Economics Finance

If someone dies without leaving a will, there’s a certain way which their estate is handled, according to the laws of intestacy. In most cases it’s a long drawn out process but something that has to be done. The fact is that, although the people nearest to them, but not related, may not get anything at all (even if the deceased person would have wished them to benefit) there are enough close relatives to be able to sort out the distribution of the estate. We stress though, that this may not have fitted in with the deceased persons wishes.

Where there are no relatives to be found, the estate may come to the attention of a solicitor who is in charge of the estate of the deceased or from a firm of heir hunters. Heir hunters make every effort to track down family members and work on a commission basis if they are successful.

Some 300,000 estates produce around 85 million pounds to be shared out in this way, where there is no will and no apparent heirs. Heir Hunters is a general name for professional probate genealogists – although somewhat easier to get your tongue round – who make a living by finding surviving relatives of the deceased persons family and signing them up to act for them in making the claim. Continue reading ‘Could Heir Hunters Be Coming Your Way?’ »

Nowadays, when the term “married couple” crops up, this refers to registered civil partners as well as married couples. This includes civil partners of the same sex. If you don’t leave a will, then unless your partner falls into this category, they won’t inherit anything. No matter how long the relationship and the period of co-habiting.

There will be talk of Nil Rate Bands when it comes to Inheritance Tax. Although Inheritance Tax has its complications, there are basic rules which are easy to understand. The Nil Rate Band is the part of the total estate which someone leaves when they die, which does not attract Inheritance Tax.

The Nil Rate Band is subject to change but in 2009 the figure or 325,000 pounds applied. So when an estate has been valued at a figure of less than this amount, no Inheritance Tax will be due. Since the end of 2007 if the first person in the couple is deceased and has left the estate to their spouse or legal partner, then that partner will leave two Nil Rate Bands. This is quite straightforward, but if gifts have been made in the last seven years of the life of the first to die, then the amount of Nil Rate Band will be reduced. Continue reading ‘Inheritance Tax, Intestacy and More’ »