Helping them while you're here to see it.
Most people want to help their family. Fewer know how much they can give without leaving themselves short.
It's a conversation a lot of families never quite have.
Money and family is an awkward mix. Talking about what you'll leave can feel like talking about your own death. Talking about giving some away now raises questions about fairness, about whether you'll need it later, about what the children will think.
So it gets put off, often for years.
It's normal to want to look after yourselves first. You can't give away money you might need. The first job is to work out what's genuinely spare. After that, the decisions get much easier.
Seeing it make a difference.
Helping with a first flat. Paying towards a wedding. Taking the pressure off a son or daughter in their busiest, most stretched years.
And being there to see what it means to them, rather than it arriving in a will twenty years from now.
How we work through it.
We talk.
A short call first, then an hour together, with no charge for either. Ideally both of you, since these decisions usually belong to two people.
I model it.
Your own needs come first: income, a buffer for care, a margin for the unexpected. Then I show what's genuinely spare, and what giving now or later would mean for you and for them.
I work alongside your solicitor.
Wills, lasting powers of attorney and trust paperwork are a solicitor's job. I'll work with yours, or introduce you to one I trust.
I keep an eye on it.
The rules change, and 2027 is a big one. We review the plan every year, so it keeps up with the rules and with your family.
The questions we'll answer together.
Recognise a few of those?
- How much can we afford to give, without leaving ourselves short?
- Should we help now, or leave it in the will?
- How do we keep things fair between the children?
- What if one of us needs care later?
- How would inheritance tax affect what we leave?
- How do we even start talking to the children about it?
Worth twenty minutes?
If it would help to talk it through, I'm happy to. A short call, no charge, no pressure. If you go further, you'll see exactly what it costs in writing before you agree to anything.