contents) accurately and provide and relevant supporting documents.
Gather key documents
Have planning permissions, building regulation certificates, warranties, lease details (if leasehold), and any guarantees ready.
Check your mortgage position
Confirm your outstanding balance and any early repayment charges.
Resolve issues early
Boundary disputes, missing certificates, or short leases can delay or derail a sale if not addressed upfront or even better in advance of listing.
Be realistic on timescales
Chains, enquiries, and mortgage approvals often affect completion dates — flexibility helps.

Get your finances in order
Secure a mortgage agreement in principle and budget for extras (stamp duty, legal fees, surveys, searches).
Instruct a conveyancer early
Choose a regulated firm (e.g. authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority) as soon as your offer is accepted — or even before.
Do your due diligence
We will: Review the contract pack, order searches (local authority, drainage, environmental and chancel), check title and boundaries, raise enquiries with the seller’s solicitor
Understand the property type
Leasehold, freehold, or share of freehold all carry different obligations — especially with ground rent and service charges.
Don’t skip the survey
A lender’s valuation is not a structural survey.
Be responsive
Delays often happen because of unanswered enquiries, ID checks, source of funds documentation

There is no fixed timescale as there are often many moveable parts which one person is not in control of for example a delay in a mortgage offer being issued or search results revealing an adverse entry which needs to be resolved before matters can progress.

As soon as you have identified a property you wish to purchase. Your local solicitor will have specialist knowledge regarding properties in their local area for example where a freehold property is located on an estate which carried an obligation to make a regular financial contribution towards a freehold management company.

As soon as possible. Getting your paperwork completed, ID verified and any missing planning documents etc located in advance saves time and speeds up the process once a buyer has been found.

Yes however there will be additional cost implications associated with this, including but not limited to higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Property Litigation

Written statement setting out basic information about the tenancy and the parties’ responsibilities, while maintaining the ability to adapt and agree these terms with the new tenant.

The intention is to create a new Privately Rented Property Portal to help landlords understand their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance and for tenants to better understand the law and their rights. All landlords would be required to register so that tenants will have information about a landlord before agreeing to enter into a new tenancy.

The government plans to introduce a new Private Rented Sector Ombudsman which landlords ‘may’ have to join. The Ombudsman should provide a fair and binding resolution to many landlord and tenant issues in a way that is less costly, quicker and less adversarial than the current court system.

Every tenant now has the right to request to keep a pet, which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse. Landlords will be allowed to require pet insurance to cover any damage to the property.

Landlords will no longer be able to use rent review provisions under the tenancy agreement but will have to follow the s13 statutory procedure allowing rent increases only once a year to market prices, with an increased 2 month notice period. Tenants will have the ability to challenge the rent through the First Tier Property Tribunal if they believe it to be excessive.

New grounds are going to be introduced such as when a landlord wants to sell the property or have close family members move in. There will also be a ground for persistent rent arrears to stop tenants paying off the arrears just before the possession hearing, together with provisions to make it easier to evict anti-social tenants.

At present landlords are able to serve a s21 notice giving a tenant two months’ notice to vacate the property and no fault by the tenant needs to be proven. The Bill abolishes this procedure so that any landlord wishing to evict a tenant must prove one of the grounds under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 instead. Tenants however, will be able to move out upon giving 2 months’ notice to the landlord.

All tenancies which would be assured tenancies or assured shorthold tenancies will become periodic tenancies, with a rent period not exceeding one month. Landlords will no longer be able to offer a fixed term tenancy.

Notary

A Statutory Declaration can be witnessed by a Solicitor and is normally for use within the UK, whereas a notary will notarise documents to be used outside of England and Wales.

This varies depending on what the requirements for that particular country are. You would need to check with the lawyer who requires the document if this is required. If it is, we can assist you with this.

An apostille serves three key functions.

First, it verifies that the signature or seal on your document is genuine and was applied by an authorised person.
Second, it confirms the document’s authenticity so that foreign authorities can trust it without needing to contact the UK government directly.
Third, it makes your document legally valid for use abroad – whether you’re applying for a visa, working overseas, getting married in another country, or setting up a foreign business.

An apostille is an official certificate that authenticates a UK document for use in another country. Issued by the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office), it confirms that the signature, seal or stamp on a document is genuine.

