Private Client Advice

Wills & Enduring Powers of Attorney

Once you own a property and/or have children you should go about preparing your will. This will ensure that your possessions are administered according to your wishes. More importantly if you have children who are still under the age of eighteen or incapacitated, you can appoint guardians for them. In preparing a will, you choose “executors” or individuals who will administer the instructions of your will. You then decide who the beneficiaries of your possessions are to be and set them out in the will. As mentioned above, you nominate the guardians/trustees who will look after your children and their inheritance. By giving time and thought to the contents of your will now, will save confusion and disagreements after you have gone. Enduring Powers of Attorney are also very important and go hand in hand with wills. They allow you to nominate an attorney to look after your affairs in the event that you become unsound of mind. All business clients should also have their will in order to ensure that their business is successfully passed to their beneficaries.

Estate Planning

With individuals who have larger estates and businesses, it is always advisable, in conjunction with their accountant, to consider from both a legal and tax perspective the best way to pass on their property/possessions in the most tax efficient manner.

Debt Collection

Advising clients on when and how to recover debts owed. First question to be asked is whether or not it is worth going after the debtor – if they don’t have any money/property or if they are a limited company then it may not be worth it. Is there a written contract in place? Without one, it may be hard to prove that the amount is owing. There are various methods of recovering debt depending on the circumstances – examination and instalment orders, committal order, sheriff, registration & publication, garnishee orders, insolvencies, judgement mortgages & bankruptcy. You must weight up the cost of recovering the debt with the amount of the debt.

If you would like to contact us in relation to a Private Client matter, please ring Paddy in our Kells office or you can e-mail Thea directly in Kells at tcarolan@nlacy.ie or Johanna directly in Cashel at johanna@nlacy.ie