Protecting your Digital Assets in the age of “The Cloud”

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In this internet age, not only do we own property, bank accounts, shares and other investments but we often own valuable digital assets including digital music, books and and photographs.

Leaving aside the value of these assets for inheritance tax purposes, the real value of these assets lies in their sentimental value to beneficiaries of the deceased person as they represent a very personal legacy.

Although digital assets pass via your will or intestacy in the same way as your other property, the ability of your executors to access these digital assets maybe somewhat difficult to access due to non-transferability clauses in the terms and conditions of some online providers. As such, properly appointed executors in your will can no doubt assist in this regard especially if clear recorded guidance regarding your digital assets is set out in your will.

Furthermore, if you do not have a will and the intestacy rules take effect then your digital assets may end up in the ownership of those who you do not wish to benefit.

Perhaps, most importantly, how are your executors or administrators going to find your valuable digital assets if they are unaware of them because the risk is that they could be lost forever.

There are a number of practical steps that you can take to protect your digital assets:

  1. Make a list of your digital assets and passwords and keep it regularly updated.
  2. Store a copy of your digital assets with your solicitor, bank or specialist online vault*.  This list should ideally be password protected itself and only kept in a secure location away from your home.
  3. Ensure that a trusted family member or friend is aware of where your access list is stored.
  4. Make or update your will to ensure that your digital as well as your other assets are properly gifted to your chosen beneficiary(s).
  5. You should also consider keeping a backup of your most valuable digital assets with your solicitor or bank.

It is, of course, vitally important that your security in respect of your digital security is not compromised and as such as few as people as necessary should have access to your digital assets list.

At my firm, Solomons Solicitors, we can give you detailed guidance and practical solutions regarding your will generally and the gift of your digital assets, specifically. Please contact me for further information.

* There are a number of online secure storage companies such as www.legacylocker.com. Whilst they no doubt provide excellent security standards for a relatively moderate annual fee, this type of facility may undoubtedly prove a magnet for hackers and identity theft, which places some risk on this type of solution.

The benefits of Business Property Relief and Inheritance Tax

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A news story in the Daily Mail is a reminder that Business Property Relief available against Inheritance Tax (IHT) can be a very valuable relief indeed, as it is set at 100% of the value of the relevant business assets *.

The case reported centres around the advice given to the client by his solicitors and the decision by the Court of Appeal will be of great interest to solicitors around the country.

Nonetheless, if a client has the benefit of business property relief by owning substantial trading business assets, it is certainly sensible to take into account the potential loss of the relief when business assets are sold.

There are a number of means by which this problem can be addressed by the use of various insurance and financial products and even the purchase of shares traded on the AIM market.

The important point is that if you are looking to dispose of business assets you take professional advise as the best means to alleviate the potential loss of business property relief.

* Please note that the rental of property on a commercial basis does not ordinarily qualify as a business that can claim business property relief (BPR).

Skype Wills

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For a number of years, I have considered offering to my clients the opportunity to give Will instructions by Skype.

I decided not to offer the service as, for various reasons, the technology never worked as well as anticipated.

I am pleased to say that my recent experiences with Skype indicate that the connections are much stronger and a meaningful meeting can now take place.

As such, I can offer appointments to anyone who wishes to make a Will with a specialist solicitor without having to leave the comfort of your own home or office.

My firm's Wills service guarantees:

  •  A Free initial consultation
  •  A Fixed Fee Service
  •  Addititonal Inheritance tax advice (where applicable)
  •  Free Registration of your Will with Certainty – The National Will Register  (usual cost £25.00) www.certainty.co.uk
  •  Free secure storage of your Will and copies of your signed Will for your use.

To make a mutually convenient appointment, please telephone +44 (0)1202 802807 or e.mail: paul@solomonslaw.co.uk quoting: Skype Wills

I believe this is the first service of its kind by a solicitor in the UK and as an initial incentive, I shall offer a 50% disount on my usual fixed fee for the first 5 people to contact me.  

