Wills & Lasting Powers of Attorney
Your Will is perhaps the most important legal document you will make. With careful planning and help from us, it can help you to secure a future for those you leave behind.
Wills & lasting powers of attorney expertise
Your Will is perhaps the most important legal document you will make. With careful planning, it can help you to secure a future for those you leave behind. If you do not leave a Will, the law decides who will inherit your property. This may not be what you want, and it is unlikely to provide adequately for your family.
Wills are often straightforward and can be written easily, whether you are single or married. However, some Wills require special technical knowledge.
Our specialist team can advise you on guardianship, Statutory Wills, planning for inheritance tax, and forming trusts. We also have experience of planning suitable Wills for second marriages, unmarried couples who own property or run a business together.
If you wish to leave your estate to a charity or a professional, we offer an executor and trustee service too. We also offer a variety of detailed guides regarding Wills & Lasting Powers of Attorney, including instructions for signing a Will, guardianship of children, disabled beneficiaries, and things to consider when appointing an LPA. Please get in touch if you would like a copy.
Why choose our Wills team?
- We can draft your Will for a fixed fee, so you immediately know how much it is going to cost
- If you wish, we can register your Will with Certainty (an online register of wills in the UK) for free
- For your security and peace of mind, your Will is kept by us in safe storage, free of charge
- You can meet with us in your home, nursing home or in hospital if this is easier for you
Our team are experts in tax planning and managing personal wealth for the benefit of future generations. Often, we will advise you to incorporate trusts into your will, in order to protect the very young or otherwise vulnerable members of your family. Trusts can also help to preserve your property, possessions and business. The right Will can be a strategic building block in the overall management of your family wealth.
Your professionally drafted Will can provide reassurance and peace of mind for you and help reduce any risks and pitfalls that may arise in the future. We will write it in plain English to avoid any misunderstandings.
Call our experienced Private Client team on 0330 100 1014 to find out how we can help you.
Key contacts
Louise Lewis
Partner & Joint Head of Oxford Trusts, Estates and Tax Team
Get in touch
Lasting Power of Attorney
There may come a time when, because you are unable to manage your property and financial affairs or personal welfare, you will need someone to do this for you. You can formally appoint a friend, relative or professional to hold a Lasting Power of Attorney that will allow them to act on your behalf. Our experienced Court of Protection lawyers can give you clear and helpful advice about creating your Lasting Power of Attorney.
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you (the Donor) appoint someone you trust as an ‘attorney’ to make decisions on your behalf about things such as your property and affairs or personal welfare at a time in the future when you no longer wish to make those decisions or you may lack the mental capacity to make those decisions yourself.
Click here to find out more about Lasting Powers of Attorney.
Notable work
- Prepared and registered a Lasting Power of Attorney appointing the donor’s spouse and their two children as attorneys.
- Acting for the Administrator in a charitable estate where the deceased had left a homemade Will, leading to a dispute surrounding the interpretation of the Will. This included an application for a Grant of Letters of Administration ad Colligenda.
- Prepared a Will giving a surviving spouse a life interest in a property, thereby protecting the underlying capital for a child of a previous relationship.
- Assisting clients with Will & Inheritance Tax Planning where there are diverse family needs to be met and assets in multiple jurisdictions.
- Preparing tax planning wills for wealthy individuals with complicated investments, including overseas assets.
- Preparing wills and Powers of Attorney for elderly or disabled clients. In such circumstances, we are able to meet with clients in their own home or in a setting which is most comfortable for them.
- Prepared Lasting Power of Attorney documentation and the registration of the same at the Office of the Public Guardian.
- Parents who have one disabled child and two non-disabled children were uncertain how to divide their estate between the three children. Freeths advised them to incorporate a discretionary trust in their wills. This would provide flexibility so that their wills would cater for the different needs of their children as they grew up, with direction provided by a side letter from the parents.
Testimonials
"You have certainly been brilliant throughout and I can't imagine where I would be without your ongoing efficiency, excellent advice and good humou...
Client testimonial
"My family and I are very pleased with Jennie. We couldn't have wished for a better service."
Client testimonial
"I wanted you to know how much we appreciated the expertise and professionalism displayed by the team...I have no doubt that we would not have been...
Client testimonial
"Thank you very much for your intervention concerning this whole matter and I think that you also go out of your way to do what you can."
Client testimonial
"May this letter be the opportunity to thank you for all you have done for me, the Will and the Lasting Powers of Attorney. Thank you for being so...
Client testimonial
Meet the team
Sarah Foster
Oxford Office Managing Partner & Joint Head of Private Client Services
Lisa Mark-Bell
Director & Joint Head of Oxford Trusts, Estates and Tax Team
Contact us today
Whatever your legal needs, our wide ranging expertise is here to support you and your business, so let’s start your legal journey today and get you in touch with the right lawyer to get you started.
Get in touch
For general enquiries, please complete this form and we will direct your message to the most appropriate person.