Wills and succession planning

In Scotland, surprisingly few people get round to creating a will, which can cause a range of potential issues, liabilities and unwelcome circumstances and results.

If you do not create a will:

• Your own wishes will be ignored and your estate will be divided according to the complicated rules of intestacy.
• You might create an unnecessary tax bill.
• Part of your estate may end up passing to your siblings or parents; and not to your spouse or civil partner.
• If you don't have a spouse or civil partner or children, your whole estate could end up in the hands of distant relatives, instead of passing to someone you would rather have provided for.

Our tax partners, led by John McArthur, CTA, can advise on the full range of wills and succession planning options, trust and tax planning options, including offshore and ex-pat arrangements and trusts.

We can help you with will drafting, winding up of testate and intestate estates and inheritance tax planning. >more

We can also handle tax compliance and returns, arrangements for dependant relatives, transfers of family businesses and historic houses.

With our own tax compliance and dedicated trust administration team, we're ideally equipped to advise on setting up and subsequently administering trusts of all types. >more