Helen Morrissey looks at why many people don't consider estate planning and asks what advisers can do to tackle this lack of awareness
Estate planning is a vital, if often overlooked, part of retirement planning. Putting a thorough estate planning strategy in place is key to ensuring a client's wishes as to how their estate is apportioned on death are carried out. The use of trusts and the gifting of assets can also save an estate a huge amount of money which would otherwise have to be paid out in inheritance tax (IHT). But according to the Standard Life Wills and Trusts Report 2011, 51% of participants had not made a will. The common reason given for not having one in place was that they hadn't got round to it yet. ...
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