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.
It would be fair to say that solicitors who deal with estates sometimes need to spend time trying to discover whether someone who has died, made a Will whilst they were alive. Clients who make a Will should be applauded. However, having done that, it is important to decide where the Will should be stored and who should know about it.
You might say it is a matter of life and death. Basically, an attorney deals with the affairs of someone whilst they are alive whilst an executor deals with the affairs of someone who has died. Whilst that might seem simple and straightforward, it is important to understand the different functions of an attorney and an executor.
Murray Beith Murray Private Client Partner, Andrew Paterson writes in The Scotsman this week. Read the full article below, republished by kind permission of The Scotsman.
I like to think that those in my profession dispense wisdom and wise counsel. I don’t know if Agatha Christie was referring to lawyers when she said: “Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that’s no reason not to give it.” If she was referencing the legal world, then she was almost certainly talking about our sometimes fruitless passion to ensure people put effective Wills in place.
There is a complex maze of rules surrounding Inheritance Tax (IHT) which means every estate must be reviewed in detail to determine how much, if any, IHT is payable. You must carry out sufficient investigation into the extent of the estate to establish its value. This must include enquiry about the extent of any relevant gifts made by the deceased during their lifetime.
Once the extent of the estate is known, unless the estate is an “excepted estate”, full details must be provided to HMRC, even if no IHT is due. When you have carried out the necessary IHT calculations, the next step is to pay the tax. It is important to note that Confirmation to the estate (the Scottish equivalent of Probate) cannot be granted until after at least some of the IHT has been settled with HMRC.
Murray Beith Murray Private Client Partner, Andrew Paterson writes in The Scotsman this week. Read the full article below, republished by kind permission of The Scotsman:
