Deed of Assignment

silhillian_2

I have been dealing with my dad’s estate and have one item outstanding.  There was a joint life 2nd death investment bond in dad’s name, which now is payable when mum dies.  The terms of the will are that all assets pass to mum, so this policy should now be ‘owned’ by mum.  However, the insurer (ReAssure) have assigned ownership to the executors, myself and my sister.

Most insurers have a standard Deed of Assignment to allow executors to pass ownership to the beneficiary,  but ReAssure have advised that they do not supply this and that we need to have a suitable deed drawn up by a solicitor. I have been quoted £2000 for this work, which seems excessive.

We need to properly transfer the ownership so that the policy continues to benefit from ‘top slicing’ relief.

Questions are:
What would be a reasonable cost of this legal work?
Can we use the wording in the standard deed from another insurer to achieve this? (I realise that there are risks with this)

(Not sure if this is in the correct place, so please move if appropriate)

poseidon1

If you Google the following:

'M & G plc   Draft Deed of Assignment By Personal Representatives to a Beneficiary '

this pdf deed from Prudential should be a suitable template to create your own assignment to suit your objectives.

 Should be a straightforward excercise based on what I have seen - certainly something I would do myself. Once you see it, it will make you wonder how £2000 could possibly be a reasonable fee to charge for what is involved.

In passing and after the assignment, you may wish to review whether the bond is worth retaining by your mother from a  past investment performance point of view.  Do you have any experience of investment matters to form a view? Furthermore  are you familiar with the basis upon which any bond profits may be taxed if your mother were to choose to encash?

silhillian_2

Thank you poseidon1.  I have found various forms of this online (Aviva have one that looks really straightforward) which was the basis of my conclusion that £2k was a bit ‘optomistic’ on the part of the solicitor!  I’ll look up the M&G one and see if I can adapt it.

I’m aware of the tax implications of encashing, particularly how the top slicing relief works.  Mum is a basic rate taxpayer, but not too far from moving into higher rate, so we will need to get the transfer completed properly so she gets the top slicing benefit and does not pay unnecessary tax.  I’m trying to persuade her to have a chat with an IFA and get the estate invested suitably as a whole, but she’s quite resistant at the moment.  A battle for another day!

poseidon1

silhillian_2 said:

Thank you poseidon1.  I have found various forms of this online (Aviva have one that looks really straightforward) which was the basis of my conclusion that £2k was a bit ‘optomistic’ on the part of the solicitor!  I’ll look up the M&G one and see if I can adapt it.

I’m aware of the tax implications of encashing, particularly how the top slicing relief works.  Mum is a basic rate taxpayer, but not too far from moving into higher rate, so we will need to get the transfer completed properly so she gets the top slicing benefit and does not pay unnecessary tax.  I’m trying to persuade her to have a chat with an IFA and get the estate invested suitably as a whole, but she’s quite resistant at the moment.  A battle for another day!

Had a look at the Aviva version which is even simply than the Pru's version and seems to be designed to be used with any company bond ( not just Aviva).  I'd go with Aviva since Pru's would need adapting.

Certainly worth trying to convince your mum to have a professional review. I am not a fan of ReAssure and see their parent company ( Phoenix ) as a mere Life/Pensions 'warehouse'. If your mum is near the 40% threshold, may need to stagger bond encashment over tax years to get the full benefit of 'top slicing' relief.

Best of luck.