We know that planning your life and estate is important to both you and your family; that is why we provide comprehensive advice about your options and the likely consequences.

We always aim to work with our clients in a personable and stress-free way and to communicate your options and outcomes in plain English.

Experts at working with private clients

The solicitors in our Wills & Probate department are Dementia Friends, and have strong links within the local community. They have years’ experience of dealing with vulnerable clients and their families, so you can be sure you and yours are all dealt with in a kind and caring way.

At Solihull, our Wills & Probate team has you covered

Our Wills and probate department can help you and your family with:

More about the services offered by our Wills and Probate team

Probate

Dealing with someone’s estate can be complex and stressful, especially as it is such a difficult time anyway. There are time limits to observe, tax allowances to be claimed (or otherwise lost), tax to be reclaimed, assets to be protected, and legal responsibilities to HMRC, the Probate Court and the estate in general.

We can use our knowledge and experience to help guide you through this legal maze.

Writing Wills

Getting our affairs in order with a correctly drafted Will can avoid a lot of additional stress when we are gone. It is already a difficult time, and taking some of the stress away from your friends and family with a valid Will is a great help.

A carefully drafted Will can:

  • avoid tax allowances being reduced or lost;
  • make use of any charitable exemptions, whilst at the same time potentially reducing the rate of inheritance tax paid;
  • ringfence assets for children; and
  • be used to protect vulnerable family members.

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Lasting Powers of Attorney

Lasting Power of Attorney is your choice as to who will manage both your financial affairs and personal welfare if you are unable to do this job yourself.

Talk to us about why having a Power of Attorney in place is important and what benefits they provide you with.

Deeds of Variation

The use of a Deed of Variation to redirect assets received from an estate could provide you a very powerful tool when it comes to your planning for Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duty Land Tax and family intergeneration Tax.

The Deed of Variation is entirely tailored to fit your circumstances and there are rules to be observed for a Deed of Variation to work, so expert advice is a must.

Court of Protection

Losing mental capacity throws up all sorts of challenges if there is no Power of Attorney in place.

Braintree Wills & probate

Issues such as

  • who will administer the finances,
  • how they obtain legal authority to do so,
  • what can and cannot be done when it comes to making gifts, managing investments,
  • as well as general day-to-day administration,

are thrown up.

Our Private Client lawyers have a wealth of experience in helping you with your legal and administrative duties and have been Court-appointed Deputies.

Trust Deeds

A carefully-drafted Trust Deed can be used as an agreement between partners as to who will get what back if your home has to be sold due to separation.

Trusts have other useful functions which may help protect your family from third parties and tax.

Trust administration

Trustees have many responsibilities, duties and accountabilities. We can help you with the correct administration of your Trust.

Cunningtons Solicitors in Solihull

Northampton House
Poplar Road
Solihull
B91 3AP
United Kingdom

Tel: 0121 705 6868
Fax: 0121 705 9800

aymer.hutton@cunningtons.co.uk

Staff Spotlight

Bryony Wilmshurst, Head of Wills & Probate

Bryony Wilmshurst

Partner and Solicitor

Bryony Wilmshurst is head of Wills & Probate and will help you with any Wills & Probate issues.

More about Bryony

Should I use an online conveyancing company?

We do not generally recommend using an online conveyancer; though you often pay a lower fee, the level of service will also be lower.

You will rarely speak to the same person twice, and you have to be wary of the extras they add on.

When you are dealing with something as valuable as your home, it is important not to take risks. And the potential small savings to be made by using online conveyancing don’t add up – yet. You should meet the solicitor who is working on your case face-to-face.

What is the difference between a conveyancing solicitor and a conveyancer?

A conveyancing solicitor is regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA), is a member of the Law Society, will have degree-level qualifications and at least two years on the job training before qualifying.

Whereas a conveyancer tends to be regulated by the Council for Licenced Conveyancers (CLC) and is usually less qualified, although they can still be perfectly competent.

How do I avoid fraudulent transactions when moving house?

With such large amounts of money changing hands, there can be attempts to steal them in transit.

It is easy to avoid fraud if you follow simple rules:
1 Never ever disclose bank account details by email.
2 Never pay money into an account whose details you have received by email.
3 Both you and your solicitor should pay into accounts whose details you have received by phone or in person.
4 Ideally, test the veracity of bank account details by making an initial payment of £1 – which you then verify by telephoning your conveyancing solicitor – before paying any more.