Advice please

paulstevo

Have recently retired at 56 and looking to sort my pension out and legal side of it all.
Have a wife and a 12 year old daughter . 
Have a decent pension over a million  and a few ISAs equating to approx 40k . Mortgage free house value approx 320k
In terms of importance Im wanting to sort out a will and POA  make sure all my assets and pension are used to their maximum . 
Approximate cost of solicitor to get all this legal and water tight and is it possible for me to do this myself ?

Marcon

paulstevo said:

Have recently retired at 56 and looking to sort my pension out and legal side of it all.
Have a wife and a 12 year old daughter . 
Have a decent pension over a million  and a few ISAs equating to approx 40k . Mortgage free house value approx 320k
In terms of importance Im wanting to sort out a will and POE  make sure all my assets and pension are used to their maximum . 
Approximate cost of solicitor to get all this legal and water tight and is it possible for me to do this myself ?

Possible but certainly not advisable to do your own will, particularly as you have a child who is only 12 and you will need to include guardianship arrangements should the unthinkable happen and both you and your wife meet an untimely end at the same time (sadly it happens). Ring round and get some quotes - depends how complex your will needs to be.

Presume POE is a slip of the finger and you mean POA? You can certainly do that for yourself.

Pension - don't forget to keep your Expression of Wish form up to date.

poseidon1

paulstevo said:

Have recently retired at 56 and looking to sort my pension out and legal side of it all.
Have a wife and a 12 year old daughter . 
Have a decent pension over a million  and a few ISAs equating to approx 40k . Mortgage free house value approx 320k
In terms of importance Im wanting to sort out a will and POE  make sure all my assets and pension are used to their maximum . 
Approximate cost of solicitor to get all this legal and water tight and is it possible for me to do this myself ?

Suggest you keep an eye on the proposals to subject Pension pots to IHT after 2027. Consultation process ended in January so more detail may emerge in the coming March 2025 budget.

Your circumstances are a bit unusual in that your pension pot dwarfes your remaining assets. If the size of the pot remains consistently high throughout your retirement until death of you and your wife, this could trigger an iht liability in its own right eventhough your remaining assets well below the current IHT thresholds.

I agree Marcon's reccomendation for a solicitor to assist with Wills drafting for the reasons he gave. However a solicitor may struggle to give you any useful advice ( at this stage), regarding the impact on you of the proposed iht on pensions. 

Keep an eye on this forum, no doubt there will further debate and potential ideas arising herein in future.

paulstevo

Marcon said:

paulstevo said:

Have recently retired at 56 and looking to sort my pension out and legal side of it all.
Have a wife and a 12 year old daughter . 
Have a decent pension over a million  and a few ISAs equating to approx 40k . Mortgage free house value approx 320k
In terms of importance Im wanting to sort out a will and POE  make sure all my assets and pension are used to their maximum . 
Approximate cost of solicitor to get all this legal and water tight and is it possible for me to do this myself ?

Possible but certainly not advisable to do your own will, particularly as you have a child who is only 12 and you will need to include guardianship arrangements should the unthinkable happen and both you and your wife meet an untimely end at the same time (sadly it happens). Ring round and get some quotes - depends how complex your will needs to be.

Presume POE is a slip of the finger and you mean POA? You can certainly do that for yourself.

Pension - don't forget to keep your Expression of Wish form up to date.

Appreciate the advice and I have corrected the POA 

paulstevo

poseidon1 said:

paulstevo said:

Have recently retired at 56 and looking to sort my pension out and legal side of it all.
Have a wife and a 12 year old daughter . 
Have a decent pension over a million  and a few ISAs equating to approx 40k . Mortgage free house value approx 320k
In terms of importance Im wanting to sort out a will and POE  make sure all my assets and pension are used to their maximum . 
Approximate cost of solicitor to get all this legal and water tight and is it possible for me to do this myself ?

Suggest you keep an eye on the proposals to subject Pension pots to IHT after 2027. Consultation process ended in January so more detail may emerge in the coming March 2025 budget.

Your circumstances are a bit unusual in that your pension pot dwarfes your remaining assets. If the size of the pot remains consistently high throughout your retirement until death of you and your wife, this could trigger an iht liability in its own right eventhough your remaining assets well below the current IHT thresholds.

I agree Marcon's reccomendation for a solicitor to assist with Wills drafting for the reasons he gave. However a solicitor may struggle to give you any useful advice ( at this stage), regarding the impact on you of the proposed iht on pensions. 

Keep an eye on this forum, no doubt there will further debate and potential ideas arising herein in future.

Keeping an eye on upcoming events .Cheers .