Blog

As life expectancy in the UK continues to increase, many of us are planning for our future, looking at the best ways to provide both for our own later life (including care costs), but also for our children and their families. Everyone’s circumstances will differ and when looking at any aspect of legal planning it is important to discuss pensions, savings, income, family members, financial dependency, property, investments, expenditure and much more. At Macnabs we work in conjunction with independent financial advisers, stockbrokers, accountants, and investment managers to ensure that a holistic approach is taken when planning for your future.

Following on from the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, the Scottish Government has also announced a temporary holiday on LBTT (the equivalent of Stamp Duty in England) in order to get the housing market in Scotland moving again. In Scotland, homebuyers have been required to pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) on residential properties over £145,000, with the exception of first-time buyers in Scotland who are not required to pay LBTT on a property purchase up to £175,000. However now the threshold has been increased to £250,000 – this is a temporary cut running until 31 March 2021.

Macnabs has drafted hundreds of Wills for clients and raised over £10,000 for charity this year after taking part in a will-writing campaign where lawyers generously give up their time for free to write Wills for local people, in exchange for a donation to the charity.

There are numerous issues which can arise when a vulnerable beneficiary (a person who is mentally or physically disabled; or someone under 18 who has lost a parent through death) inherits a sum of money from an estate if no safeguards have been put in place. Often these safeguards take the form of trust provisions incorporated into your Will which allow your executors, who would act as the trustees, to hold funds on behalf of the vulnerable beneficiary until either a certain age or event is reached, or until your trustees think it is appropriate for funds to be made over to the beneficiary.