I have been working at Dixon Stewart now for in excess of 25 years (I started work when I was very young). One of the things I have noticed is how much longer people are living. This is borne about by statistics. 2013 figures for the UK show life expectancy for males is 79.5 years and for females 82.5 years. Life expectancy continues to increase and the gap is closing between males and females. As an aside Japan had the highest life expectancy at 84.5 years.

Hopefully we will all live long and healthy lives but in case we do not it is very important to plan financially for what may be around the corner.

One way you can do this is through your wills if you are a couple (married or unmarried in a civil partnership or not) living together and owning your home jointly. You can make a declaration during your lifetime that you own your home jointly as tenants in common and upon the death of one of you place half of your home into a discretionary trust or an interest in possession trust. Do not be put off by the use of the word “trust”. That is just the name placed on the vehicle that ensures that your hard earned assets can be utilised by you to the best advantage for the benefit of you and your partner.

These trusts sometimes called “family property trusts” or “blood line trusts” can also be used to make sure that your hard earned assets remain within your family and do not pass outside the family in the event of the remarriage of your partner after your death.

You may already have a discretionary trust within your will as they were beneficial prior to 2007 for inheritance tax planning. If you would like advices now on how they can help with other types of financial planning then please do contact Helen@dixonstewart.com or on 01425 279222 for the purposes of receiving free initial advices without any obligation.

Again if you would like to discuss incorporating a trust within your wills to protect your hard earned assets or to keep them within the family then please contact us at the address or number above.

For future interest if there is a legal topic that you would like to read about then please let us know on enquiry@dixonstewart.com

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