Apostilles are recognised by all member countries of the 1961 Hague Convention, making them the internationally accepted standard for document legalisation.

A document normally requires to be notarised if it is being used outside of England and Wales.

The process can vary in length depending on what is required from the notary, as some circumstances require a few more steps. We do aim to process each application as soon as possible, it can take a least a couple of weeks.

The cost can vary depending on what the notary is being asked to do with the document, each matter can be different so we provide personalised quotations based on individual circumstance.

A solicitor can become a notary public by passing a further qualification, a two year notarial practice course where they get admitted to the Court of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Following this they then need to work under the supervision of an experienced notary for the first two years after qualifying.

Lasting Power of Attorney

Section 12 Mental Capacity Act 2005 allows Attorneys to make gifts on ‘customary occasions’ as long as the gift is reasonable in size, considering the size and nature of your estate. An Attorney cannot make large gifts from your assets which would fall outside the scope of section 12. In addition, it is possible to restrict your Attorney’s authority further within the LPA, if you wish to do so. If an Attorney wishes to make a gift which falls outside of section 12, they must first apply to the Court of Protection for approval. The court would only grant the application if the gift is considered to be in your best interests.

In addition;

An Attorney cannot make or change your Will for you.
An Attorney cannot ‘delegate’ their responsibilities to somebody else.
Attorneys can claim their out-of-pocket expenses from your estate. However, they cannot decide to pay themselves for the time spent in dealing with your affairs, unless they are a professional Attorney and you have granted authority within the LPA document for them to charge for their time.
If you have set out restrictions on your Attorney’s powers or authority within the LPA, then your Attorney cannot act outside the scope of their authority without an application to the Court of Protection. An example within the LPA for health and welfare is to restrict the Attorney’s authority so they cannot make ‘life sustaining treatment’ decisions for you. In that situation, the decision would be made by medical professionals on the basis of medical opinion as to your best interests.

Your LPA has to go through a number of stages in order to be valid:

If you have sought our advice, we would first take your instructions and provide you with full individualised advice. We would then draft your LPA(s) for you to review, before inviting you back in to our office to sign the LPA(s). This part of the process usually takes 2-4 weeks.
Your LPA has to be signed by you, in the presence of a witness.
Your ‘certificate provider’ must sign their section to confirm you are making the LPA free from pressure and that you have capacity to make financial and/or health decisions. Where we have advised on your LPAs and drafted the documents, we can usually act as your certificate provider.
Your Attorneys then each need to sign their declaration sections, in the presence of a witness. This part of the process can take 2-6 weeks, depending on the number of Attorneys, and whether they can sign their declarations together of whether the LPAs need to be sent to them.
Your LPA then needs to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before it can be used by your Attorneys. The registration process involves a statutory notice period of 4 weeks from the date that the OPG receive your LPA. Generally, LPA registration is currently taking approximately 12 weeks.

Anybody under the age of 18
Anybody who lacks the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves
Anybody who is subject to a Debt Relief Order or is an undischarged bankrupt cannot act under an LPA for Property and Financial Affairs. This restriction does not apply to the LPA for Health and Welfare.

In addition, there are practical considerations to take into account when choosing a suitable Attorney:

Conflicts of interest (an Attorney must act in your best interests)
Geographical location
Reliability and trustworthiness
The Attorney’s availability
Convicted offenders (although they are not prohibited, appointing someone who has been convicted of fraud or financial crimes should be avoided).

An LPA is a powerful document that, in the wrong hands, can be abused. Our advice includes discussing your wishes to ensure that the person(s) you are appointing are the best people to take on that responsibility.

In addition, many cases of Attorneys abusing their powers have occurred as a result of the Attorney unknowingly exceeding their authority (such as gifting away large amounts of your assets where Court approval should first have been sought). As part of our legal advice we work with you to ensure your LPA has appropriate safeguards or restrictions in place, to make such abuse of position less likely.

You need to be able to trust that the person(s) you are appointing as your Attorney(s) will make decisions in your best interests. Your attorney(s) must also be able to work well together.

This can often mean appointing one of your adult children and not the other, if to appoint both would cause friction, prolonged decision-making, or create a risk to your finances.

Without and LPA for property and finances, nobody would be able to manage your bank accounts, property or other assets for you if you were to lose capacity to make financial decisions. In that situation, an application to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order would be required to grant access to your assets before any payments could be made for your care or your day-to-day living needs. This is an expensive application, and you would likely have no say in who makes the application.

