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What is a lasting power of attorney?

A Lasting Power of Attorney (“LPA”) is a legal document that lets you appoint another person, the attorney, to make financial and/or welfare decisions on your behalf, if in the future you become unable or unwilling to make your own decisions.

What is probate and why is it necessary to involve obtain a Lasting Power of Attorney Ashford? It may not be necessary for a person to use an attorney for this process however if this is something that you are not familiar with, it is highly recommended for you to let an attorney assist you in order to ensure that everything is completed and assessed as it should be. Without the appropriate experience in this area, the situation can be over-whelming and may end up cost you in the long run.

Lodge Brothers employees are not only familiar with the process, they have dedicated their life’s work to offering the best service and expertise to those who seek them out for assistance. After the passing of your family member or loved one, a person has many difficult decisions to make, least of which is dealing with the will of the person who has passed away. What happens if the will is not verified or is contested at court? Well this is the time when its better to hand over to the professionals.

A Probate estate comprises of all the assets and liabilities that a person has when they pass away. These assets and liabilities are verified by proving that the Will that the person has left behind, if they have indeed left a Will and instructions therein, is a genuine instruction from the departed as to how they would like their estate to be dealt with and settled. Assets include everything that the deceased physically owned both specified and unspecified in the last Will and testament. All the possessions that a person has, must be dealt with correctly at the time of passing, no matter how big or small, no matter how valuable, be it emotionally or financially. Probate Ashford is an active process which helps to sort the estate of the passed individual out as intended.

The process of can sometimes be sorted out in as little as 6 months, in some cases.  can take as long as 2 years or more to assess and verify. The timeframe of the probate Weybridge process depends on the complexity of the estate which can also be affected when the Will is disputed by a family member. Some small estates are the rare exception to the process and may not require probate Sunbury at all.  A court supervised process, probates can be a complex procedure.

Lodge Brothers legal services, partner to the Lodge Brothers family of funeral directors, have the know-how of the legal process of probate to ensure a stress-free process. Once all is said and done there are only benefits to contact Legal Brothers Legal Service attorneys, Sophie, Emily and Hannah, to assist you with this emotionally draining process. Services for probate can be agreed to and paid for ahead of time that will ease the process at the end of the day and ensure that the estate is correctly and accurately handled as preferred.

Click here to contact Lasting Power of Attorney Woking and Lasting Power of Attorney Weybridge

Just as the cost of living increases from year to year, the cost of dying is no different. The SunLife cost of dying report for 2021, an annual sector-leading research paper, which has been providing a comprehensive overview of funeral costs since 2004, shows that the cost of funerals has continued to increase on an annual basis. One positive aspect however is that the increase of funeral-related costs has at least slowed down somewhat over the last 2 years.

The same report goes on to explain that the average cost of dying in 2021, depending on where in the UK you live, is £8,864 – that is down 4.3% since 2020.

Funeral costs are rarely included as part of the average family’s annual budget. The Lodge Brothers family of Funeral Directors Clandon, offer a variety of cost-effective solutions aimed at assisting families to deal with the costs, which arise when a loved one passes away.

Lodge Brothers Funeral Directors Merrow all offer a range of pre-paid for and planned funeral packages, with a suitable budget option for all, all of which are designed to alleviate the inevitable financial and emotional strain which is placed on families when a loved one passes away. What makes the difference is the Lodge Brothers pledge to ensure that there are no hidden extras to surprise you, after all is said and done. Lodge Brothers publishes a full list of all costs attached to funeral planning on their website for full transparency and will provide a detailed quote prior to proceeding with any of the funeral arrangements, so that the families of the deceased know and understand everything that they will be required to pay for.

In the case of pre-planned arrangements, the deceased has already made most of the tough decisions on behalf of their loved ones. In fact, any person who would like to make their funeral wishes known, can use the complimentary service on the website which is kept on file in the event of their demise, so that when their family choses Lodge Brothers Funeral Directors Staines, all of the hard decisions are already made ahead of time. Using this service does not commit anyone to a funeral plan with Lodge Brothers – it simply ensures that when you loved ones chose Lodge Brothers for funeral arrangements, the wishes of the deceased shared with the family who can then provide the funeral just as you would have, if you had planned it yourself.

