Wills
Written document (testament) by which a person (the testator) directs how his or her assets (estate) are to be distributed upon death. Among other provisions, a will may appoint executors to administer the estate, name guardian for a child, and/or make arrangement for payment of obligations. Commonly, the law requires that the testator must have testamentary capacity when making the will, and that it be witnessed by two or more credible witnesses
Probate
If a person passes away owning assets held in a bank or other financial institution or if a company (such as a Pension Provider or Life Insurance company) is likely to pay the estate of a deceased person then they may ask you to apply for either a Grant of Probate or Letter of Administration. This ensures they are paying the rightful people the money, this procedure is generally known as applying for probate.
Power of Attorney
A power of attorney (POA) or letter of attorney is a written authorisation to represent or act on another’s behalf in private affairs, business, or some other legal matter, sometimes against the wishes of the other. The person authorizing the other to act is the principal, grantor, or donor (of the power).
Trusts
A trust is a fiduciary relationship in which one party, known as a trustor, gives another party, the trustee, the right to hold title to property or assets for the benefit of a third party, the beneficiary. In finance, it can also be a type of closed-end collective investment fund built as a public limited company.
Storage
Clearly it makes sense for clients to keep their important legal documents safely – after-all, if they are lost or damaged at the time they are needed, the client will have lost the benefit of making the documents in the first place.
Your relevant legal documents, such as Wills, Powers of Attorney, Insurance Contracts Trusts etc. are kept in a waterproof wallet in a specialist document archive facility.
While your documents are with our storage partner they are fully insured against loss or damage. If anything happens to your documents, they will be recreated and replaced for you, free of charge.
If your document is lost or damaged at the time it is needed, or its loss or damage only comes to light at the time it is needed then we are insured for up to £2million to compensate anyone who loses out or incurs costs as a result of there being no legally binding document in existence.
We will provide you with plastic identity cards for you and your Executors/Trustees. They display your name, a unique storage reference number and our contact details.
You can access your documents at any time – free of charge. The documents can either be returned to your professional advisor or directly to you, using an insured delivery service.
Funeral Plans
A plan can save your family worry and expense, and help make things easier for your loved ones at a difficult time. When the time comes, just one phone call to your funeral director is all that’s needed to activate your plan. Everything will then be taken care of, and carried out according to your wishes, relieving your family of the stress and financial worry they may otherwise have to face.