Ahead of Talk Money Week Quilter calls for more conversations around taboo topics such as money and mental health.A poll conducted by YouGov for Quilter asked UK adults if they felt comfortable talking to their friends and family about a number of topics. The research revealed the nation is reluctant to talk about their financial and mental well-being.*Issues around debt and mental health aren’t mutually exclusive, as research from the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute shows the more debt people have, the more likely they are to have mental health problems.Current estimates show only 17% of over-indebted people – of whom there are 8 million in the UK – seek advice. Part of the problem is that people in debt may feel embarrassed and unwilling to seek help. However, without advice, they’re less able to dig themselves out of the problem which then escalates and preys on their mind.Quilter is campaigning against stigma around the traditionally taboo nature of money and mental health by supporting Talk Money Week and Time to Change.Paul Feeney, CEO of Quilter says: “People often have a perception that everyone else’s life is more perfect than their own, which is not the case. I have had my own mental health issues and I have learned it’s okay to talk about them.“It’s important to me that we build environments where it’s okay to not be okay, because the more we talk about problems, the easier it will be to share experiences, pool ideas and help each other.“These taboos extend to financial issues and are often inter-related; meaning generations have grown up without having frank conversations about money. Talk Money Week encourages people to talk about their finances in the hope it will demystify money and dilute some of the stigma about those discussions.”To hear more from Paul on mental health see his video interview with Citywire *Poll conducted by YouGov of 2,000 UK adults
| Topic | % of UK adults comfortable discussing |
| Physical Health | 62% |
| Marriage/Relationships | 50% |
| Death | 49% |
| Wills | 45% |
| Mental Health | 45% |
| Savings | 42% |
| Pay/Salary | 40% |
| Power of Attorney | 39% |
| Mortgage | 37% |
| Inheritance | 37% |
| Other Debt | 22% |
| None of these | 8% |
| Don’t know | 5% |
| Prefer not to say | 6% |
| Chose not to answer | 2% |
This is an article about leaving the best possible low-cost legacy. Family stories, mementos and keepsakes can be important to people than a cash inheritance. In this day and age it is easier than ever before to take photos, copy videos and make notes about things, people and events. And why make the next generation repeat any family tree research you have done?It is really not all about the money, though it is easy to turn families against each other with a badly thought through or tactless Last Will. We can help there too. Stories that are passed down verbally tend to fade away with the passing of an ageing relative. But a digital video record can last, with careful tending as technologies develop over the years.Here are a few steps you can take to create a non-financial family legacy:
Write them down and ideally make an audio or video recording. Write careful notes on the backs of photos to preserve memories (but beware of penetrating inks). Those of us with bad writing can type on sticky labels. A photo with details of the people involved, the date and circumstances in which the photo was taken.
Sharing your family values can be among the most treasured keepsakes. Consider writing an Ethical Will, which is a document that passes on your life story and personal values. An Ethical Will can take any form such as a video or a letter that is included with your Will.
Consider who would value your keepsakes, especially with a little of their history. You can remember a far wider class of people this way without upsetting close family. Just find out which of your family value which items to avoid later conflict. Talk with family members individually and as a group. With the most popular items you may need to set up a points system (say 10 for really important to 0 for not interested) and give people a limited number of points (votes) to “spend” and perhaps make it a secret ballot to allow you to make fine judgements on in-demand objects.Value would need to be factored in too. Come to an agreement then put it in writing. And if you work out a better system, please let us know! A common approach is each relative gets to pick one item in turn. Some of your heirs may not be happy with your decisions, but they’re less likely to be unhappy with each other if they do the picking! Again, value ought to play a part and valuable items probably should be dealt with separately.
Create a legacy memorandum to keep with your Will that details how you want to divide property with sentimental value. Why not add a photo of each item?
If you have favoured family members, show your affection while you are alive to make your division of property more equitable. If you want to leave a legacy that fosters harmony in your family, treat them as equally as possible. If that is not appropriate, try to ensure that the “losers” understand why.
Remember you’re giving power to one or two people often a family members. In many cases, this is absolutely fine, especially if there is no potential conflict or Inheritance Tax issues. This is the area where a firm like ours with in depth Inheritance Tax knowledge and a strong desire to minimise conflict may be beneficial to all concerned, despite the fees!
For many people whose main asset is their home, the family bank is the perfect way to maximise their contribution to future generations.
Make sure your planning is secure and that you reconsider things regularly in the light of changes in circumstances, tax and the Law.We would like to thank Passare.com for the article which inspired this blog
]]>How can I find out if a Will has been registered?Answer:Sorry about your Dad.
