Who inherits the house on Bishopthorpe Road? If there is no will, the intestacy rules answer that question, and the answer surprises people: a spouse does not always take everything, an unmarried partner takes nothing, and stepchildren are not children for these purposes. York has a large retired population, a great deal of property that has risen in value over a lifetime and plenty of families with more than one marriage in them, so will solicitors here are busy.
The will is often the easy part. The harder conversations are about inheritance tax, because a house in Clifton or Heworth plus savings and a pension can take an estate over the thresholds, and a solicitor will talk through lifetime gifts, the reliefs available for farmland and business assets, charitable legacies, including the many York residents who leave something to the Minster or a local hospice, and whether a trust is worth the cost. Owners of listed buildings and of holiday lets in the city have their own questions about how those assets pass.
Lasting powers of attorney are drawn up alongside the will, one for finances and one for health and welfare, so that a daughter in Haxby or a son in London can act if a parent in York loses capacity without an application to the Court of Protection. Retired couples moving to the villages around the city often use the move as the moment to sort both out.
After a death, York solicitors handle probate: valuing the estate, dealing with HMRC, obtaining the grant and distributing to beneficiaries, including the sale of the family home. Fixed fees for a single or mirror will and for a simple estate are normal; complex estates are charged hourly or as a percentage.
Will and probate solicitors in York are listed under this guide, verified firms first. Read wills, trusts and probate explained, what a will costs, probate costs, lasting powers of attorney and the general will solicitors page.
