Will Aid

Who will benefit from your life savings when you die? Dr Kate Woodthorpe, a sociologist from the University of Bath, recently wrote a report for SunLife looking at the “cost of dying”. The actual cost of dying has risen by more than 10% since 2013*, with the average cost of a funeral increasing by 87% since 2004*. Dr Woodthorpe explained that “we don't have a culture of talking about death, which means we often don't plan properly, and we need to address that”.

SunLife Direct's annual Cost of Dying report showed that hiring a professional, such as a solicitor, now accounts for more than a third of expenditure associated with a person's death.  

The charity WillAid are launching a new scheme this November, where a local solicitor will write your will, free of charge, in exchange for a suggested donation to charity. The suggested voluntary donation is £95 for a basic will or £150 for a pair of basic mirror wills (the full amount will be donated to nine charities involved).**

Have you written your will yet?

Lightspeed Research conducted a survey in July 2014 of 2,250 adults, which suggests that 65% of people hope to pass on savings or investments through their will, followed closely by 63% hoping to leave property. However, 42% of 35-34 years have not even written a will, because they feel that they are too young. More worryingly, 13% of people thought that there was no need to write a will because they believe loved ones would automatically inherit their estate. This was a widely-held view by over 55-year olds.

Other than just writing a will, you may also want to think about how much inheritance tax your beneficiaries may have to pay. Why not have a read through “Protect your ISA Investments from Inheritance Tax” (add link) from our most recent Viewpoint magazine.

You may also want to think about saving into a pension. With the new rules, beneficiaries, as of April 2015, could benefit heavily from money saved within a pension.

If you are interested in either of these products please contact us on 020 7384 7300.

Sources:
* BBC News, 16th October 2014
** http://www.willaid.org.uk/will-makers, 16th October 2014
*** http://www.willaid.org.uk/press/research, 16th October 2014