Besides being able to rely on our 240 years of experience in the business of assisting families with funerals, when loved ones reach out to Lodge Brothers at their time of need, not only are they ensured of having full sight of what has been arranged and the cost of doing so, but they are also guaranteed many additional extra’s, which other Funeral homes will charge for, at no extra cost. Services such as afterhours attendance, arrangements for family viewings at the chapel of rest, delivery of ashes, additional staff or bearers, access to bereavement support and house calls, all come as part of the full service which you can expect to receive from Lodge Brothers across the UK.

Our family had no idea what we were about to face when our family was struck down by corona virus in May of 2020. Living with my elderly mother and father-in-law was intended to keep them financially stable and safe in their latter years and it was a choice our family made, to ensure that we would always be just a door-knock away when every they needed us for the small things or the big things. One of those big things happened to our family at the end of April as the country locked down to protect each other from… well… each other. Since my mother and father in law were of the vulnerable age to the deadly virus, we endeavoured to take every precaution to ensure that they were isolated and that all exposure opportunities were limited. Like many other families around the UK, it became priority to ensure that there was as little risk to the family as we could physically mitigate.

As it so happened, with a number of additional underlying comorbidities, my mother-in-law began to display some of the symptoms including fever, dry cough and severe headaches and was subsequently collected on the May Day bank holiday 2020 and taken via ambulance to New Victoria Hospital. After testing positive, the hospital placed her in high care on a respirator and we waited with heavy hearts for 3 days as she used all of her energy to fight off the virus. Finally, in the early hours of Tuesday 5 May, she lost her fight and passed away leaving my father-in-law and her two grown son’s and their families, reeling with disbelief and immeasurable sadness that this virus is so destructive. From there everything became a bit of a blur and we immediately started looking for funeral directors to assist us with the preparation of the funeral. Just a few minutes’ drive from the hospital we found the Funeral Directors New Malden branch of Lodge Brothers funeral directors who responded immediately, despite us contacting them in the exceedingly early hours of the business day, to our every need.

When we arrived at the Lodge Brothers office later that day, the staff were extremely compassionate and prioritised our needs, from the minute we walked in. Their professionalism and compassion made us feel like we were the only family in the whole world, who was going through the passing of a loved one. All plans came together seamlessly as Kerry listened carefully to all our requests calmly and with 100% attention to detail which we so appreciated as everything was all so very overwhelming to process and decision-making was particularly difficult. Lodge Brothers staff went over and above to get us through the difficult time, which was especially helpful for my father-in-law whose whole life had changed in an instance. We thank Lodge Brothers Funerals and while we don’t look forward to it, we will trust you to help our family when we need to, in the future.

Funeral directors Hillingdon and Funeral directors Shepherds Bush are there for you family in time of grief!

It may surprise the majority of people, that having a Will in place for when you pass on, is only the start of a series of rather complex legal events which needs to be finalised after a funeral takes place. For the most part, people feel prepared for all eventualities once the Will has been drawn up but in reality there is more that one needs to take into account other than just the allocation of your possessions as part of your last wishes.  To complicate matters more, no more than 30% of UK citizens actually have prepared their Will. This can lead to the possibility that the majority of families who experience the passing of a loved one, will end up have much more on their plate than they originally anticipated. Dealing with grief and loss is one of the most distressing experience a person could have. Add to that, the multitude of decisions and choices which need to be made once a person has passed, and its almost certainly too much to bear.

Lodge Brothers Probate Walton attorneys are able to assist families with issues of this kind, which arise, in situations where a person has failed to prepare. And just as one might think that drawing up a Will is something that they need professional help with, so too is the process of probate which is the next of the complex details that families are faced with.

