Retirement planning

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Reminders

While you’re busying yourself saving for retirement, it’s sometimes easy to forget about the other things you need to think about when you’re getting your affairs in order. Below are some quick reminders to think about:

Your Will

A formal Will is often one of the simplest ways of ensuring that your estate will be dealt with according to your wishes. It’s important that you keep it up to date and inform your chosen executors of its existence. A Will is especially useful if you have a large family, a large estate or a series of bequests.

Grant of Probate

Your loved ones may need to apply for a Grant of Probate if you have a Will, or letters of administration, if a Will doesn’t exist in order to legally deal with your estate. There are occasions when Probate may not be required for example; if you’ve an asset, like a bank account, valued at less than £5,000 or if you only own joint assets, Probate shouldn’t be required.

Bank accounts

Whether you have a joint account or an account in just your name, the bank will need to be informed of your death. If you have a joint account this will usually be transferred over into the surviving holder’s name. Any account just in your name will normally be frozen so that no more money can be removed from it.

Paying the bills

The utility and insurance companies also need to be informed so that they can continue to supply to your home and bill your survivors.

Life insurance

You’ve spent a long time paying towards these policies for this exact reason so make sure someone knows about them.

Expression of wish form

In the event of your death, the Trustee is responsible for deciding to whom any discretionary death benefits should be paid. You can help the Trustee with this decision by completing an expression of wish form. This is the most effective way to ensure your loved ones receive your benefits when you die.

Your personal circumstances may change over time and who you would like to receive your pension when you die may also change. Therefore, it’s important that you keep your expression of wish form up to date at all times. The form also allows you to add any additional information you feel would be relevant for the Trustee to know when determining your beneficiaries.

Out of date forms, that don’t match up with the member’s wishes when they die, can cause lengthy investigations by the Trustee into who should receive their death benefits. This can in turn cause delays in paying these benefits.

To download a form, visit the Resources page.

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