I look forward to hearing from you.

Another Reason to make a Lasting Power of Attorney

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There are many reasons to make a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) but it is only only when one comes face to face with the very real problems created by not having one that there is a real call to action.

Last week I met a lady client whose husband who is aged under 60 and who suffered a serious stroke a few months ago. Whilst, is is hoped that the lady's husband will make a recovery over the medium term, the lady has been left in an economic limbo in the meantime as her husband has not made an LPA to enable her to deal with his affairs.

Her only option is to make an expensive application to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order in order to deal with her husband's affairs and this in itself may take 5-6 months to put in place.

If a LPA had been made and registered beforehand, my client would have been in a position to regularise her financial position very quickly without the very real stress of worrying about her financial affairs at a time when her real concern is care for her husband.

The relatively modest cost of preparing and registering an LPA via a soicitor really is a small price to pay for the peace of mind and security arising out of making one. Please do not hestate to contact me for further information.

Another reason to make your Will

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I was recently on a touring holiday in the UK with my family and had the unusual "pleasure" of getting up late and switching on the hotel room television to watch some daytime television. (Yes, I knew there was a very good reason to go to work!).

Anyway, I was introduced to the joys of Heir Hunters on the BBC, a programme that follows genealogists searching for heirs of people who have died intestate with no family members immediately apparent.

Whilst the individual life stories within the programme certainly appeal on a human interest level, the fundamental point about each story was that in order to save an intestate's estates going to the government, the geneologists were searching for what were at best long lost relatives of the intestate and more often than not distant relatives of  whom the deceased knew nothing and/or had no interest during their lives.

Making a Will, of course, means that you can clearly set out those relatives who you wish to benefit and if you do not wish to benefit any relatives, you can direct that your estate is left to friends or Charities. The key point is that you are in charge and the distributuion of your estate will not be left to the vagaries of the intestacy laws.

This is particularly important where you are a single person or where you are married but have no children of your own.

As always, my advice is to find a solicitor who specialises in Will-writing to advise you.

Why Will-Writers need to be regulated

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A report by the Legal Services Ombudsmen as reported here reminds us again of the potential issues that can arise if Wills are written by unregulated Will Writers.

It is well worth remembering that the signing of a Will for the majority of people represents in monetary terms the effective signing of the largest post-dated cheque in their lives.

In these circumstances, it is somewhat concening that some 180,000 Wills per year are currently being prepared by unregulated Will-Writes as against Solicitors or regulated Will-writers.

There are many horror stories regarding Wills prepared by unregulated Will writers but the one that sticks in my mind is the Will writer who closed his business and literally took signed Wills he had prepared to the local rubbish dump for disposal, for which words literally fail me.

As a solicitor who specialises in making Wills, I believe that my clients can take comfort in knowing:

1. That I have many years experience in making Wills and can advise fully on issues relating to tax, trusts and the like, if required. (an unregulated Will writer, can theoratically set up business without any training.

2. That I offer an initial free consultation with a new client and will only then agree a reasonable fixed fee for the Wills service agreed. (There are many stories of Will writers offering a very low fixed price for a Will to entice new customers and then adding additional fees for services which should be part of the Wills package in any event). 

3. That in the event of an error on my part, my clients are covered by my firm's comprehensive professional indemnity policy (although I very much hope that this never needs to be used).

4. That in the event of complaint, my clients can follow a fully regulated complaints procedure leading to the Legal services Ombudsmen, if applicable.

5. That the Wills prepared by my firm are placed in secure custody with paper and electronic copies of the signed Will retained and will continue to be held in this way by another solicitor's firm if my firm no longer existed for any reason.

These points will generally apply to all solicitors who specialise in Will preparation.

As a result, my advice is always to ensure that your Will is prepared by an experienced  solicitor or fully regulated Will-writer who specilises in will-writing.