An LPA for health and welfare allows you to decide who can make health and medical treatment decisions for you, including decisions relating to social care.

In both cases, making an LPA allows you to have the control over who is appointed to manage your finances and/or health decisions. You can also use the LPA to restrict your Attorney’s authority or to specify your preferences.

Your banks would need to take a copy of the LPA before they will allow your Attorney(s) to access and control your bank accounts. You do not need to register the LPA with your bank unless and until your Attorneys need to make decisions for you.

Where you assets (money, investments, shares, property, etc) are concerned, your next of kin does not have any power to manage these for you in the event that you lose capacity to make decisions or you have difficulty doing things for yourself. Only an Attorney or court-appointed Deputy would be able to manage your financial affairs on your behalf.

In a medical setting, your next of kin only has the right to be informed about what is happening, and they may be involved in medical decisions. However, your next of kin does not have a right to step into your shoes and make decisions for you if you cannot do so for yourself.

Therefore an LPA does not ‘override’ the next of kin because it grants your Attorney powers that your next of kin does not have.

An LPA grants the Attorney(s) the power to make decisions for you. The LPA for property and financial affairs allows your Attorney to access all of your UK assets in order to manage these on your behalf. Depending on how the LPA is drafted, the scope of the Attorney’s authority can be restricted.

In addition, depending on how the LPA for financial affairs is created, it can be used by the Attorney before you have lost capacity to make financial decisions (although they should only act with your consent.) as well as once you have lost mental capacity.

An LPA for health and welfare allows your Attorney to step into your shoes to make decisions for you about your medical treatment, where you should live (including whether you should move into residential care), and they can restrict who has contact with you.

An LPA enables you to choose trusted individuals to handle your affairs for you and in your best interests. The alternative is for the Court to appoint a Deputy to manage your affairs in the event that you lack mental capacity to do so. This would involve somebody making an application to the Court of Protection to be appointed as your Deputy for financial affairs and/or personal welfare.

The person who makes this application could be a close relative, or it could be the Local Authority or a professional Deputy such as a Solicitor if nobody else is able to make the application.

In these circumstances you would not have any control over who makes the application, or over who the Court ultimately decides should have the authority from a Deputyship Order.

A Deputyship application is also a more costly alternative. The court fee is currently £420, and the necessary capacity assessment can range from £300 to £800. In addition, legal fees can amount to £2,500-£4,000 plus vat. In comparison, our fees for an LPA are up to £1,000 plus vat for one person, or £1,500 plus vat for two people making LPAs together.

A Will only takes effect upon your death and determines who is responsible for administering your estate and who is to receive the money and assets that you have.

An LPA however, is only valid during your lifetime, meaning that upon your death the authority given to your Attorneys to deal with your assets ends. Upon your death it should be returned to the Office of the Public Guardian (‘OPG’) to be cancelled. In addition, whereas a Will directs your estate to certain people after your death (i.e. your beneficiaries), an LPA only grants your Attorneys the power to make decisions for you, in accordance with your best interests and with regard to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice. An LPA Attorney can only make gifts from your assets in limited circumstances.

It means that you have appointed one or more people to act as your Attorney(s), to make certain decisions for you.

As an attorney, you are responsible for making certain decisions for the Donor, in accordance with their best interests. Your role and responsibilities will depend on how you have been appointed and the type of LPA you have bee appointed under.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (‘LPA’) is a document which appoints one or more people to make certain decisions on behalf of the person who made the LPA (‘the Donor’) if they become unable to make decisions.

There are two types of LPA documents. You can make an LPA for decisions relating to your property and finances, or for decisions relating to your health and welfare. A property and finances LPA grants the Attorney(s) authority access, to control your assets such as property, bank accounts, and investments. A financial LPA can be used (with you, the ‘Donor’s’ consent) even if you have not lost mental capacity to make your own decisions.

Managing an Estate

The 2nd anniversary of a person’s death can be an important administrative milestone for two reasons.