4) If it turns out that there is no valid Last Will, then the Rules of Intestacy will apply, but the situation might change dramatically if there is the possibility of a claim under the Inheritance Act and its’ latest update which significantly widens the class of people who can claim that they were not properly provided for under the Will or lack of Will.
Happy to have a brief chat if it helps, and I hope I have answered the question!
]]>I am delighted so many people have taken advantage of our unique archive of wills and are looking into the histories of their families.This is an incredible resource and I’m not surprised in the slightest that it has captured the public imagination so strongly.
Now we can all learn about the last wishes of our long lost great aunts from the comfort of our living room.
The innovative project has been carried out by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and storage and information management company Iron Mountain.The project is a great example of how the government is opening up public services. It means requests can be dealt with quickly and without people needing to visit the Probate Registry to search archives in person.The availability of the database of 41 million wills follows the first stage of opening up the archive when soldiers’ wills were made available in 2013. There have since been more than 2 million searches of that archive.The latest phase in the programme means that people can now request a specific will online and receive an electronic copy within 10 working days.Creating the wills archive is part of ongoing work to transform HMCTS to make it a modern, efficient, digital service which is easy for the public to access.More than 150 cases have been filmed in the Court of Appeal since the government changed the law to allow court broadcasting in 2013 and £160 million is being invested in digital technology for courtrooms including video links, wi-fi and improved IT systems to end the system’s reliance on paper.You can search for a will here.
More on Probate Disputes. Probate Claim Checker.
At Finders we have found around 50% of cases referred to us with partial or incomplete research having been compiled contain serious errors or omissions and often it is more time-consuming and expensive to undo and re-do what has already been done(incorrectly) than it would have been to start from scratch!* What are the main causes of errors and claims?As time marches on we will no doubt see an increase of births to unmarried couples or single parent families which, from an heir hunter’s point of view, can be almost impossible to detect. The traditional methods of researching a family tree rely on the neat assumptions of marriage followed by children which simply don’t apply anymore.The internet research resources commonly used by heir hunters in compiling family tree data are notoriously inaccurate and, in virtually every case my company handles, we come across such errors in transcription which if viewed at face value could easily lead to beneficiaries not being identified or located.Family mobility is also increasing with time and if your heir hunter does not have a strong international network further errors or oversights can also easily be made.We have also been told by a major insurer that they have simply had to stop issuing policies to some heir hunters due to the number of claims their work has generated.Another less frequent problem is the sudden appearance of a Will where the case had hitherto been assumed to be intestacy. Otherwise the practitioner may be working to a Will and a more recent one surfaces. These can be major headaches, however, there is such a thing as Missing Will Insurance too.* Minimising the risk of claimsProactive heir hunter research is very important, in order to uncover all the information about the family, but which may not be recorded properly or accurately on internet databases. Perhaps not surprising how often such a relatively simple thing is overlooked, especially where a smaller heir hunting company or a ‘one-man band’ is concerned.Credentials and accreditations and the additional services offered by a probate research or heir hunter company are often designed to minimise any risk of claims and to assist you with compliance issues. Below I have listed some simple things to look for when choosing a probate genealogist:• Approved agency status for a major insurer (Finders for example are tied to Aviva for our insurance work)• Financial Services Authority registration for all insurance business.• Professional Indemnity Insurance cover up to £1.5 million is required by the FSA and should be held by the probate genealogy firm.• Data Protection Registration – security of data is guaranteed by registration.• A Professional Conduct Code – probate genealogy is an unregulated industry and it is good to see self-imposed standards in the absence of formal regulation.• Membership of Association of Professional Genealogists or a similar body such as AGRA, where membership means that the heir tracing company abide by their Code of Ethics.• ISO 9001:2008 Total Quality Management is a useful indicator of a company that is concerned about its professional status.• When intestacy is assumed, have you checked for a will? Finders, for example, offer to search for a Will, or for a more recent Will than the one in use (referred to as our Missing Will Service). This service is often free of charge and once completed may enable Missing Will Insurance to be taken out to cover against the risk of a Will being found at a later date.• UK research – ensure that heir hunting work is conducted in-house by fully trained staff in the UK.• Overseas agent network – if heir hunter research is outside the UK check that your heir hunter has a network of trusted agents worldwide. Remember that a case thought not to require international searches may unexpectedly need this if a family or individual is found to have emigrated and ‘disappeared’.• Research resources – do not rely solely on internet based sources! Finders have a vast array of heir hunting resources in-house and we often have to refer to original records to check for errors or omissions where we suspect something is wrongly recorded. Being in London is also important as many major research institutions are only in the capital.Daniel Curran has over 20 years’ experience as a professional probate genealogist and heir hunter and is founder and MD of Finders