A band of blunderers
Sort out your finances before you die... and save your family grief
THE Tories have spent the first few days of the election proving why they are unfit for government.
We have already seen the resignation of Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns, Jacob ReesMogg’s callous comments on Grenfell and party chairman James Cleverly caught out doctoring a campaign video.
Voters will question why this inept, malicious and underhand party should be anywhere near power. If they are so incompetent at running a campaign, why would they be any better at running the country?
While the Tories lurch from one blunder to the next, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell today sets out plans for a more prosperous Britain, including a new social transformation fund to fix a decade of Conservative austerity.
Over the next five years Labour is pledging to spend £150billion on schools, hospitals, care homes and housing and transfer power and investment from London to the north.
Only Labour has the vision and the will to bring real change to all parts of the country.
Most of us don’t like to think about death. But while it might be an unpleasant subject to face, it is a vital one.
And here, in the fourth day of our series investigating this last taboo, we look at how failure to plan properly can leave loved ones in chaos, struggling for funds at a time when they most need certainty and security.
Without planning, children can be left at the mercy of courts in disputes over guardianship while family incur debt to pay for your funeral. Which is why it’s never too early to prepare your finances for your eventual demise.
Here are the key areas you need to get sorted – and soon...
WHAT:
Almost two out of three adults don’t have a will. Many people think they are expensive to arrange, while others feel they don’t have anything of value to leave, so don’t bother.
And those with wills don’t realise they need to update them when personal circumstances change, such as marriage and divorce. Wills in single or previous married names are invalid.
WHY:
People assume custody of children goes to their partner or next of kin when they die if there are no surviving adults who have parental responsibility. But without a will legally assigning a guardian, the decision is left to the courts.
Not having a will could also mean your benefactors lose more of your estate in inheritance tax, leading to family tensions when dividing possessions and leaving loved ones struggling to access cash for essentials.
HOW:
You can get a free will arranged through charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support’s free will writing service and British Heart Foundation’s free downloadable template.
These facilities are offered in the hope that you leave a donation, although there is no obligation.
Various trade unions, including NASUWT, offer free wills to members. You can also pick up a do-it-yourself kit from WHSmith for £22.99. Or you can get one drawn up by a solicitor, but this can cost hundreds of pounds.
WHAT:
A policy that pays out a lump sum on your death. There are two types: Term Assurance covers a fixed period of time, for example 10 or 20 years, and pays out if you die during that term.
You can choose from level term, which pays out a lump sum agreed when you take out the cover, or decreasing term, where the amount covered reduces over the term. The second type is whole of life, which continues throughout your life and pays out on death.
WHY:
If you have dependents this will help to ease the financial pressure and ensure you don’t leave them struggling.
HOW:
If you work, check what benefits you get via your job. Many firms offer death in benefit, which pays out a lump sum should you die while still employed.
You may want to check with an independent financial adviser to ensure that this will provide enough cover.
You can buy standalone policies if you don’t get cover at work or are self-employed or retired. Choose the amount and monthly instalments are worked out depending on your age, health and the payout.
Large sums of hard-earned cash can be built up in pension pots over years of work and you need to nominate who should receive that cash should you die.
It is important to update this information when circumstances change through marriage, divorce or the death of a partner.
WHY:
Without filling out an “expression of wish” form, your life savings could end up going to the wrong beneficiary. Research from insurance giant Canada Life suggests three out of five of these forms are out of date, mainly because people have divorced, remarried or their spouse has died.
HOW:
Contact your pension company or HR department if it’s a workplace pension to ensure yours is up to date.
WHAT:
A legal document that enables you to choose a person to look after your affairs if you lose the capacity to manage them yourself.
There are two types of LPA: health and welfare and property and financial affairs.
WHY:
You can lose the ability to make health and wealth decisions in an instant should you have an accident or get seriously ill.
Without an LPA, your family could struggle to access your accounts or to make health decisions without going through the courts.
HOW:
It costs £82 to register an LPA through the Office of the Public Guardian (gov.uk/power-ofattorney/register) and you can get a reduction exemption if you are on certain means-tested benefits.
WHAT:
The cost of dying keeps rising. Funeral costs have shot up to an average £4,271, according to a report from SunLife.
In five years, the firm reckons the cost will be an eye-watering average of £5,100.
WHY:
Two in five people don’t make any financial arrangements for their funeral, which is why funeral debt in the UK has hit £147million.
Those struggling to pay take on an average debt of £1,990, new research from Royal London has found.
HOW:
There are various things you can do to cover the full cost of a funeral or help pay towards it.
Pre-paid funeral plans can be expensive, but some guarantee to cover the full cost, however long into the future a plan is needed and you can usually pay in monthly instalments.
There is government assistance for those on certain benefits or tax credits, but it can be hard to get the cash, which is currently set at £700,
Spring 2020.
Other options include building up savings, but you need to take into account the rising costs and the possibility that you could end up paying more in than you get out.
To help keep costs down, a cremation is usually much cheaper than a burial. It also helps to be flexible about the time of day.
Funeral costs vary vastly, so do compare them and check exactly what is included in the price as this varies too.
One of the most affordable options is a direct cremation, where the body is taken away, cremated in the day immediately following the death and the ashes are returned to the family without a funeral service. rising to £1,000 in