It is the cut-off date for any Deed of Variation to be signed in the estate. This is a document that changes the way in which the estate has been divided under the Will or intestacy provisions. There are a number of reasons why beneficiaries may enter into a Deed of Variation, including to resolve inheritance claims without going to court, to reduce the inheritance tax bill, or as part of the beneficiary’s own financial planning. Inheritance legislation allows a variation to be ‘read back’ to the date of death but only if created within 2 years of the death.
Often, Wills which do not create an express trust arrangement still have to be registered with HMRC via the Trusts Registration Service. Whilst expressly created trusts must be registered within 90 days, estates which create a bare trust only have to be registered if the estate has not been finalised at the 2nd anniversary.

If you inherit a large amount of money then you should;

obtain advice from an independent financial advisor for your own financial planning;
review your own Will with a specialist Solicitor. This is because a windfall could alter your own inheritance tax position and may affect how you would wish to distribute your estate on death.

Their responsibilities include:

Gathering full information about the assets and liabilities in the estate;
Providing a full inheritance tax account to HMRC (where inheritance tax is due to be paid;
Paying the inheritance tax due out of the estate;
Dealing with the funeral arrangements and arrangements for the deceased’d body;
Collecting in all of the real and personal estate;
Maintaining the assets safely, once collected in;
Paying all liabilities within the estate (where the estate is solvent);
Where required to do so, delivering a full inventory and account of the estate to the court;
The duty to invest the assets where the estate will not be distributed for some time;
The duty to preserve the deceased’d business by carrying it on for a short period of time until sale (if express power is granted in the Will to do so);
Acting with due diligence. Estate Personal Representatives are bound by the same statutory duty of care as Trustees.

In some circumstances, unfair distributions or disagreements between beneficiaries can be resolved amongst themselves. Any agreement can then be finalised as a Deed of Variation, to change the way in which the estate is distributed under the Will (or under the intestacy provisions if there is no Will). Our Probate team can provide specialised advice in relation to Deeds of Variation.

If there is disagreement which cannot be resolved or if one or more of the beneficiaries are under the age of 18, then a court application will be required. Depending on the nature of the disagreement, one or more beneficiaries may make a claim to court for provision (provided they meet the eligibility criteria under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.) Our Litigation team can provide advice and representation in these disputes.

A Will can contain specific legacies which are defined, specific amounts of money or assets gifted to one or more beneficiaries. A Will should also set out how the residuary estate is to be divided. The residuary estate is the remaining funds left over after all inheritance tax, funeral costs, estate expenses and any liabilities owed by the deceased are repaid, and after any specific legacies have been paid out.

Beneficiaries of the residuary estate are entitled to receive an inventory and account of the estate once the administration is complete. The inventory and account is dealt with as a set of Estate Accounts which are signed off by the Executor/Administrator of the estate.

There is no set time limit for the estate to be settled and paid out to the beneficiaries.

Section 44 Administration of Estates Act 1925 states that “subject to the foregoing provisions of this Act, a personal representative is not bound to distribute the estate of the deceased before the expiration of one year from the death.”

This means that a Personal Representative cannot be forced to distribute the estate before the first anniversary of death. Even after the expiry of that year, a court would not order the Personal Representative to distribute the estate where they can show there are good reasons for retaining the assets and that they are acting honestly.

However, the Personal Representative are not obligated to keep hold of the estate assets until that one year has passed. If the estate is ready to be distributed, then the remaining estate can be paid out to the beneficiaries.

Some of the difficulties that can prevent the estate from being settled within that year include;

Liabilities not being immediately identifiable;
If there is no Will, there can be multiple people who are entitled to apply for Probate and this can cause disputes if agreement cannot be reached;
In cases where there is no Will, there can also be problems with identifying who has that power to apply for the grant;
Problems with one or more clauses in the Will (issues with interpretation or validity);
Delays in obtaining necessary information and access to assets (particularly where there are assets located outside of the UK).

If we were appointed in the Will to act as Executors or you instruct us to manage the Probate and estate administration for you, then we will charge legal fees for the work we carry out. Our fees are always agreed with you in advance and where we are charging an hourly rate, we will provide you with a cost estimate at the outset and keep you updated on that cost estimate.

Where any law firm or bank is instructed to manage an estate, the fees that will be charged to the estate will be set out in that firm’s terms of business and agreement with you. Legal costs in dealing with the estate administration are legitimate costs from the estate and should usually be covered by estate funds. You may be asked to cover initial costs (such as the court fee for the Grant of Probate) where assets cannot be accessed without the Grant.

