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FCA Regulated
Chartered Status
Whole of Market
5-Star Rated
Transparent Fees
First Equitable estate planning at a glance
Location: 3rd Floor, 14 Castle Street, Liverpool L2 0NE, serving Liverpool, Merseyside, the Wirral and the North West
What we help with: wills, lasting powers of attorney, trusts, inheritance tax planning, succession, and probate and estate administration
Specialisms: joining the whole estate journey together, including the administration afterwards, which most advice firms do not offer
Credentials: Chartered status, FCA regulated (FRN 782577), independent and whole-of-market
Getting started: free initial consultation at our cost, with no obligation and no minimum contract
What estate planning actually covers
Most people think estate planning means writing a will. A will is essential, but on its own it only decides who gets what. A complete plan answers four questions:
- Who inherits, and when? Your will, and any trusts, decide this. Timing matters as much as the split, particularly where beneficiaries are young or vulnerable.
- Who acts if you cannot? A lasting power of attorney lets someone you trust manage your finances or health decisions if you lose capacity.
- Without one, your family may have to apply to the Court of Protection, which is slow and costly.
- What will it cost in tax? Inheritance tax at 40% above your allowances, and how much of that can be reduced or funded in advance.
- Who sorts it all out afterwards? Somebody has to value the estate, deal with HMRC, obtain probate and distribute what remains.
Plans usually fail because one of these is missing rather than because any of them was done badly.
Wills and powers of attorney
A valid, current will is the foundation. Without one, intestacy rules decide who inherits, and they rarely match what people would have chosen. Unmarried partners, for example, inherit nothing under intestacy regardless of how long you were together.
A lasting power of attorney is the piece people most often postpone, because it deals with something harder to think about than death. There are two types, one for property and financial affairs and one for health and welfare, and they must be put in place while you still have capacity. Once capacity is lost it is too late, and the alternative is far more difficult for your family.
Our wealth management services
Pension & Retirement Planning
The Whether retirement is decades away or just around the corner, we help you build a strategy to get there. Pensions advice, consolidation, drawdown and annuity purchase, all explained in plain English by a dedicated adviser.
Wealth Management
Growing your wealth is one thing, keeping hold of it is another. Independent, whole of market advice on savings and investments, wealth preservation, and trusts and inheritance tax planning, built around what you actually want your money to do.
Protection Planning
Life rarely gives notice. Life insurance, critical illness cover, income protection and private medical insurance, arranged so your family and your income are covered if the worst happens, without paying for cover you don't need.
Financial Planning for Business Owners
Running a business leaves little time for your own finances. We bridge the gap between the two, advising on company pension schemes, corporate savings and investments, and protection, working alongside your accountant and legal advisers.
Wills & Power of Attorney
Making your wishes clear now saves your family difficulty later. We help you put a valid will in place and set up a lasting power of attorney, so the right people can act if you no longer can.
Probate & Estate Administration
Administering an estate is daunting at the worst possible time. We guide executors through the grant of probate, settle debts and taxes, and distribute the estate properly, with a fixed quote agreed before any work begins.
Trusts and inheritance tax
Where your estate is likely to face a tax bill, we advise on the tools that reduce it: making full use of allowances and the spouse exemption, gifting including the often overlooked exemption for regular gifts out of surplus income, trusts, business relief and charitable giving.
Trusts also solve non-tax problems. They let you keep some control over when and how beneficiaries receive money, which matters if a beneficiary is young, vulnerable, or going through a divorce.
For the detail on reducing and funding a tax bill specifically, see our inheritance tax planning advice in Liverpool.
The part most advisers leave out: probate and estate administration
This is where we differ from most financial planning firms. Most stop at the planning stage. We also offer probate and estate administration, which means we can guide your executors through obtaining the grant of probate, settling debts and taxes, and distributing the estate properly.
It matters because that is the point at which families struggle most. Administering an estate takes months, involves HMRC deadlines, and lands on people who are grieving and have never done it before. Knowing that the same firm which built the plan will help carry it out is worth a great deal, and it also means the plan is written by people who understand what actually happens when it is used.
What our advice costs
Your first consultation is free, at our cost, with no obligation. If you go ahead, we agree all charges with you clearly in writing before any work begins. For financial planning we typically charge a fixed initial fee for your report, then a tiered percentage of any portfolio implemented, with the rate falling as the value rises. Ongoing service is optional, starts from as little as 0.3% a year, and carries no minimum contract. Probate and estate administration is quoted separately on a fixed basis before work begins. Full detail is on our charges page.
What our clients say
How to get started
Book a call or get in touch and we will arrange your free consultation at our Castle Street office, at your home, or by video call. We will map what you own, what you want to happen, and where the gaps are, then set out the options in plain English. See our process page.
Regulated advice you can check
