7 practical steps to prepare for death in Scotland

Preparing for death, even just a little, can greatly reduce stress at what can be a very challenging time for those that live on. By taking a few simple steps, you can not only eliminate a lot of future stress, but there could be a huge cost saving, too.

Why we recommend preparing for death

There are some important reasons to go through the process of preparing for death. 

• 
  It can bring family members closer together through deep and honest conversations about important things.
• People have told us that they are less fearful of someone’s death because they have a better idea of what will happen and what they will have to deal with. 
• Preparing ensures everyone is aware of your wishes. This can give everyone peace of mind that there are clear instructions to carry out and help prevent disagreements over possessions and money.
• The person responsible for dealing with things will be in a more informed position to deal with the estate themself, with minimal legal help, potentially saving many thousands of pounds in legal fees.
  
  

Terminology to know

Before carrying out the steps below, it’s a good idea to become familiar with some of the terms we will use:

• Asset - something someone owns that has value and could be used to pay a debt
• Estate - all the assets someone owns
• Will - a legal declaration of a person's wishes for what happens to their estate after they die
• Executor(s) - the person or people appointed to carry out the wishes in someone's Will
• Grant of Confirmation - an official document issued by Scottish Sheriff Courts that may be required to deal with certain assets. In other English speaking countries, this is called a 'Grant of Probate', ‘Grant of Representation’, or ‘Letters of Administration’ if there is no Will.
  
  

The 7 steps to prepare for death in Scotland

This simple guide is written for someone with full mental capacity who is doing the preparation for their own death. The principles in the guide are applicable worldwide.

1. List organisations and important contacts

One of the most basic but incredibly useful things you can do is to spend a few minutes writing down a list of people and organisations with which you have any kind of financial relationship. If you’re in charge of the household finances, writing down things like utility providers and any useful contacts can be a good idea. 

Keep this list in a safe place that your executors know about. You could set a regular date in your calendar to check it’s up-to-date, perhaps every 6 months or yearly. 

If you’re responsible for someone else’s finances for someone that is likely to die before you, it is still worthwhile composing this list now to reduce the stress later on.

2. Make or update your Will 

By making your intentions clear and known, you can avoid a lot of extra stress for your family. You should try to provide as much clarity as possible, as it is not uncommon for families to fall out after disagreements about personal possessions and money. 

Furthermore, if you die without a Will and a Grant of Confirmation is required to deal with one or more of your assets, then expensive professional help may be required.

If you have a lot of online accounts, it is worth naming a reasonably ‘tech-savvy’ executor to manage your affairs. If your affairs are pretty simple and you don’t have any young children, an online Will can be a good solution. 

There is a nationwide free Wills campaign every November

Over 55s can get also a free Will in March and October in England and Wales

3. Get a Power of Attorney and a Living Will

A Power of Attorney will allow someone to access your finances and make legal decisions on your behalf should you no longer be able to. If you lose mental capacity, it can be expensive to go through the courts to gain authority to act on your behalf, and the court may not appoint the person you would choose. It is important to note that when you die, the authority to act on your behalf transfers from your attorney(s) to your executor(s), or your closest relative(s) where there is no Will.

A Living Will leaves instructions for your end-of-life care. It can really help the person you nominate so they can make clear and pre-planned decisions at a very difficult and emotional time, and remove the burden of responsibility for making hard decisions about your treatment.

A Power of Attorney should be prepared by a solicitor. It could be a very well spent £150-£250. A Living Will can be made using a free online template as it is not a binding legal document.

4. Express your funeral wishes

Some people like to plan every last detail about their own funeral, and some say they don’t really mind what happens. Either way, doing some planning now is a really good idea.

Funerals need to be arranged within a few days after a death which can be a challenging time for grieving people to make decisions. A funeral will be the final memory people have of you; they really don’t have to be sombre affairs.

Having a clear idea of your wishes, or at least having some agreement on what happens to your body (cremation or burial), can reduce a lot of stress. A lower-cost option would be to have a direct cremation and have a family-led celebration/ceremony at home.

5. Check life insurance policies

Make sure any life insurance policies are ‘written in trust’. By writing it into trust, the money will be paid out straight away to the people you choose and it will not form part of your estate for tax purposes. The insurance company should provide you with the correct forms to do this free of charge.

6. Be aware of company ‘probate thresholds’

Different companies that you have accounts with have different limits of what they are willing to pay out without seeing a Grant of Confirmation. By staying under these limits, your executors could avoid having to get a Grant of Confirmation, and therefore deal with your assets in a very straightforward way. 

Even being just £1 over a company’s limit could mean long delays to access the account, and thousands of pounds in avoidable legal fees. Some banks’ thresholds are as high as £50,000.

7. More advanced measures

There are some more advanced measures that can be taken to reduce the complexity of your estate, like placing assets in trusts, putting your property into your children’s names, and selling investment portfolios, but these could have big tax implications so a professional estate planner should be involved. 

It should be noted that estate planners may only look at the most tax efficient route. But it’s also important to consider how straightforward things will be to unravel after your death with respect to the legal processes, as more complex situations may require expensive legal help which may undo the tax savings. This can be especially true with trusts.

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Mike Davis is the Managing Director of My Probate Partner, a company with the purpose of reducing the stress and cost of dealing with a death in Scotland.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this article is meant to be legal or tax advice. If you are unsure about what you are doing, you should always seek personalised advice from a professional advisor.