Probate, Estate Planning & Private Client Services
We always advise our clients not to leave something as important as the fate of their estate to chance by leaving it at the mercy of the complex rules of intestacy. This is why we offer a bespoke will drafting service to our clients (including our Muslim clients). We can also register your will in the Wills Registry so that your loved ones know where to find your will.
We believe that the drafting of a will should ideally take place within the context of a broader estate-planning exercise that takes into account your particular family circumstances and asset portfolio. This is even more crucial for our Muslim clients, whose assets are subject to a very complex and extremely specific legal regime that often requires more than a simple will to give effect to the testator’s wishes.
As we have acted for many clients in probate disputes over the assets of a loved one who has passed away, we know all too well exactly what is required to ensure that a will is fully enforceable and above reproach.
We urge all our clients to think beyond mere assets when planning for their old age and death. We encourage all our private clients to consider making a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). This is a legal document that determines who would make decisions on your behalf if you were ever to lose mental capacity and be unable to make decisions for yourself. These decisions could have to with how your assets should be managed and how your medical care should be paid for, but could also deal with end of life and medical issues such as whether you wish to be resuscitated in certain scenarios, whether you wish to be fed by tube if you are unable to eat or how long you wish to be on life support if you are in a coma. These are not pleasant topics to contemplate when of sound mind and body, but doing so gives you the power to take control of your own life if there comes a time when you are no longer in a position to express your wishes.
We also draft a variety of other personal legal instruments for our private clients such as trust deeds for managing funds for the benefit of someone else or deed polls for changing your name.