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Helping you manage your family wealth
Your Will is a legal document. It explains what you’d like to happen to your estate when you die.
Making your Will means you’ll need to appoint certain trusted people to carry out those wishes once you’re gone.
Download Helping you manage your family wealth brochure
You can’t take it with you when you go. But your Will is your opportunity to reward and recognise all the people, or organisations, who have meant something to you in your life. You want to be sure your wishes are respected after you’re gone – and your Will does just that.
However, it’s easy to put off making your Will. Deciding who you might want to leave your money, assets or property to when you die, can involve hard decisions. But if you die “intestate”; that is, without a Will, the law decides who inherits what, and how much.
There’s a common misconception that your surviving partner, if you have one, will inherit everything. That’s not always the case unless you make it clear in your Will. Or, if you’ve a large estate, any children you have may inherit large sums as young as 18 – which you may not necessarily want.
Without a Will, your money may end up where you don’t want it to.
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA)
Think of an LPA as a form of insurance. You hope you’ll never need it but if the time comes, you’ll be so relieved it’s already in place.
Imagine if you were suddenly unable to manage your finances or make important decisions about your health or care. Who would pay your bills, deal with insurance, or make medical choices on your behalf? Even a spouse, partner or parent has no automatic legal right to do this unless they’ve been formally appointed as your attorney.
Download Helping you manage your family wealth brochure
Retirement may no longer be a one-off decision, but rather a series of important choices to be made as you get older and your circumstances change.
Seven options for retirement planning
It’s likely that your income in retirement will come from a number of sources. Although you may have assets like Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), or other investment plans, even property, the chances are the bulk of it will come from pensions.
See Explore different pensions article
If you have any defined benefit pensions, your income is triggered automatically when you reach the age set out by the scheme. You may have some choices on how your combination of tax free cash and income is paid to you. However, if you have a defined contribution pension you will need to decide what to do with your fund.
See What options do I have article
Your circumstances are unique. The right choice for you will depend not just on your personal situation but also your lifestyle and how you would like to spend your retirement.
See What impacts my choices article
It does. But you get to decide what you do with your retirement savings. However, from a practical point of view, the larger your pension, the more options you’ll have.
See Does pension size matter article
You only have to take the income you need from your pension, and if you don’t need to take any income, that’s fine too.
See Do I have to take an income article
It’s vital to understand your key retirement income options to find out what’s best for you. Remember it’s not an either/or choice. You can use any of these options in combination and, if necessary, make changes as your retirement progresses.
See Understand the details article
Life can take us in all sorts of directions. This might mean the age you had originally planned to retire no longer works for you. You may need or want to remain in work, or have new ventures to explore.
See What if I’m not ready to retire article
News
New tax year: maximising opportunities at every life stage
Household finances continue to be squeezed in 2026. With income tax thresholds frozen until at least 2031, more taxpayers are being pulled into higher tax bands. Plus, years of high inflation have compounded the problem as rising prices mean less disposable income.
See news
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