Never Mind the Housework - Spring Clean Your Finances

During lockdown, our thoughts may have turned to spring cleaning the house, tidying up the garage, or sorting out that problematic bits and pieces drawer in the kitchen. But, turning your attention to your finances could be a better use of your time.

Mike Downey, Director and Head of Lifetime Planning in the South East at JCP Solicitors, shares his practical tips to help get your finances in shape:

• Make a list of all of your assets, where they are held - for example in which bank or building society - and make a note of the account numbers and the current balances.
• If you use on-line facilities, make a secure list of passwords and account numbers, and store this in a very safe place under lock and key. Your Solicitor may be happy to store these with your Will or a trusted family member could hold these for you.  
• Make sure you include the password for accessing your computer or tablet. It’s no use having all your financial information stored on it if no-one can access it!
• Tell your family and your executors where to find all your financial information and your Will should they need to access these documents. If you have an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) then make sure that his or her details are made known; perhaps keep their business card with your important documents. Make sure your Solicitor’s details are stored too.
• Review your Will. When did you last do this? Is it up to date? Where is the original being stored?  Would your family know where to find it if they needed it? Many firms of Solicitors, including JCP, are still open for business even though only few are seeing clients face to face. A member of our Lifetime Planning team will always be available to take instructions from you over the telephone, by video conferencing or some other method which suits you.
• Consider making a Lasting Power of Attorney if you have not already got this in place.  Lasting Power of Attorney come in two parts. One part deals with financial matters, while the other part deals with health and care matters. The financial side can be used as soon as it has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, but the health side can only ever be used if you no longer have the mental capacity to make decisions for yourself. By granting Power of Attorney, you give another person or persons the ability to do things for you in the event that you cannot manage them by yourself. Again, at JCP Solicitors we are still able to take instructions from you for Powers of Attorney, so please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Lifetime Planning Team if this is of interest to you.

These have been testing times, and we should all take action to make life as easy as we can for our loved ones, in the event that something should happen to us. Sorting our financial affairs whilst we are able to will give some security and certainty.

For more information about effective Lifetime Planning, contact Mike at: mike.downey@jcpsolicitors.co.uk or call: 02920 855277

Mike is a Director at JCP Solicitors and Head of Lifetime Planning in South East Wales overseeing the Wills and Probate team in Caerphilly, Cardiff and Cowbridge offices. He deals with legal matters comprising Wills and Probate, Court of Protection and creating Lasting Powers of Attorney. He is also a Professional Deputy appointed by the Court of Protection and also acts as Attorney under Lasting Powers of Attorney for Clients.