Power to carry on a business (provided there is authority in the Will) (power to postpone sale);
Power to gather the necessary information about the estate, deliver that information to HMRC (using the full account if required) and paying the IHT due;
Power to deal with the deceased body (this responsibility falls first on the Personal Representatives of the estate);
Once the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration is issued, the Personal Representatives have the power to collect in all the real and personal estate and to administer it according to law.

This list is not exhaustive. The Personal Representatives have a multitude of additional powers created by legislation or by the Will. This could include the power to charge fees (if acting as a professional executor), the power to invest, or the power to take into account gifts made to a beneficiary during the deceased’s lifetime when calculating how much that beneficiary should receive under the Will.

This list is not exhaustive but aims to provide an overview of the process:

Registering the death and obtaining Death Certificate(s);
Arranging the funeral and paying the ill;
Completing the Tell Us Once Notification to notify government departments (such as DWP, DVLA and HMRC);
Notifying organisations and companies that hold money or are owed money by the person who has died;
Obtaining values of all assets and debts and ascertaining whether a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration is needed;
If inheritance tax is payable, completing and submitting the full IHT account to HMRC and paying the inheritance tax due;
Applying for Probate or Letters of Administration;
Calling in all assets and settling liabilities;
Drafting the estate accounts;
Paying the beneficiaries in accordance with the Will or intestacy provisions.

Within this process the Executor/Personal Representative will also need to deal with potential complexities such as ascertaining whether or not the estate is solvent, checking that the Will they have is valid and that it is the last Will, issues with liquidity of assets to pay the inheritance tax bill, and publishing notices to protect themselves once the estate has been distributed to beneficiaries.

Debt Recovery

There is usually nothing wrong in either party trying to engage in informal discussions prior to the instruction of legal representatives. That being said, seeking legal advice as early as possible is a sensible step to ensure that you fully understand what you are legally entitled to under the terms of any agreement (verbal or written) against which payment is being sought. In addition, a solicitor demand often encourage payment of the debt.

The Civil Procedure Rules has a Practice Direction setting out the requirements and what must be considered before a formal court action is issued against another party. Those requirements will differ depending on whether the debt is between individuals or businesses. We start by sending a Letter before Action to the debtor and often that results in payment. If settlement cannot be achieved pre-action, a court claim will be necessary. A Judgment may be entered against the debtor and various enforcement options can be considered including bailiffs, a charging order or serving a statutory demand.

In the majority of cases, a creditor will have six years under the Limitation Act 1980 to commence proceedings against the debtor for an unpaid debt. The limitation period will run from the date of the cause of action (usually, the date the debt became due). If a claim is not brought within this period, it will become statute-barred and can no longer be pursued through the civil courts.

Making a Will

A Will only takes effect upon your death and determines who is responsible for administering your estate and who is to receive the money and assets that you have.

Each person has their own Will, there is no such thing as a joint Will although the Wills may contain the same provisions.

The best way to leave your house to your children is with your Will. If you give the property to your children during your lifetime it can create numerous problems, one being a lifetime gift and tax implications, deliberate deprivation and capital gains. Leaving your house to your children in your Will avoids any tax implications and does not leave your occupation in the property vulnerable.

Depending on the type or how many changes you wish to make, you can give us a call and we can either make you a new Will or tweak the current Will to reflect your changes.

We often suggest reviewing or reading your Will every three years to ensure that the wishes are still the same. You should always update your Will if yours or a beneficiary’s circumstances change such as becoming disabled, winning the lottery, or a beneficiary dying before you.

At our firm, we keep the original Will in our fire safety strongroom and do not charge for this service.

Every clause in a Will is important. The residue gift is one of the most important gifts as this determines who ultimately benefits. If this is incorrectly drafted or worded wrong, it can cause significant problems and it could result in someone else benefiting.

During your lifetime you can make gifts and, if you make a gift which exceeds your annual allowances, the value of the gift can come back into your estate for tax purposes. You are allowed to gift £3,000 per year so if for example, Emily gifts £7,000 to Tim, if Emily dies within 3 years of that gift, the £4,000 will be included in Emily’s estate for tax purposes.

Your estate will be left subject to the intestacy rules. This means that there is no controlling who benefits from your estate and this can of course be an estranged family member.

