Did you know . . . ?

1. If you sign over your house to your children during your lifetime and continue to live in it:

a.   A local authority can ignore the transaction, without limit of time, if they consider that it was done to avoid paying long term care fees.

b. The value of the house will be added back into your estate for the calculation of Inheritance Tax.

c.   Unless your children live with you, the house will be subject to Capital Gains Tax on its increased value from the date of the transfer.

d.   If your children become involved in a marital dispute or financial difficulties, your home may be considered to be part of their assets.

e.   Income Tax will be payable on the rental value of your home, even if you are not actually paying rent.

2 A Will that is not properly signed and witnessed is invalid, and the testator will be deemed to have died intestate.

3. If the original, signed and witnessed, Will cannot be produced the testator will normally be presumed to have destroyed it, and to have died intestate. A copy may prove that a Will was made, but not that it was in force at the time of death.

4 The laws of inheritance in England and Wales are different to those in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

5. The longest Will in the English language was written by Mrs Frederica Evelyn Stilwell-Cook who died on 9th January 1925. It consisted of 95,940 words, contained in 4 gilt-edged, leather-bound books.

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