Will the house have to be sold to pay for care? It is the question will solicitors in Bexley are asked most often, by couples in Bexleyheath and Sidcup who have watched a neighbour's savings disappear into fees. A will cannot stop it, but careful planning can limit it. Owning the house as tenants in common and leaving each half in trust for the children, with the surviving spouse entitled to live there, can keep one half outside the means test; gifts made purely to avoid fees can be set aside; and early advice is worth far more than advice at the care home door.
The rest of the appointment is familiar in a borough that is older than most of London. Lasting powers of attorney for finance and for health are the most important documents a Bexley family can hold, because without them a stroke or dementia leaves relatives applying to the Court of Protection. Wills themselves need to deal with the semi that is now worth enough to raise inheritance tax, with second marriages and stepchildren, with a child who moved to Kent and one who stayed to help, and with the fact that an unmarried partner inherits nothing under the intestacy rules.
After a death the same firms handle probate, from valuing the estate and settling tax with HMRC to obtaining the grant and distributing to the beneficiaries. Executors can act themselves, but they are personally liable for errors, and an estate with a house to sell and care fees to settle is rarely simple.
Wills and LPAs are nearly always fixed-fee. Probate pricing varies between firms, from a fixed sum to an hourly rate or a percentage of the estate, so ask before instructing.
Will and probate firms serving Bexley are listed below, verified first. See what a lasting power of attorney is, wills, trusts and probate explained, what a will costs and what probate costs, or the general will solicitors guide.
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