Whilst you do not need a solicitor to make a Will, it is strongly advisable that you do have a professional draft the Will. We can ensure that your exact wishes are carried out because we know the jargon and the correct wording. We have seen many times how a simple incorrect word or phrase can cause problems.

Family

During a family law consultation at our Peterborough, Huntingdon and Oundle locations, you will meet with one of our dedicated solicitors who will take the time to discuss your situation in detail. We will seek to fully understand your circumstances, clearly explain your legal options, and outline the next steps available to you.

Our consultations provide an opportunity to ask questions, address any concerns, and receive honest, straightforward advice in a supportive environment. You will also be given an overview of likely costs and available pricing structures. For further information, you can learn more about our fixed-fee family law services.

Our experienced family law solicitors in Peterborough, Huntingdon, and Oundle are dedicated to providing clear, practical guidance supported by a high standard of service. Family matters can present complex challenges, from relationship breakdowns and marriage to cohabitation and financial arrangements. Our team offers structured support and expert advice to ensure you are informed and able to progress with confidence.

At Hunt & Coombs we provide a selection of family law services with fixed pricing, giving you clear and predictable costs from the outset. We also offer an initial consultation for a set fee, where we review your situation and offer practical guidance. This helps you understand your position and decide on the best next steps with confidence.

Declaration of a Trust

Depending on the circumstances, there could be implications for inheritance tax on your estate when making a declaration of Trust. It is important to seek specialist legal advice if you are planning to make a declaration of Trust.

A declaration of Trust works alongside your Will – one does not replace the other.

A declaration of Trust specifies the extent of your assets. If you have a 30% interest in a property, then that 30% interest can be gifted in your Will.

Consequently, you cannot gift away any assets which you do not own. Therefore, if you have a 30% interest in a property, only 30% can be gifted under the terms of your Will.

A declaration of Trust can supersede clauses of your Will if you have specified assets in your Will which you later direct under a declaration of Trust.

The beneficial ownership of an asset would follow the legal ownership. Therefore, if two people co-own a property then the law would determine that they each own 50% of the rental income or sale proceeds. What would happen on death of a co-owner would depend on whether they owned the property as “beneficial joint tenants” or “beneficial tenants in common”.

In cases of dispute, it could give rise to what is known as a TOLATA claim if someone has made contributions towards the purchase or renovation costs of a property which they do not own.

A declaration of Trust is created by Deed. Therefore, in order to be legally valid the document must be witnessed by someone who is over the age of 18 and who is independent from the arrangement.

A declaration of Trust can be declared to be invalid due to lack of certainty or enforceability. It would also be invalid if it is not signed as a Deed.

A declaration of Trust would also become invalid if the asset changes hands.

A declaration of Trust must provide certainty and be workable in order to be valid. Therefore, although there is no requirement for it to be drawn up by a Solicitor, it is recommended that the documents are drawn up with specialist legal advice.

Depending on the circumstances, the transfer may be subject to SDLT. It is important to obtain specialist legal advice and/or the advice from an accountant to advise on SDLT implications.

If the declaration of Trust relates to property or land, then the arrangement is usually registered by recording a ‘Restriction’ on the legal title at HM Land Registry. This acts as a layer of protection by making others aware of the existence of a Trust agreement and preventing the property from being transferred without the consent of all beneficial owners. However, the declaration itself is a private document between the parties to it and does not itself need to be registered with the Land Registry.

Any time somebody holds assets on behalf of other people, a Trust arrangement is created. There are various different types of Trust, which can be constructed either formally (i.e. in writing, signed as a Deed) or informally (which is not formally recorded but often results in litigation).

A declaration of a Trust is a type of ‘bare trust’ – an expressly created Trust executed via a Deed, which directs an absolute beneficial interest to someone who is not the named legal owner. There are other, much more complex Trust arrangements – such as discretionary Trusts and life interest Trusts.

A declaration of Trust is a document which states who owns an asset and in what proportions. This asset could be a property, piece of land, or a bank account for example.

An example declaration of Trust arrangement arises where a couple wish to purchase a property together, but they are making unequal contributions towards the purchase. In that case, they may seek to protect their own contributions by making a declaration of Trust, which sets out, how the sale proceeds are to be divided.

The legal ownership of the asset does not change, but the declaration of Trust states who is entitled to the ‘beneficial interest’ in that asset.

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Huntingdon	01480 411224

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