You may wish to to leave some or all of your estate to your dog (or other pet) when you die.  Many people build such strong bonds with their pets that they worry about how their beloved companions will be looked after should they die.

The law does not allow you to leave money directly to an animal. However, you can leave money in a trust appointing someone to be the trustee with the trust funds to be used for the care and upkeep of your pet.

The question then might be what should happen when your pet dies. Without any further provision it might not go where you want it to so it might be a good idea to make a dog charity the ultimate beneficiary.

An alternative might be to leave your estate directly to a dog friendly charity that will look after your pet.

However if you have close family there is every chance that your Will will be contested by those family members who thought they might inherit.

This is a bold statement to make but there are two good examples I can cite.

Picture two elderly parents who own their property as joint tenants.  When one dies the survivor will be the sole owner of the property.  If the surviving parent goes into care then the value of the property, save the exemption allowance of £14,000, can be taken into account to pay the fees.

A second example is when a parent remarries and buys a property jointly with their new spouse.  If your parent dies first the property is then solely owned by the surviving spouse (step-parent).

So in both cases the fact of joint tenancy brings about a less favourable postion for the potentail family beneficiaries than can be achieved with proper planning.

The simple answer is to sever the tenancy to make the parents tenants-in-common. Then make a Will including a life-interest trust which can leave the surving spouse the full use of the property during their lifetime but allows that shsre to go to the benficiaries after death.  This is a good result all around and simple enough to arrange.

If you would like to find out more, make a Will or if you want to arrange a visit please call Bill Ryan on 01225 582 582 or 07942 95 95 99. Alternatively use the contact page and you will be called back shortly.

The home visit Will service is available in Berkshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Wiltshire.

I was invited to contribute to the Jonathon Vernon-Smith radio show on BBC 3 Counties today. 

 The format is a phone in show with the public sending emails and texts to add to the flow.  The topic was “Inheritance,  Is It Worth The Hassle?” 

There were a number of very interesting contributions before I joined in.  A central theme was whether being disinherited or given a small inheritance in a Will than was expected, can lead to feelings of rejection as well as simply ‘missing’ the money.

There were good examples of family feuds and breakdowns caused by unexpected distributions in a Will. There was one particular contribution citing a parent constantly threatening to disinherit children if they didn’t pay repair bills etc.

It was a very interesting programme and one I enjoyed being involved in.  It really can be a very difficult area if not dealt with properly.