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Having enough money to pay for care costs in the final years of life is a major concern for many and, despite promises made by governments in the past about limiting the impact on people, in reality the scale of the problem is such that the potential impact on a person's estate has risen year by year. Care costs will only be fully met by the local authority when the assets of the person needing care fall below £14,250. When assets are above £23,250, the costs must be fully met...

The welfare of children is always top of the list of priorities of the Family Court when making arrangements following the break-up of a family. This can be especially difficult where the parents are from different countries, as shown by a recent case in which the Court considered the welfare of a child of a Mexican mother and an English father. When the child, aged seven, had expressed a wish to return to live in Mexico, the CAFCASS official appointed as the child's guardian recommended that this did not occur....

More than 550,000 people die annually in the UK and half of those deaths require the completion of Inheritance Tax (IHT) forms, which are not straightforward and can be a daunting burden at a difficult time for families. However, only 5 per cent of estates actually end up paying IHT. When there is an IHT liability, the average sum payable is about 20 per cent (the IHT rate is 40 per cent) of estates between £1 million and £9 million, but then falls to an effective rate of half that...

When your spouse's lack of attention to making a will causes issues, faking one is definitely not a good idea, as a Kent woman found out recently. Her husband died in 2013 leaving various properties in Spain and a flat in England, but no will. The woman admitted to faking her late husband's will, which she had used to obtain a grant of probate and to sell the Spanish properties. She bought a property in London with some of the proceeds and moved into it with her stepson and his wife. When...