01522 789903

This last month has seen two major changes in legislation

The Inheritance and Trustees Bill is now in force which makes further provision about the distribution of estates of deceased persons where there is no Will. The first £250k plus personal chattels goes to the spouse. Half of the remainder goes to the children at age 18 . and half to the spouse absolutely ( instead of life interest and then to children as before) Where there are no children then spouse inherits whole estate.

This emphasises the need for new Wills to be made where second and third relationships have been formed after death /divorce of the first spouse.

The second change is derived from EU legislation(the 2011 Consumer Rights Directive) whereby the rules make changes to existing requirements concerning cancellation or ‘ cooling off ‘ periods and information requirements which are geared towards enhancing customer protection.

The result of this means it will take longer to produce documentation such as Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney etc. unless you specifically waive your rights to cancellation.