Should a person pass away before they have had the opportunity to prepare their Will, their estate is automatically placed “intestate” meaning that the courts become responsible for assessing who is officially your next of kin and allocate your possessions accordingly. What this can mean is that your possessions are not allocated in the way in which you would have preferred them to be allocated. For example, a person who is on their second marriage to a person on their first marriage, may have children from that first marriage. The husband or wife of the second marriage may be deemed as your next in line heir, however you may wish for your children to received all of your inheritance and for nothing to be left to your second spouse. For whatever reasons you deem to be necessary, you have the right to do as you wish with your estate. If you should die without a Will in place, the courts may find that your second spouse receives everything. Nothing may be wrong with this at face value, however what if your second spouse re-marries and then all of your possessions go to the new spouse, by-passing your children entirely. Not through malice but rather through a series of events, your children may be left without financial security as a result.

The importance of reaching out Lodge Brothers Probate Ashford professionals to assist you with such decisions, which can have far-reaching effects on your family’s future, can never, be over-emphasised. Provide for your loved ones in the way that you wish and chose Lodge Brothers Legal attorneys to administer your estate.

Contact Lodge Brothers Probate Sunbury and Probate Shepperton for all your legal requirements.

Lodge Brothers Probate West Byfleet Legal Services is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

There comes a time in everyone’s life when there is a funeral to plan. What most people seldom think about, however, is that where there is a funeral, there is an associated requirement for funeral legal services Sunbury, which goes hand-in-hand with those related to funerals planning services. A unique and empathetic group of attorneys at Lodge Brothers legal services dedicate themselves to assisting families and individuals with the legal aspects involved in the end of life. Sad as it is to think that there is a requirement for such a service, it is probably one of the most important and practical aspects which need to be addressed, preferably while you as an individual, are still alive. Just like with funeral planning, end of life planning is without a doubt, one of the best things a person could do for the loved ones who will be left behind.

Funeral legal services Shepperton includes a cluster of specific services which one needs to attend to, to ease the burden on those left behind, and to ensure that there are no unexpected surprises awaiting them. These funeral legal services include the preparation and drawing up of a will, probate services, and powers of attorney.

Having a legal and binding will in place holds more importance than most people may expect, which is one of the reasons why so many people end up never quite getting to having theirs drawn up. One somehow always believes that there is time for these things. Meanwhile, we all know that no tomorrow is guaranteed. A legal will and testament will speak for you when you are no longer able to, whether it be because you are still on life-support, or if you have already passed away. Sometimes there is a need for you to tell others when it is time to let you go, in the event of a tragedy which leaves you unable to communicate for yourself any longer. Documents like DNR’s (Do not resuscitate) and organ donation instructions can help your family know what you would want them to do.

A person also has the option of appointing their attorney with the power of attorney to execute any and all final decisions and wishes intended by the individual. Doing so designates your attorney as sole executor of your property and finances. This can also apply to end of life decisions and actions which need to be taken, on your behalf if you are no longer able to.

Whether or not there is a will, the legal process of probate is required in order to administer the finalization of a person’s estate, whether according to the Will, if found to be legal, or in the event that there are instructions left behind. It becomes the responsibility of the court to decide who is rightfully entitled to your possessions. Lodge Brother Legal attorneys will professionally and legally administer your will, ensuring that your legal requests are carried out by the court and that your possessions are distributed as you intended them to be.

Contact Lodge Brothers Funeral legal services West Byfleet and Funeral legal services Walton for all probate services.

Your funeral is technically the final event of your life. Even though by the time you are laid to rest, your body has long since drawn its last breath, your funeral symbolizes the final act of a living person. For those left behind, the funeral is the last thing which needs to be done so as to allow them to move on with their own lives… or at least begin to. As unique as you are during your life is as unique as your funeral will be. Perhaps some traditions are the same and similar ceremonial aspects are observed, but Funeral directors New Malden can attest that no one funeral could ever be the same.

Not everyone has the privilege to be in a position to plan their own funeral and while that does sound like an ironic statement, death does not make allowances for the timeline of the living or their expectations. If you have not yet had time to think about your funeral and how you would like your funeral to be, there is no time like the present.

Lodge Brothers funeral directors Ascot don’t only help your family when you have already passed, but are available to discuss your own funeral plans with you so that your family does not end up with the emotional decisions relating to your burial or cremation. What this means is that you can pre-plan each detail pertaining to your last life event, easing the burden on your loved ones and giving you the chance to decide exactly how you would like this to happen. Most of us will take the time to plan all events which we experience during our lives, birthdays, weddings, and so on, so why not take a proactive approach to plan your own funeral.

