Category: Equity Release

If you’re a homeowner over the age of 55 and looking for some extra cash, you may be considering equity release. However, when you tap into the equity in your home, you may wonder how this will affect your children’s inheritance.   Although you may have less to leave to your beneficiaries, you can, in fact, still leave an inheritance for your children.

If you’re considering taking out equity release but want to find out how it will impact your children’s inheritance, we can help. This article will discuss what you need to know about how equity release affects your children’s inheritance.

What is Equity Release?

An equity release product will allow you to get a loan on the equity in your home to use as you choose.

A lifetime mortgage is when the amount of your loan and all accrued interest are rolled together and paid after you pass away or enter into long-term care. All funds left over and any other assets in your estate are passed on to your children.

Who Owns Your House After You Die?

When you take out a lifetime mortgage, you remain the owner of the property. When you die, the amount of the loan plus interest gets paid back to the lender to repay the money they lent you previously.

Property Value Increases

You and your children will benefit from increases in property value, even after you’ve taken out an equity release loan. Many equity release clients are in their 50s and 60s, meaning they have a substantial amount of years left to enjoy life. These extra years will certainly allow time for the property value to increase, leading to more funds available to leave as an inheritance to your children.

Equity Release and Inheritance Tax

One of the most important aspects of equity release is how it affects your Inheritance Tax liability. When you release equity in your home, not only does that decrease the value of your estate but it can also reduce the amount of inheritance tax owed by your estate after your passing.

Trust Elizabeth Middleton Solicitors to Protect Your Assets and Your Future

Equity release can have an impact on the inheritance passed to your children when you die. Knowing your options and getting your questions answered by an Equity Release Mortgage Broker before proceeding with an equity release plan is vital. And having an experienced, qualified solicitor to guide you through the process after the Equity Release Mortgage Broker has helped you choose the right product for you will ensure that the Conveyancing process runs smoothly.

At Elizabeth Middleton Solicitors, we want to help you plan for the future and protect your assets. We know that everyone’s circumstances are different, so our team will work to draft your Lasting powers of Attorney, Wills, and tax and estate planning to suit your specific needs.

Contact us today to schedule a meeting.

If you are a homeowner who is 55 or older you may have considered equity release to access extra cash. You may also have wondered how long it would take to get cash in your hands if you decided to go that route. Although timeframes vary on a case to case basis, the process of equity release typically takes eight weeks from start to finish.

While it’s important to know how soon you will receive funds, it’s also essential to understand the process. This article will explain the process you will encounter when choosing equity release.

Advice From an Equity Release Specialist

The first thing you need to do before getting an equity release is you need to speak to an Equity Release Specialist. During these meetings, you will learn what services they offer, and they will ask about your circumstances and your requirements. After learning more about you and your situation, they will be able to recommend the course of action best suited for you.

Legal Advice From Your Solicitor

We will contact you when we receive the documentation from your Lender’s Solicitors. 

We will arrange a meeting to provide you with legal advice about your equity release. You are required to obtain independent legal advice which we are happy to provide. We will send the completed mortgage documents to your Lender’s solicitor. They will give us a completion date when they have all the documentation.

Requisitions

Your lender’s solicitor may have questions or require more documentation after reviewing your mortgage documents. If there are no issues with your documentation, there may not be any requisitions, and you may immediately receive a completion date. However, if their solicitor raises requisitions, it is hard to say how long it will take to issue a completion date.

A reasonable estimate is to allow approximately one to two weeks to receive a completion date.

Completion

When we receive your funds from your Lender’s Solicitors, we will send you a Completion Statement before we send you your monies. We will send the monies using a CHAPS transfer which means that you will you could receive your money the same day. 

Get Trusted Legal Advice During the Equity Release Process From the Experts

While some of these steps will take longer than others, they are all mandatory steps. If there is a specific date that you need funds, communicate this with your equity release advisor immediately.

The mission of the expert legal team at Elizabeth Middleton Solicitors is to deliver the highest quality legal services to clients in a timely manner and at an affordable price. Our team has over a decade of experience providing clients with assistance with wills, probate, lasting powers of attorney, and equity release.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation.

The decision to buy or sell a home is perhaps the single biggest financial decision the average person will make in their lives, and the same can easily hold true when it comes to equity release. This process of selling (“releasing”) some or all of the equity of your home can be hugely beneficial to people over 55 years old, but can also come with noticeable consequences if you are unaware of the process. 

Advantages of Equity Release

General Benefits

The primary advantage offered by equity release is the opportunity to give lifetime gifts to your loved ones which reduces your estate for inheritance tax purposes.  This also means that if you ever go into care, your children or loved ones would have had an opportunity to benefit from your estate.

Your Mortgage Broker will advise you about the advantages and disadvantages of any of the equity release products before you start the process.

The Key Step? Being Informed

Equity release can be a complicated subject and there is a wide range of problems that can arise if you commit to such a scheme without being fully informed. We will be happy to help you with the process after you and your Mortgage Broker have chosen the right equity release product for you.

At Elizabeth Middleton Solicitors, we specialise in the legal matters most relevant to seniors – equity release, wills, probate, and lasting power of attorney. With a friendly, approachable team and more than 10 years of experience in the field, we’re here to protect your interests and answer your questions about the legal matters relevant to your life. 

Contact us today for a consultation!

You may have heard or seen advertisements for equity release. You could be considering the option, however there are implications you may not have thought of, therefore it is important to understand what it means for you, your future, and your beneficiaries. 

What Is Equity Release?

Equity release is an option if you are over 55 and if you have equity tied up in your home. The benefit of equity release is that you can take money from the equity in your home, which can be released as a lump sum or in smaller installments to pay for things you need now. Payments can also be in a combination of both lump sum and installments. 

Taking advantage of the equity release program may seem like a no-brainer, but it is not as simple as it may seem, which is why it is important to consult a solicitor so you are able to make informed decisions about your financial future. 

What You May Not Know About Equity Release

Equity release is an excellent way for homeowners to access funds to help with their finances during retirement.  It also helps reduce your estate for inheritance tax purposes if your estate is over the inheritance tax threshold.  It can also help you pass some of your estate to your loved ones before you require it for care fees. Please contact an Equity Release Broker for specific advice about the correct product to suit you.

How can we help?

After you have spoken to an Equity Release Mortgage Broker or Provider, they will ask you to appoint a solicitor to advise you about the Mortgage Deed that you will be required to sign.  They also need to ensure that you have been advised that your beneficiaries will get less from your estate.   The Mortgage Deed is a legally binding agreement so the Provider will ensure that you have obtained independent legal advice.  Elizabeth Middleton Solicitors is experienced in this area of law and will help you navigate it to ensure that you get your monies as quickly as possible.

What Is The Equity Release Council?

The Equity Release Council is an organization whose mission is to promote safe equity release plans.  It also regulates the Solicitors that work on your behalf to ensure that you receive a quality service from your Equity Release Brokers, Solicitors, and Providers.

What Happens With Long-Term Care Decisions?

When moving to long-term care, the Equity Release mortgage will come to an end. At that time, your home is sold, and the Equity Release Provider will have their mortgage paid from the proceeds of the sale of your property. If you have a spouse and only one of you moves to long-term care, the spouse may remain in the home until they pass away or move to long-term care. 

This is where Elizabeth Middleton Solicitors can help. Our friendly team prides itself on answering all the questions you might have about equity release and helping you make the right decision for your future. We believe that everyone should be treated with respect, kindness, and receive personal service that meets their needs. 

Contact us today and see if equity release is right for you.