We get many people coming to us to help them with buying or selling a property or a business, because people consider those are important events in their life that need legal input. There have been too many negative news articles about property sales or purchases going wrong for people not to understand the serious impact that could have on them.

It is less obvious to people what the impact could be on them not having proper financial and legal advice in relation to putting in place a strategy to make the most of their assets during their lifetime and after their death for both themselves and their families. People wrongly assume that the cost of doing so will be prohibitive and will outweigh the benefit to them and for that reason they put getting their financial and legal affairs in order into the too hard basket.

Without making sure you are properly dealing with your finances and ensuring that you have a current Will in place you are doing a disservice to yourself and to your family. When a family is already grieving over the loss of their family member it is a double tragedy that they need the burden of trying to deal with your assets and debts without the legal guidance in a Will.

We often work closely with financial advisers when preparing a Will and other estate planning documents to ensure that all of your circumstances are covered with your Will in the way that will best achieve your wishes.

If any of the following apply to you then you need to consider whether you need financial and/or legal assistance:

  • You have assets and / or debt, with no plan as to how to maximise the benefit from them
  • You are going through a life changing event such as getting married, divorced, having children, new job, lost a job, lost a family member or are otherwise on a government benefit
  • You have assets and / or debt with no Will to govern who will get your assets in the event of your death
  • You have children and you have not considered how to safeguard their financial wellbeing and guardianship during your lifetime and in the event of your death
  • You have no plan in place for how your bills would be paid or who would make decisions about your medical care in the event that you were unable to manage your own affairs
  • You have or are expecting surplus funds without a clear direction as to what to do with them

We are happy to have an informal chat and see if we can assist with the above. If you really need financial advice and you do not otherwise have a financial adviser we can put you in touch with someone who can help.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.