Lodge Brothers have created their service to offer the most convenient service possible. Lodge Brothers are also excellent at offering practical and pragmatic guidance to facilitate the smooth execution of this, one of the most important days of your life. Combining 7 generations of funeral planning experience with what can only be a deep sense of pride in their life’s calling, Lodge Brothers take care to ensure exceptional service and that each and every tiny detail is executed to the “t”. Funeral directors know that most people go through the motions of the day in somewhat of an emotional mist but look back on the day with a sense of relief and closure, which is what makes a funeral so important.

Plan your funeral now by contacting one of the Lodge Brothers situated near to you and you will find that not only are they physically available, but that their prices are competitive compared to other funeral directors. Just ask about the Lodge Brother price match promise to find out more from caring and friendly funeral professionals, based on affordable prices and which promise to provide you with the funeral which is just as you want it, so that your family can do what they need to, in order to focus on their healing.

Contact Funeral directors Hillingdon and Funeral directors Shepherds Bush for expert funeral advice

Lodge Brothers funeral services is always here to help. We know how unpredictable life can be on a daily basis and that things happen when you least expect it. This is why we make ourselves available at any time on any day, by phone or email. With 533,253 deaths in Wales and the UK in 2017. The office of National statistics shows that the provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 31 August 2018 was 7,865. Yourmoney.com reports that “Around 60% of UK adults still haven’t made a will, according to new research from Unbiased.co.uk, leaving around 31 million people at risk of dying intestate. If you die without a will your estate will be distributed solely according to intestacy law, which may not reflect your wishes.”

Karen Barrett, CEO and founder of Unbiased, said “It’s clear that many people think they’re just not ‘rich enough’ to need a will. This ignores the fact that a will makes inheritance a far quicker process – do they really want to keep their loved ones waiting longer, when that money might be badly needed? It also doesn’t take into account the complexity of modern families, which intestacy law simply doesn’t address. Children from previous marriages could end up receiving nothing at all.”

At Lodge Brothers, we agree that this is the essential issue surrounding those who pass away without a will and encourage customers who we meet on a daily basis, not to find themselves in the same position as their loved ones who have gone before them. The financial consequences when a loved one dies affects the whole family and especially when there is a young family involved, this can have lasting and irreversible long-lasting effects on the family unit and extended family members. While you may not feel that you are rich enough to have a will, consider what the effects would be on your family should they have to love just one month or one week if you are a weekly paid individual.

At Lodge Brothers we have options to suit every pocket and take pride in extending a helping hand to our hundreds of clients in our local areas. You can find our offices in your local areas simply by visiting our website and searching by location. You will find that we have offices in all locations and we offer additional probate services. For example, should you be looking for probate in Chertsey, Ham or Guildford, simply search probate Chertsey, probate Ham or probate Guildford to find your local branch and contact telephone number or email address. Otherwise you can go to our branch locator search feature, capture your nearest branch, town name of post code, for ease of access to information concerning all services we offer.  If you’d like to know a little more about our services, we can send our ‘Guide to Arranging A Funeral’ to your home, or you can view and download a PDF. Click here to obtain.

Preparing a will for when you pass away is one of the most important things that you can do with your life, or so we have all heard… but is it really true that not having a will is going to cause problems for those you leave behind? Or is this just another fear-based threat designed to get us to jump into action and act by paying someone else to do our will for us, when in fact we could either do it ourselves or leave it all together? After all, there are rules in place which must be followed when we die, to ensure that the possessions we gather in life, are distributed amongst the family we leave behind. Why is the threat of not having a will shrouded in so many layers of alarming outcomes for those who are affected?

The fact is that there absolutely are rules which govern the passing of assets on to family once a person has deceased. These rules are fairly straight forward and not at all difficult to apply because as with everything based in the law, there is little to no room for personal interpretation nor much capacity for a person to manipulate the rules. And it does not necessarily require an attorney’s degree to construct a simple will which is easy to understand and follow in order to ensure that the assets are distributed as they were intended to be among the family members.

