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If you’re a landlord, you probably think it’s far too morbid to be thinking about writing a Will.

But due to the high value of a landlord’s property investments it’s more important than ever that landlords think about what will happen to their assets after their death.

Why landlords need a Will

If you haven’t thought about writing a Will, then you’re not alone. 7 out of 10 people haven’t made a Will.

Many presume that their property and possessions will automatically pass to their spouse/partner when they die, but if you die without writing a Will (legally termed as ‘dying intestate’), your estate will be distributed according to the law of intestacy and this may not be according to your wishes.

Find out why our outdated intestacy laws mean you should be making a Will now.

When a landlord dies intestate all the landlord’s buy to let properties are divided between their spouse and surviving blood relatives, according to the law of intestacy.

So if you haven’t got round to writing a Will, there’s a chance that your spouse will not receive your estate in total. And if you’re not married and living together with a partner, your partner may not receive anything of your estate as cohabitant partners are not automatically recognised in intestacy law.

Find out how cohabitant partners are dealt with under the law of intestacy.

Should a landlord die suddenly without writing a Will, the administering of the landlord’s estate and buy to let property portfolio can be complicated and may be contested. Sorting out a landlord’s estate after death can be a drawn and painful process for the landlord’s relatives and loved ones.

By writing a Will landlords can legally state who they want to directly receive their assets, including their buy to let properties, following their death and reduce any confusion, conflict and legal costs for their families.

What should be included in a landlord’s Will?

Before a landlord writes a will, it’s always a good idea for a landlord to think about what they want included in their will. A landlord should consider the following:

• How much money and what property and possessions a landlord has.
• Who will benefit from the landlord’s Will?
• Who should look after any children under the age of 18?
• Who is going to be appointed as an executor to sort out the landlord’s estate and carry out a landlord’s wishes after their death?

Does a landlord need a solicitor to write a Will?

The simple answer is, no. One in five of us write a Will ourselves. Lawpack has helped over one million people to write their Wills with our bestselling DIY Will Kit. The Kit includes template Will forms plus an expert guidance manual, written by a solicitor, which guides you through the process of completing and signing your Will form.

What happens after a landlord has made a Will

Landlords should remember that once they have written a will, it’s vital that they store it in a safe place and tell their executor, close friend or relative where it is. You can store your Will safely and securely with Lawpack’s Will Storage Service.

Landlords must keep their Will up to date. Landlords should review their Will every five years and make a new Will if any major changes occur; for example, they separate, get married or divorce, have a child or move house.

Find out more on when you should revise your Will.

by Sarah Laing of www.taxinsider.co.uk

Following many months of speculation, we now know that Child Benefit will be withdrawn for some taxpayers by way of an income tax charge with effect from 7 January 2013.

This change will affect around 1.2 million families. Approximately 70 per cent of these households will lose all of their Child Benefit, and around 30 per cent will lose a portion. The average loss for those that lose will be roughly £1,300 per year.

It’s estimated that 90 per cent of families currently in receipt of Child Benefit will continue to receive some or all of their payments.

The tax charge

The income tax charge will apply to households (regardless of marital status) where a parent or partner has an ‘adjusted net income’ of over £50,000 a year.

This is an existing method of determining an individual’s income and is currently used to work out entitlement to personal allowances for someone aged 65 or over or who has income over £100,000.

See HMRC’s website for further information on working out ‘net adjusted income’.

Where each parent or partner has an income of over £50,000, the charge will only apply to the person with the higher income.

For taxpayers with income between £50,000 and £60,000, the amount of the charge will be a proportion of the Child Benefit received.

For taxpayers with income above £60,000, the amount of the charge will equal the amount of Child Benefit received. The amount of Child Benefit payable will be unaffected by the new tax charge.

The charge will be one per cent of the amount of Child Benefit for every £100 of income that exceeds £50,000.

Example

Based on a full tax year, Child Benefit for families with two children is currently £1,752. For a taxpayer whose income is £54,000, the charge will be £700.80, i.e. £17.52 for every £100 earned above £50,000. For a taxpayer whose income is £60,000 or more, the charge will be £1,752.

