Scottish legal services

The services we offer in this department are :

Preparation of Wills and Powers of Attorney;
Winding up the estates of persons who have died ( called executries);
Formation and management of Trusts;
Inheritance Tax and related Tax Planning;
Looking after the affairs of elderly clients.

Personnel
Our Solicitors are Lesley K Dron, Director of Executry Services, and Colin D Millar, Executry Consultant. Both have many years experience in all aspects of private client work. They can deal with your family business from the time you make your Will (perhaps after buying your first house or moving home) to advising on how best to arrange your affairs so that you will be properly cared for during your later years, and also ensuring that your family will benefit from your estate as much as possible on your death. Our other solicitors who deal with some aspects of this work are Dick Stiven, Peter Tweedie from our Rutland Street office in Edinburgh; Des Coyne from our Easter Road office in Edinburgh; and Ross Paton from our Arbroath office.

More About Some Of Our Services

Making a Will
Why should you make a Will? Many people think it is not necessary to make a Will, or they are reluctant to do so for one reason or another. However, your family can be left in some difficulty if you have not made your wishes known and the people you expect to receive your assets after your death may not do so. We can ensure that the process of making a Will is as short and painless as possible and you will be reassured that your family or those close to you will benefit from your estate.

Power of Attorney
Most people recognise that it is a good idea to make a Will but after having done so what if you become, through illness or otherwise, unable to deal with financial matters yourself? This is where a Power of Attorney can be of benefit.

What is a Power of Attorney? It is a document granting powers to a person of your choosing (the Attorney) who will be able to deal with all of your finances on your behalf if you become unable to do so. It is better to be prepared as early as possible for the possibility of the Power of Attorney being needed. We can advise you on the procedures involved and can draw up the document for you. Our Solicitors can also act as Attorneys in the absence of relatives or close friends.

Executries
An Executry is the estate of a person who has died. You may be appointed as an Executor in someone's Will or you may have suffered the loss of someone close to you and need assistance in dealing with their affairs. This can be a very difficult time and we can, if you wish, take from you the burden of dealing with the winding-up of the estate, from advising you on the role of an Executor through to finding out what the estate comprises, obtaining from the court the Confirmation (the document which enables the Executor to deal with the estate) through to taking control of the estate and then distributing it in terms of the Will.

Inheritance Tax Planning
With our years of experience, we are well placed to offer advice on all aspects of Inheritance Tax and other Tax Planning so that you can be assured that you will pass on as much as possible of your wealth to your family. This may involve re-writing your Will, re-arranging the ownership of assets, making lifetime gifts or taking out financial products which are specifically designed to mitigate Inheritance Tax. If you consider that Inheritance Tax starts when your estate reaches the level of £250,000 and it is then charged at 40% on the excess over that sum, the eventual tax bill for some clients can be quite high. It makes sense to mitigate this as far as possible.

More Information
If you would like us to give you more information on any of our services or any of the matters mentioned here, please contact Lesley Dron at our Dundee office.