Episode 1 – Training!
An Estate Planner’s progress. Cerys Parry-Jones, joined us in February. She is writing about her role helping our North Wales clients. This first episode looks back at her early days and the study she had to do to get qualified! Like all our Estate Planners, Cerys studied for the Estate Planning Certificate with the College of Will Writing
Learning the basics
Every day is a learning day, and it began with qualification training. I actually enjoy learning so was looking forward to getting started. It was so interesting! And so complex but hugely thought provoking. As I learned more, friends, colleagues and family kept popping into my head. I realised how the laws of intestacy applied to them. And how those laws would impact their families and loved ones in the event of their deaths. I almost started panicking and calling people to tell them. Well, truth be told I did have conversations with a few and that was well before I had completed the course.
Moving on to trusts. What they are, how they work, how they are taxed, the different rules and different types! Confession time, I did nod off a few times because that topic, although interesting, can be just a tad dry. Sometimes I would read and then have to re-read and even write whole paragraphs down just to get the meaning of them. This effort I nobly undertook, so that my clients would never need to – unless of course they wanted to!
After that it was Inheritance tax, which is fascinating and complicated in equal measures. We all know about IHT and all have some opinion. “Its for rich people”, “there’s something about having to live for 7 years”, “its 40%”. Well yes, there is some truth in all of that, but it is way more complex than that. So I spent a few happy days doing beautifully difficult calculations trying to understand individual examples. Turns out that’s not my job. There are specialists for that, but it did keep me busy for a while.
What were the main learnings?
What did I learn during this period? A LOT! But the biggest, most important, and relevant thing, is that while we all know that we need to make a Will. But almost none of us really understand why, or what the consequences will be if we don’t. This was the first and most crucial thing that I learned. As an ex-educator, my mission now is to explain this clearly to all my clients. That means they can get advice, and set their affairs in order to protect the people they love.
Lasting Powers of Attorney! There’s something to get your teeth into. Everyone thinks they are for old people. True, but they are actually for all of us. Its not just about forgetfulness or dementia, its about accidents and illnesses and all manner of things that mean for a while, you can’t make decisions for yourself. So you want someone who is on your side, making those decisions and acting with your best at heart. And here’s the really important thing, LPAs are for while you are ALIVE, this stuff is really important to you, in fact, in some ways more important to you personally that your Will is.
Testing my knowledge
So that was the highlights of the course, next came the exams…. Actually, fairly weirdly I love sitting exams so I wasn’t apprehensive really. The wait for the results though? Agony! Made worse by my failure to notify the examiners that I had actually completed them, which delayed things by a week and moved me up to ‘prolonged agony’ status.
So dear reader, did I pass the first time? I did! And with a pretty respectable mark, so there we have it, a fully qualified Will writer. Training completed. Well, no. I did say every day is a learning day and, in this career, nothing could be more true. My training wasn’t over, it was just starting. I will tell you more next time in the next instalment of “An Estate Planner’s Progress“.
For now … if you are in North Wales or Cheshire, why not arrange a chat about how I can help protect you, your family and your business? We can do that in your home or workplace. Call our office on 01524 571032, or my mobile – 0791 867007, or click HERE to get started.