For someone who has never dealt with a deceased person’s affairs, the legal jargon and complicated processes can be hard to digest; the tasks involved are unlikely to be previously encountered and come with a great deal of legal and financial responsibility. Unfortunately, this can make the difficult time of coming to terms with the death of a loved one even harder.

When coming to terms with the death of a loved one, the grieving period can be disrupted or worsened by issues with their Will, inheritance disputes, or other complications. These difficulties are often highlighted by high-profile probate and estate administration cases. This blog explores lessons that can be drawn from prominent celebrity deaths and the complexities that arose upon their passing.

In the non-digital era, sentimental memories consisted of printed photographs, photo albums, postcards, scrapbooks, and certificates. Due to their tangible nature, these were easily retrievable by the loved ones of someone who had passed away. Fast-forward to today’s modern world where digital technology has become an integral part of our personal lives, people have now opted to store their sentimental memories online, for example, photos on social media and videos on cloud storage. Unfortunately, many do not consider what will happen to these digital assets upon death; accessing sentimental memories online can be a difficult task for loved ones to navigate without prior digital legacy planning.

By Jim Sisson, Chief Financial Officer at Tower Street Finance When people pass away, they leave behind all kinds of assets and heirlooms. Property is often among the most valuable assets and managing property is a key concern for those tasked with dealing with an estate.

As many aspects of our lives move to the digital world, it’s unsurprising that the task of dealing with a loved one’s digital assets when they pass away is becoming increasingly common. A digital asset that is frequently making the headlines due to its growing popularity is cryptocurrency. Due to cryptocurrency only recently emerging (in the first decade of the twenty-first century), many are still unaware of what cryptocurrency is and may simply overlook the stage of dealing with cryptoassets during estate administration.

Arranging a funeral is a task that needs to be completed upon a death, but it can make an already difficult time even more stressful for those dealing with a bereavement. We appreciate that there is a lot to think about, so we have created this blog post to outline what is involved in arranging a funeral and how you can afford the funeral expenses.

Life isn’t predictable nor does it happen in any specific order. Some people may get married at 21 or others at 60. Some may get divorced while others may have an opportunity to move to a new continent every few years. Whatever path we are led down in life, there is one thing that applies to us all – we will experience events that trigger the need to create and update a Will.

This blog post explores how Inheritance Tax works and which other taxes HMRC applies to a deceased person's estate.

Due to more dynamic family structures and individuals increasingly owning more assets than ever before, it may not come as a surprise that inheritance disputes have been on the rise since 2015. Last year the Financial Times reported that contested Wills in the High Court had reached an all-time high in 2019, with an increase of 47 per cent on 2018. This blog looks at some common causes for inheritance disputes, what can be done to resolve them, and how to avoid them altogether.