There are more and more calls on our family assets these days than in any previous period. Generations of families up and down the land have inherited estates, farms, castles, heritage hoes etc from their parents, who of course inherited from their parents. So on and so forth. Take family estates after parents have died; in most instances, inheritance tax will be payable by the family members to whom it is left. However, there are various levels of tax and it is only payable after certain allowances are used up. As an example, in my own case, my two siblings and I would have inherited the house that our parents had bought and was their joint home until Dad died and his share went to our Mum, so she was 100% owner. She then stipulated in her will that we siblings were to inherit all her house and property. As it happened, we had to sell the property before it became ours as Mum had to go into a care home and eventually we an out of the other forms of revenue that had been set aside for this eventuality. We did not have to use very much of the house proceeds towards the care home fees so the value that had been invest4ed for mum as wisely as possible, formed part of the estate for probate. We siblings were already our mother’s representatives through the High Court, as our mother’s condition deteriorated too quickly for us to obtain powers of attorney and quite correctly the doctor knew Mum no longer retained the mental capacity to make any decisions for herself, particularly with respect to finances and her health and welfare.

So many things need to be put in place to accomplish the end of life plans made by our nearest and dearest members. It is difficult enough to deal with the loss of the parent – grief is an all absorbing and sometimes, quite destructive, emotion. It can easily get in the way of carrying out the requirements laid down in someone’s last will and testament. Especially if the executors are family members closely involved in the last few years. Unless the will stipulates particular requests for style and composition of the funeral, then the family should advise the executor/s of their plans and get it booked up as soon as the death certificate becomes available. There are companies now who are able to deal with a lot of this business and can give very good advice to families who are unsure what to expect in an end of life situation and have no idea who should do this or that function and how one notifies the registrar etc. An advisory company has all the answers at their fingertips and this can save many a frustrating morning feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the task facing you.

Photo by Melinda Gimpel.