However what if a person has a complicated or unknown scenario which only comes to light once the person has passed and they have not prepared a will? Or have prepared a Will which for some reason or another, such as it not being correctly witnessed, is invalid in the eyes of the law? The estate immediately considered as being intestate. Once a person’s possessions are intestate, the rules of intestacy apply. If that is the case then only married or civil partners, children and close relatives stand to benefit from the inheritance. The primary beneficiary is considered to be the husband, wife or civil partner (note: a civil partner differs from a “common law” partner).

Intestacy laws are there for substantially limiting and possibilities in life are infinite meaning that there are more scenarios under which a person may pass away, which cannot be covered by the rules governing wills. What is a parent has passed without a valid will and has 2 children, one estranged for decades and one who cared for that parent right throughout their life, up until they reached their death-bed, leaving that child cash-strapped due to the high costs of care and medicines, for the parent. By intestate law, both siblings would stand to inherit the estate equally and this is something, while difficult, that the parent would not necessarily want.

Wills can be drawn up quickly and inexpensively at any of our Wills Chertsey, Wills Guildford and Wills Ham offices of Lodge Brothers. Inquire today regarding your unique requirements for your will to ensure that your family members benefit properly from the distribution of your possessions and assets on your passing.

Welcome to the offices of Lodge Brothers Legal Services where our long-standing professional reputation, sustained by our consistently proficient services, guarantees our clients and their families ultimate peace of mind. Lodge Brothers has been assisting families with funerals for over 230 years and it is our personal service which our clients have come to rely on over and above the consistently high levels of quality of legal advice which we provide. Our clients can turn to us for accessible and affordable legal advice in relation to Probate, Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney.

At Lodge Brothers we approach our Probate Walton on Thames services with the same high levels of quality advice and personal investment, as we do with all legal services. We know that when a person finds themselves in need of the services of a Legal firm, often the circumstances which surround this need, are inevitably highly stressful. When people find themselves in these stressful situations, quite often it becomes exacerbated by the fact that one doesn’t always know what to do for the best and make the right decisions.

Notwithstanding, often people do not know what needs to be taken care of, simply because they do not have experience with being in these types of situations previously. It is easy to understand how over-whelming certain life events can be, when someone realises all of the legal requirements involved. Legal compliance is not something that we believe a person should have to face on their own.

That’s why we partner with our clients during these times of excessive strain and guide them through the process. Lodge Brothers has firms across the UK, such as our Probate Weybridge office and its here that you can rest assured that you will always find empathetic professionals to offer you an efficient service when you most need it.

Probate is the process of authenticating a last will and testament and finalising all aspects of the estate of a deceased individual and at Lodge Brothers Probate Guilford, we offer 3 levels of Probate service to suit your personal requirements.  Regardless of which level of legal service you choose, you can be assured that you are receiving the very best especially if you chose our level 3 Gold Probate Service which comes highly recommended and is certainly the most comprehensive of all. Designed to relieve you of the heavy burden you face when dealing with the probate process, our level 3 Gold Probate services ensure that probate is obtained quickly and efficiently.

Every person should have a will, only 30% of people in the UK have made a will, a will is where you state how you would like to distribute your property, name an executor, name guardians for children, distribute money and jewellery etc. Having a will also means that you, rather than the state, decide who gets your property when you die. Wills Walton on Thames are typewritten legal documents that are signed and witnessed.

Don’t leave it until it’s too late to get a will drawn up by a probate attorney such as Lodge Brothers legal services.

A legally valid Will, carefully prepared by a qualified expert Solicitor, will ensure that:

• you provide for your loved ones in the way you wish;
• you choose the Executors who will administer your estate;
• you choose the Guardians for your minor children; and
• you can take steps to reduce the Inheritance Tax payable.

You can also choose to appoint Lodge Brothers Legal Services as the Executors of your Will. We will ensure that your estate is dealt with promptly and efficiently so that your loved ones do not have the responsibility but do receive their inheritance as quickly as possible.

Fixed fee for a single Will starting from £325 +VAT (£390 inc. VAT).

Fixed fee for mirror Wills starting from £500 +VAT (£600 inc. VAT).

All our fees are fixed and agreed in advance.

Contact us for more information, a free no obligation quote or initial advice for Wills Guildford.