If you are married, when it comes to making a valid Will, it could be beneficial for you and your spouse to consider making Mirror Wills in Braintree and throughout the jurisdiction of England and Wales.  With this in mind, Laura Richardson considers some of the key issues linked to whether a prepaid funeral plan bought today will cover the real costs of your funeral in Braintree when the time comes . . .

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Many people believe that making a Will is time consuming and costly, however this is not necessarily true. If you are a couple who wish to leave your estate to each other, regardless of who dies first, then it may be beneficial to consider writing Mirror Wills in Braintree. Making a Mirror Will could actually save your estate thousands of pounds in Inheritance Tax, as well as saving time due to the fact that Mirror Wills are essentially Wills for both you and your partner, but following an almost identical format, saving the time of having to plan out two separate Wills.

Your Mirror Will can include many provisions, providing that these are the same for each of the Mirror Wills. For example, other beneficiaries can be included in your Mirror Wills in Braintree. Further, if you have children under the age of 18, you can appoint your chosen guardians for these children, as well as appointing Trustees in order to hold any inheritance given to your children until such time as they are able to inherit these in their own right.

Your Mirror Wills can differ in terms of your choice of Executors. Usually each partner will be named Executor for the other, but it is advisable to appoint additional Executors who would act in the event that you both die at the same time, or are unable to fulfill the duties of Executor. It is, however, possible for you and your partner to choose to appoint different additional Executors.

One of the main benefits of having Mirror Wills in Braintree for married couples, is the impact that it has upon the Inheritance Tax that would be due on your estate. When the estate is passed from one spouse or civil registered partner to another, the Nil Rate of Inheritance Tax is transferred to the surviving spouse and is included within the calculations for the Inheritance Tax due when the surviving spouse dies. In numerical terms, this means that rather than paying 40% Inheritance Tax on the portion of the estate that is valued at more than £325,000, this is combined so that when the surviving spouse dies, the Inheritance Tax is only payable on the portion of the estate valued at over £650,000. This is a potential saving of £130,000!

Finally, the Mirror Wills are entirely revocable by either party, so if it becomes the case that either party wish to change their Will, because of a relationship breakdown or a difference of wishes, the Mirror Will can simply be revoked at any time.

If you would like to discuss making Mirror Wills in Braintree or anywhere else throughout Essex, Andrew Douglas Wills and Legal Services would be happy to offer you a free initial consultation at your convenience to see how we can help you so contact us via www.andrewdouglaswills.co.uk today.

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