We are deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the Royal Family at this time.

In honour of Her Majesty, and to give our staff the opportunity to pay their respects, we will be closing the office Monday 19 September, the date of Her Majesty’s State Funeral.

Congratulations to our colleagues Jade Peckett and Will Morris for passing their STEP Advanced Certificate in Taxation of Trusts and Estates.

A very tough exam!

Our phones have now been restored!

We are aware that our phone system is currently down. Please email wills@pavilionrow.com and we will get back to you ASAP

As of the 1st September 2021, our main office will relocate to Sheffield.

The decision for this has been based on opportunities given to us to further grow and develop our team. The management team has not changed and our ethos and commitment to providing a high level of service remains the same.

Although the main office has now relocated to Sheffield, we do still have representatives in York available to meet with our clients.

Emilda Morgans has joined us as director and Head of Legal.

Emilda first join us in January 2020 as a temporary consultant solicitor but we are delighted that she has decided to stay.

Emilda has a wealth of knowledge and experience in Private Client Law and we are very excited to have her on board

Why reducing your clients inheritance tax should be at the top of their New Year resolutions.

If the dawning of a New Year has anything is common with the last, it’s the resolutions that many of us choose to set. Often set with genuine intent, resolutions have a habit of falling by the wayside somewhat. And if we’re honest, it’s completely understandable. We’ve all been there; the New Year resolutions are set, you even outline initial provisions – but somehow, life just gets in the way. This is a common theme, particularly when it comes to Financial Planning and Inheritance Tax considerations.

As your clients trusted advisor, few know your clients financial circumstances better than you. It’s likely your client has, to some extent, looked into how they might be able to reduce their overall IHT liability. In many instances though, the information that is readily available can reinforce false perceptions; that to reduce your IHT liability you need complicated schemes that will be scrutinised by HMRC.

But for many this can’t be further from the truth. There are plenty of options for standard IHT planning before you need to think about complex and aggressive solutions.

We often come across clients in later life with assets over the IHT band and good incomes that they are saving. But for every extra pound they save they only save 60p i.e. their eventual beneficiaries will be giving 40p to HMRC in IHT!

For these clients gifts out of income are an excellent way to minimise IHT – and one that is often overlooked.

But what is classed as ‘income’? And what criteria will HMRC apply when accepting gifts out of income?

• Normal income includes salaries and pensions – plus interest, dividends and investment income (including rental income and annuities).
• The gift must be out of normal income and MUST leave the person fully able to maintain their usual standard of living, including luxuries such as holidays
• The gifts must form part of a regular pattern or provide proof of a commitment (for example, the first payment of a life assurance policy).
• HMRC will generally accept the expenditure as ‘normal’ if it happens three or more times.
• Often mis-understood – the gift doesn’t need to be the same amount to the same person – it just has to be of a similar nature. For example, ‘every year I give 50% of my surplus income to family members.’

Gifts out of income are extremely valuable as there is no maximum amount (as long as they fit within the above criteria). They can provide substantial IHT savings and are simple – but they MUST be done correctly and well documented to ensure they don’t form part of HMRC ‘s IHT calculations.

It’s important that your client is given the right advice before the time comes. Reducing their overall IHT liability will strengthen the relationship not just with your client, but with their extended family too.

Here at Pavilion Row, we are specialists in Wills, Probate and Trusts – and we’re always here to offer advice and support. If you have any queries regarding the above or would like to understand more about how decisions made now affect what happens in probate, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Specialists in Wills and Probate

At a glance, we’re a specialist firm providing services in Wills, Powers of Attorney and Estate Administration (Probate). You’ll know many companies who provide similar services, with whom you might even pass referrals to. However, scratch the surface and you’ll see that we’re far more than your average private client firm. This isn’t us saying ‘’we’re so much better, everyone should be working with us’’… in fact, far from it. We aren’t for everyone and we remain comfortable in the fact that ‘everyone’ isn’t for us. You see, our values underpin who we are and ensure we’re able to consistently provide value to our introducers and their clients. We believe in delivering the best possible advice through highly trained and experienced staff giving a flexible, friendly and efficient service that is personalised to you.

But it doesn’t stop there. Here are 5 main reasons we’re happy to be different:

Looking for a long-term partnership?

Instead of looking at things from a numbers perspective and thinking about our next referral, we want to work with introducers who are interested in and can see the benefits of, building a long-term relationship. We want to get to know you and your client, to understand their needs as you do, to make them feel valued. In doing this we’re able to provide the client with first class service and also highlight any additional or future financial services opportunities, that can be passed back to you.

The tools to develop your client relationships and identify new opportunities.

We understand that talking about Wills or Estate Planning with your clients isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Our partnership means we’re genuinely interested in helping our introducers and their clients.  That’s why we offer full support and provide you with guided questionnaires and telephone support. Our questionnaires are carefully structured to help you nurture different conversations with your clients.

What is an ABS anyway, and why is this an advantage?

Pavilion Row is set up as an Alternative Business Structure. This means that whilst we are still regulated and protected in the same way a traditional law firm would be, we are able to modernise our client focussed approach in a way that traditional law firms perhaps can’t, ensuring your client receives dedicated, expert advice and support throughout. Is this really an advantage? – You bet! Not only do we specialise solely in Wills and Probate, but we’ve been able to develop our business for over 10 years to ensure a consistent client focussed approach. And we still have the same level passion, care and dedication as when we started! We’re a caring company with a professional but relaxed culture and every member of team is committed to their own training, development and growth.

Honest, Reliable, Advice.

In essence, this our essence. Our Brand Essence, that is. We have worked hard to develop our Brand, our culture and our values. You can rest assured that from first introduction to our 30^th phone call, you and your client will know you’re getting honest, reliable advice, without false promises or hidden agendas. Our team are approachable, our processes are efficient, and our fees are totally transparent. Only by knowing the right questions to ask and understanding the importance of the answers can we be sure that we give the correct advice for what our clients need and want. For this reason, the company was founded on the basis that all our advisers are qualified to the highest level through the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

A STEP in the Right Direction.

STEP is the global professional association for practitioners who specialise in family inheritance and succession planning otherwise known as ‘Wills and Probate’. STEP strive to improve public understanding of the issue’s families face in this area and promote and encourage education and impeccably high professional standards among their members. STEP qualification and training is something we are incredibly proud of. All of our advisors undergo STEP training and qualification and are wholly committed to their continued professional development in their respective areas. It takes a lot of time, energy and resources to remain consistently on top, but these are the standards we expect of ourselves, and the industry as a whole.

By demonstrating this commitment to the learning and development of our team, we became STEP employer partners which means that STEP have recognised and accredited our internal training; allowing us to operate to the highest standards. This means that you and your clients are guaranteed the very best advice and support throughout your journey – advice you rest assured is up-to-date and solely for the clients benefit.

This week the Government have announced that they will be introducing temporary legislation to allow people to use video link to witness a will being executed.

This legislation does not extend to permitting electronic signatures. Wet signatures of the person making the will and the witnesses are still required. Also, witnessing pre-recorded videos of the person signing the will is not legally acceptable. It must be viewed in real-time.

IMPORTANT; the guidance states that the remote method should only be used in an emergency when conventional witnessing is impossible.

When signing remotely there are defined stages that must be followed to ensure the validity of the will and the attestation clause must be changed to reflect that the will has been signed by this method.

We are advising clients that if they need to sign their will via this method, then they must inform us in advance so that we can change the attestation clause. We will also be the witnesses to ensure that an appropriate file note has been made of the signing.