Make a Will – Minor Children Under 18
Make your Will for €300 per person of €500 for a couple
Madden Law is a Drogheda solicitor’s firm located in The Byranstown Centre.
Madden Law is run by Solicitor Shona Madden. With ten years of experience, Shona Madden can advise you on all legal aspects of making your Will, in plain English.
Whether it’s a straightforward Will leaving everything to a partner or children equally or a difficult sensitive family matter, Shona will guide you through the process with empathy and helpful information.
Madden Law – The legal experts in preparing Wills
Why choose Madden Law when making your Will?
We have over ten years experience in drafting both simple and complex Wills. We provide transparent costs. We give straight forwards forms, to ensure that the process is as stress free and straight forward as possible. We take care of the witnessing and storage of the Will. We offer a range of flexible appointment options. We offer video consultations to discuss your Will. These can be booked online at a time that suits you. There is ample free parking outside our office. Our office at the Bryanstown Centre, Drogheda is fully wheelchair accessible.
What happens to your old Will when you make a new Will?
When a new valid Will is signed, it revokes the older Will. Usually, the older will is not destroyed. It is simply kept with the new Will. There is no requirement to bring an old Will in when making a new Will. Often it will be helpful to discuss why a new Will is being made and therefore the contents of the old Will should be reviewed and discussed.
Making your Will with Madden Law
Fill out the form , as best you can. It will be reviewed in full with you at your consultation.
Winter Will Offer
€200 single person or €300 per couple until 17th February 2023.
Appointment
Book an appointment online for a convenient time to come in to review and sign the Will with Shona. Home and hospital appointments can be requested here.
Signing the Will
You can come on your own. The Executors do not need to come in. Our office will store the original Will and give you a copy.
Young Children
This video sets out the keys parts to a Will, when you have young children.
You need to appoint at least one Executor, one Guardian and a minimum of two Trustees if you own a property.
A trust will be set up in the Will and you will need to think about what age you want the trust to end. When the trust ends, the assets are given to the children. Discretionary Trust Tax applies when the youngest member of the trust reaches the age of 21, so often it is advisable to end the trust when the youngest child is 20.
Examples of different scenarios for this will:
It is advisable to for the mother to appoint the father as the guardian of the children in the event the the mother predeceases the father. The father may qualify as being the guardian but it is advisable to formally appoint him as guardian in the Will.
It will be important to consider the tax consequences as inheritances between cohabitants have a tax free threshold of €16,250.
If you wish to make this kind of will please download this form . Each person makes a separate Will . The cost of each standard Will starts from €200.
When making a Will, many clients who have a child with a physical or mental disability are concerned with putting the right structure in place. This usually involves setting up a Discretionary Trust. A Discretionary Trust gives Trustees absolute discretion about when, how, and to which children of the Trust they may appoint capital or income of the Trust. The Discretionary Trust does not tie the hands of the Trustees and gives them the power to make decisions as they deem appropriate about when and how much money is appointed out of the Trust.
This is important because many of the supports and allowances available are means-tested e.g. disability allowance and medical card. Therefore the Trustee can ensure that the thresholds for qualifying for these resources are not breached. A charity which supports the child may also be named as beneficiary of the Trust. This allows payments to be made from the Trust to the charity, which may help reduce a possible Capital Acquisition Tax liability of the child.
Many people shy away from using Discretionary Trusts because of the potential liability to Discretionary Trust Tax. Currently, there is an initial 6% charge and an annual 1% levy thereafter. A rebate of 50% of the initial 6% levy is available if all the trust funds are distributed within five years of the applicable valuation date. However, there is a full exemption available for Trusts set up in these circumstances under S 17 of the CATCA 2003, when certain conditions are fulfilled.
Information about Trust Wills:
There are no requirements, generally, about the number of trustees that have be appointed in a trust document. The exception is when there is property in the trust, then two trustees must be appointed.
The general rule is that a trustee is only entitled to expenses. However, a will can make specific provisions for making payment to a trustee.
Once a trustee has accepted the office, he cannot disclaim, only retire. The trustee can retire according to the terms of trust, if there are remaining trustees, or a new trustees are substituted or if the beneficiaries consent. (all being over 18 of sound mind and absolutely entitled)
The following documents are reviewed and discussed with the purchaser: Contract, map, Folio, Planning documents for the original construction and any extension, Local Property tax history of the property, BER certificate and advisory report, management company documents.
The balance of the 10% deposit is given to the buyer’s solicitor. It will be transferred to the seller’s solicitor and two signed Contracts will be posted also. The seller will sign both Contracts, keep one and return one signed Contract to the buyer’s solicitor. At this point there is a binding Contract in place.
Generally when a trustee takes some action in relation to the trust, his acceptance of the position is presumed. The trustee does not have to give written acceptance of his position
In a will trust, when the same person is appointed executor and trustee and who accepts the executorship will automatically be presumed to have accepted the trusteeship. He cannot accept one and then disclaim the other.
Trustees can be removed from office by the courts or if all beneficiaries consent. . The first place to check is the actual trust instrument to see what it has provided for. The courts can also replace a trustee is he is proved incompetent and/or dishonest, or is unfit or incapable of acting of if he is convicted of an offence or made bankrupt. The overriding concern is the welfare of the beneficiaries.
Do you have a question related to Making a Will? Send us a message
Book a Video Appointment with Shona Madden
Recent Will Blog Updates
Informative Videos
Madden Law have created helpful videos to help provide a better understanding of not only the process of making a will, but also the role of a qualified solicitor when doing so.
Outstanding service all round and a complete joy to deal with - would recommend in a heartbeat and hope to deal again soon!
