Alison is a single home-owner with a cohabiting partner.  She doesn’t wish to leave her estate to her partner, however she also doesn’t want to leave him homeless should she die first.

By incorporating a Property Trust or Right of Residence into her Will, Alison can ensure that her partner is not left homeless and also ensure that the full value of her estate is left to those she wishes benefit at her death.

Steve and Mark are civil partners and own a home worth £300K.  Including Life Insurance and Savings their total estate is valued at £500K.  they wish to leave everything to each other, and then to family and friends.

Although Steve and Mark want to look after each other, they have different people that they want to look after on second death.  If they use basic mirror wills then who ever dies second will be able to determine the final distribution of the Estate.  By changing ownership of their home to Tenants-in-Common, and incorporating a Property Protection Trust into their wills, they are able to ensure that their half of the home is shared as they would wish, with no detrimental effect on the surviving partner.

John and Yvonne own their own home and have 2 children.  John also has a child from a previous relationship.  John wishes to share his estate between all 3 of his children, but Yvonne only wants to share her estate between her 2 children.If John and Yvonne use basic mirror wills then who ever dies second will be able to determine how many children share the estate.  By changing ownership of their home to Tenants-in-Common, and incorporating a Property Protection Trust into their wills, they are able to ensure that their half of the home is shared as they would wish, with no detrimental effect on the surviving partner.

Fred is a widower and wishes to leave his estate to his 3 children.  One of his children is disabled with severe learning difficulties and receives state benefits.  He is concerned that if he leaves a considerable sum of money to his disabled child they will lose their entitlement to state support.

If Fred incorporates a Disabled Discretionary trust into his will, the disabled child can benefit from the legacy without losing their entitlement as they will not own the assets.

James and Katherine own their own home worth £160K.  They are concerned that if the surviving partner requires Long Term Residential Care the house will be sold to pay for the care charges and they will be unable to leave a legacy to their children and grandchildren.

If James and Katherine use basic mirror wills then the full value of the home will be at risk if the surviving partner requires Long Term Residential Care.   By changing ownership of their home to Tenants-in-Common, and incorporating a Property Protection Trust into their wills, they are able to protect half the value of their home from Care Charges and ensure this legacy remains for their family with no detrimental effect on the surviving partner.