Murray Beith Murray LLP is a leading Scottish private client law firm.
For 175 years we have specialised in meeting the legal, financial and administrative needs of individuals and families, family trusts, charities and private companies.
When you carry out succession planning, one of the key elements is to consider whether to gift part of your wealth now or wait until your death. If you decide to gift assets whilst you are alive, certain rules apply for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes. Key to understanding whether the gift you make will be exempt from IHT is to understand the rules surrounding “potentially exempt transfers” and “gifts with reservation”.
Private Client Partner, Andrew Paterson, explains in The Scotsman today how a simple legal document can bring peace of mind. Read the full article below, republished by kind permission of The Scotsman.
People suffering from dementia eventually lose the ability to look after their own affairs. This is often tragic with parents not recognising children and, frequently, recounting memories long past but unable to tell you what happened yesterday. To increase awareness, the Alzheimer’s Society runs a campaign each year to raise awareness of this most invasive condition.
Losing financial assets as you progress through your life might not be as unusual as it sounds. Gone are the days when people had a “job for life”, staying with the same company from leaving school through to retirement. People are much more mobile these days and are likely to not only move job but move house several times throughout their lives. For example, there may be pensions from different employers or savings or investments which have been lost through time because the institutions holding these were not notified of something as simple as a change of address.
Planning for the future means different things to different people. To some, it will be as straightforward as what to see at the cinema this week. To others, it might be planning for this year’s family holiday. Some might plan to move house this year and others might be planning to move job. However, what everyone should be thinking about is planning for the unexpected. There can be nothing more unexpected than an illness, accident or other incapacity that renders you unable to look after your own affairs. That’s where a Power of Attorney comes into play. But is there a “right age” to draw up a Power of Attorney?