An individual who has income above £50,000 but is not entitled to Child Benefit themselves will only be liable to the charge for any period of the tax year during which they are living with a Child Benefit claimant whose own income is below £50,000.

Child Benefit itself is not being made liable to tax and the amount that can be claimed is unaffected by the new charge. It can continue to be paid in full to the claimant even if they or their partner have a liability to the new charge.

Child Benefit claimants will be able to elect not to receive the Child Benefit to which they are entitled if they or their partner do not wish to pay the new charge.

The claimant may subsequently decide to withdraw that election if they or their partner are no longer liable to pay the charge.

Practical tip

HMRC will be contacting people earning over £50,000 about the new charge from autumn 2012. The amount of the charge will be collected through self-assessment and PAYE. Individuals who think they may be affected by these proposals do not need to do anything now.

Related articles

• High earners: how to avoid the loss of the personal Allowance and save tax at 60%!
• Which is the best – pensions or ISAs?

 

Published on: May 1, 2012

Established in 1993, Lawpack is the UK’s leading provider of legal forms and DIY legal kits. We also produce a range of legal guides and have just launched our new legal services, which can help you to write a Will and get a divorce.

Our aim is to help you save hundreds of pounds in costly solicitor’s fees by using our easy-to-use forms, kits and services. In areas such as wills, tenancy, divorce, power of attorney and business contracts, we can help you to get things done with minimum fuss, time and expense.

The main message behind our products is that it can be more cost-effective to draw up your own documents – a simple Will, say, or a standard tenancy agreement yourself – than go to a solicitor.

And if your situation is a little more complex and you need further expert guidance, then our legal services, such as our Bespoke Will and Managed Divorce Services, can give you the peace of mind of being hand-held through the process, but still at a discount price.

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Solicitor approved and up to date

When using Lawpack’s range you can rely on the fact that all of our products are approved by lawyers, so you can be assured that they are up to date.

Lawpack has a wide range of legal forms and all of them:

• Have been approved by expert solicitors
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Our bestselling range of DIY Kits – also available in WHSmith – provide:

• Legal forms (paper and downloadable) approved by expert solicitors
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All of our legal guides are:

• Written by specialist authors who are experts in their field
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How to cancel a Lasting Power of Attorney

In power of attorney terms, the person who grants (and can cancel) the power of attorney is referred to as the ‘Donor’ and the person (or persons) who acts on their behalf is known as the ‘Attorney’.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can be cancelled (called ‘revoked’ in power of attorney terms) at any time by the Donor).

An LPA can be cancelled at any time while the Donor still has mental capacity.

If you want to revoke an LPA, you will need a Deed of Revocation form.

How to cancel a power of attorney

To cancel a power of attorney, the Deed must be signed by the Donor and the Attorney must be informed that their power to act has been revoked.

The Attorney’s authority doesn’t cease until they receive notice of the revocation, so a copy of the form should be sent to each Attorney.

The Donor must also demand that the Attorney return the power of attorney to them, to confirm that the power has been cancelled.

If the LPA has already been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, the Donor must send the OPG a copy of the Deed to ask them to remove the LPA from the register.

When an LPA is cancelled automatically

There are instances when an LPA is cancelled automatically and these are:

• The Attorney dies and there are no other Attorneys (or the Attorneys can only act together) and there is no replacement Attorney.
• The Attorney refuses to act by disclaiming the appointment and there are no other Attorneys (or the Attorneys can only act together) and there is no replacement Attorney.
• The Attorney is married to the Donor (or is the Donor’s civil partner) and the marriage or civil partnership is ended by divorce or dissolution and there are no other Attorneys (or the Attorneys can only act together) and there is no replacement Attorney. The LPA may, though, state that the appointment is not to cease in this case and so will not be revoked.
• The Attorney ceases to have capacity to exercise the LPA and there are no other Attorneys (or the Attorneys can only act together) and there is no replacement Attorney.
• In the case of the LPA Property and Financial Affairs only, when the Donor or Attorney become bankrupt.

Lawpack publishes a Deed of Revocation template, which can help you to easily cancel your LPA. The form is lawyer approved and includes expert guidance.

External links:

• NHS: Cancelling an LPA