He has three children from his first marriage and she has two from hers; the house in Chislehurst is in his name, the savings are in hers, and each wants the other to be secure for life without disinheriting their own children. That is the will Bromley solicitors draft most often, and it is not a simple one. The usual answer is a life interest trust: the survivor lives in the house, or receives the income from the investments, and on their death the capital passes to the children of the person who owned it. Without a will, the intestacy rules give a large share to the surviving spouse outright, and stepchildren get nothing.
Bromley's estates are among the larger ones in London. Houses in Bickley, Keston and Farnborough, land in the green belt, and a lifetime of pensions and investments take many families well past the inheritance tax threshold, so a will solicitor in Bromley will talk about lifetime gifts, the allowance for a family home left to children, charitable legacies and whether a farm or a business qualifies for relief. Lasting powers of attorney, for finance and for health, go with the will in a borough with an older population, and care-fee planning is raised at almost every appointment.
Probate follows. The same firms value the estate, settle inheritance tax with HMRC, obtain the grant and distribute to the beneficiaries, and in a borough of large estates and blended families, disputes about wills, from challenges to capacity to claims by a disappointed child, are a regular part of the work.
Wills and powers of attorney are usually fixed-fee; probate is charged as a fixed sum, hourly or as a percentage of the estate, depending on the firm.
The will and probate firms below serve Bromley, verified first. Read wills, trusts and probate explained, what a will costs, what probate costs and what a lasting power of attorney is, or the general will solicitors page.
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