A partner who is not married or in a civil partnership inherits nothing under the intestacy rules, however many years they have shared a house in Ossett or Castleford. The house itself passes according to how it is owned, which many couples never checked when they bought it. That combination catches out families across the Wakefield district every year, and it is the starting point for most conversations with a will solicitor here.
The rest of the conversation is about what people in Wakefield actually own. For many it is a former council house bought under the right to buy and now mortgage-free, a British Coal or public sector pension with death benefits that sit outside the will and need a nomination, some savings, and perhaps a van and the goodwill of a small business. For some it is farmland or a smallholding in the villages west of the city, where agricultural reliefs from inheritance tax may apply and the farm needs to pass intact. Second families are common, and a trust in the will can let a widow stay in the house while preserving it for the children. Care home fees worry older clients in Sandal and Horbury more than tax does, and a solicitor will explain what planning is legitimate and what the council will treat as deliberate deprivation.
Lasting powers of attorney, one for money and one for health, are drawn up alongside the will so that a son in Pontefract can deal with the bank for a mother in Normanton without an application to the Court of Protection.
After a death, Wakefield solicitors obtain the grant of probate, deal with HMRC and the pension schemes, sell or transfer the house and distribute the estate, usually for a fixed fee on a simple estate and an hourly or percentage charge on a complex one.
Wills and probate solicitors across Wakefield are listed after this guide, verified firms first. See wills, trusts and probate explained, the cost of a will, probate costs, lasting powers of attorney and the general will solicitors page.
