Why do I even need a will? This is a question that a lot of property investors and Landlords ask. The truth is that there are a lot of misconceptions circulating the internet right now, and a lot of them might deter you from writing a will in the first place.
Some people assume that although they do have property, their portfolio is simply not big enough to bother with a Landlords will. Other people don’t think it’s important, simply because they aren’t married or don’t have a family of their own.
That being said, an overwhelming amount of people simply do not understand how having a will can protect them, others and save so much time and money when the day comes when you pass.
A Will is an Important Part of your Financial Plan
It doesn’t matter how old you are, a will is an important part of your financial plan if you are a Property Investor/ Landlord. It is not just a way of saying who gets your stuff if something should happen to you, you can also include a number of important protections so your legacy is passed down in the most efficient way possible.
First of all, you have to remember that not all assets will follow the direction of your will. Any assets that you own jointly, with the right of survivorship, will not pass through your will. If you have a pension, this is not always to be guaranteed to pass on either.
Next up, is life insurance. This will not pass through the will you have created if you have a beneficiary named on the policy.
So, when you’ve thought about all of the items that will not actually pass through your will, you may find that you don’t have a great deal of property that can be directed. A will helps you to dictate what you want to do with your investments when you do pass and where they are going.
It can also be used to say who gets the property, and when. There are lots of reasons why you may not want to have someone get all of their inheritance right away. You can choose to distribute it over time, keep it until the beneficiary gets to a certain age, or you can put their inheritance as a condition, such as graduating college.
Wills and Real Estate
Inheritance tax is essentially a tax on the property of someone who has passed. There is no tax to be paid if the value of your estate is below £325,000. If you choose to donate or give away your home to your adopted children, foster children, stepchildren, or biological children then this number increases to £500,000.
If you are married and you have an estate that is less than your threshold, you can pass on any unused allocation to your partner when you die. This means that their threshold could be up to £1 million.
If your estate, for example, is £500,000 but your partner is still living in your family home. Then your executor can utilise your tax-free limit of £325,000, meaning the tax payable would be 40% on £175,000 that you have leftover. It’s important to note that you can pay a tax rate of 36% if you choose to leave 10% of your estate to a charity in your will.
So, having a will helps you to dictate who should receive your property if you should die. It also dictates how much is going to be distributed to family or friends.
By writing a will now, you may also be able to benefit from inheritance tax, by combining your threshold with that of your spouse. The benefits truly speak for themselves.
Get in touch
Here at Legacy Guardians, we’re building a team of Specialist Property Administrators focused on organising Landlords’ important documents into a Digital Vault; with the ultimate aim of supporting their loved ones through Probate Administration after they pass away.
But more than that, once everything is uploaded we can help keep you organised for the dreaded HMRC tax investigation and hopefully look to give you some help with planning for retirement and inheritance tax.
Best of all, once live we’re hopefully going to offer free specialist landlord wills and £500,000 in free landlord probate administration.
Please contact us on hello@legacyguardians.co or any of the details below to find out more about how we can help you to get that all-important financial peace of mind.