You know how important it is to look after your loved ones right now.
But when you start thinking about how you are going to do this when you are no longer around, then it becomes important to organise your affairs so you can look after them the way you want to.
This is precisely where Bower Wealth can support you. By providing you with a tailored inheritance plan, we will help you feel – with complete confidence – that you have put everything in place to look after those who matter most to you.
HELPING TO BUILD AND PROTECT YOUR LEGACY
However your wealth is stored and spread, we can advise you on how to best ensure it is passed on to your loved ones in the future, while guaranteeing your own financial security today.
As part of our legacy planning service, we will carry out a comprehensive process to review the control of your assets during your lifetime. We will also discuss the full range of inheritance tax solutions available to protect your future generations. Our legacy planning advisers can also identify what you wish to leave behind, explore how you want to live your life now, and put a plan in place to ensure both objectives are met.
We are acutely aware that the thought of talking about your legacy sounds somewhat gloomy. But in our experience, openly discussing how to put in place a plan to help look after your loved ones, can actually be quite liberating.
HOW OUR LEGACY AND ESTATE PLANNING SERVICE WORKS
1. Initial consultation
Entrusting your estate to a company is a decision we do not take lightly. We want to make sure you have the utmost confidence in us and what we do before we proceed.
2. Uncovering your aspirations
Legacy planning is about more than simply looking after your beneficiaries. It is also about you. The holistic approach we take helps to ensure your goals and aspirations are understood, as well as those of your loved ones.
3. Planning
We will review all the data and draw up a bespoke plan. The recommendations shared by our legacy planning advisers will give you the confidence to live your best life, safe in the knowledge that your loved ones will be looked after later on.
4. Presentation
Your plan will then be represented to you. Together, we will go through each of our suggestions in greater detail, explaining why we think they are in your best interests.
5. Implementation
Then we will carry out our agreed plan to the letter, and take away the hassle by contacting third parties on your behalf. Our team will also give you regular updates so you’re always informed of any developments.
6. Reviews
Your plan may evolve, so we will regularly review it and keep you up-to-date at all times. We will also be available whenever you need us to make changes to your plan, as and when you require.
LEGACY PLANNING FAQS
Firstly, you should ask yourself whether you need to at all. There is a nil-rate band that will allow you to pass on your wealth without paying inheritance tax. There are also rules that allow you to give away some of your assets without incurring a tax bill. As these amounts are subject to change, it’s always better to discuss your options in our initial meeting.
Although a life insurance payout is not taxed, if it forms part of your estate, it will become subject to inheritance tax.
You can ring fence aspects of your estate (such as your life insurance policy) in a trust. Once it is in a trust, managed by a trustee and outside of your estate, it no longer forms part of your inheritance tax liability.
This is a difficult one to answer as it depends on what you have, how you want to live your life and what you wish to leave behind as your legacy. We normally work backwards from your goals, but it’s important to point out there may be compromises you will need to make along the way.
The government allows everyone an amount they can have in their estate without having to pay any inheritance tax at all. This is called the nil-rate band and is worked out by grouping your accumulated wealth together.
The answer to this question will form part of our later discussions. Firstly, we will need to finalise what you want to achieve in your life, compared to what you have now and what you wish to give away later.