The bungalows of Morecambe, Carnforth and Silverdale hold a generation that moved to the coast to retire, and the question they bring to will solicitors in Lancaster is less often who inherits than what will be left to inherit after care fees. Honest advice matters here: giving the house to the children to avoid fees can be treated as deliberate deprivation by the council, gifts made too late do nothing for inheritance tax, and a trust is only worth its cost in particular circumstances. A good Lancaster solicitor will say which applies rather than sell a scheme.
Lasting powers of attorney come first for many of these clients. One for property and finances, one for health and welfare, made while capacity remains, let a son in Manchester or a daughter in Australia deal with the bank and the hospital without an application to the Court of Protection, which is slow and costly.
The wills themselves range from simple mirror wills for a couple with a house and savings, through second-marriage wills that give a new spouse a life interest while protecting the first family, to farming wills in the Lune Valley that must work alongside partnership agreements and the shrinking reliefs for agricultural property. Unmarried partners inherit nothing on intestacy, a point worth making to long-term couples who never married. A holiday caravan on one of the bay's parks passes under a will as a possession, with the pitch agreement a separate matter.
Probate follows: valuing the estate, settling tax, obtaining the grant and distributing to beneficiaries scattered across the country.
Wills and powers of attorney are fixed-fee almost everywhere in Lancaster; probate is priced per estate, so ask.
Firms writing wills and handling probate around Lancaster are listed below, verified firms first. Background reading: how much a will costs, wills, trusts and probate explained and what a lasting power of attorney is; the general guide to will solicitors covers the rest.
