Business Network International
C.J.H.Consultancy Services Ltd, are pleased to be associated with Business Network International:
BNI is a business and professional networking referral organisation whose primary purpose is to exchange qualified business referrals. It is the most successful organisation of its type in the world today, with over 104,000 members in over 5,010 chapters.
Last year, members of BNI passed more than 5.5 million referrals, which generated more than £1.25 billion worth of business for its members.
What makes BNI unique is that it allows only one person per profession to join a chapter. Thus, once you’ve joined, there is no conflict in passing referrals, and none of your competitors can participate!
We would like to invite you to attend one of our morning meetings so you can learn more about the organisation, and find out if you would be interested in generating a steady source of referral business for yourself. So if you are in business or would just like the contacts that we can give through this organisation then call us for further details.
So – If you ever need a Web Designer ,Computer Expert, a Plumber, Builder, Painter & Decorator, Accountant, or Financial Adviser, to name but a few, then call us and we can pass on not only the local chapter members details, but also put you in contact with BNI members in your own area if applicable.
Guardian Storage Facility
Guardian Storage now provides Secure Document Storage for the Clients of CJH Consultancy Services Limited, specialist Estate Planning firms and related affinity groups.
Keep all your important documents safe under one roof
But not your own! With widespread flooding, over 60,000 house fires and more than a million homes burgled each year, your important documents are very much at risk if kept at home. Our insured Document Storage facility with Guardian will keep all your important paperwork secure and readily available. Once your documents are completed and verified, we will also write to your Executors, Attorneys and family members, as appropriate, to confirm the location of your documents and how they may be retrieved.
This Service has been especially designed to protect all those important or difficult to replace documents which you do not need to access on a regular basis, such as House Deeds, Wills, Powers of Attorney, Life Insurance Policies, Pension Plan Documents, Business Agreements, Marriage & Birth certificates etc.
Please note that this facility is not suitable for frequently needed items such as
Passports, Driving Licences, General Insurance Policies, etc.
For a fixed annual charge of £35 – £40 (Only £15 for Family members) you can now store as many documents as you like. Upon receipt of your Application, Guardian Storage will log your details and those of your documents on their bespoke Document Management System and issue you with a Certificate of Deposit and Welcome Pack in confirmation.
Prior to your death, Guardian will not release your documents to anyone except yourself without your express consent. The Terms and Conditions give further details of this valuable security. If we are storing New documents, we send you copies and also write to your officers confirming their appointment and your storage facilities.
The service works well in conjunction with our Digital Inheritance Vault and all your documents once scanned are placed into that vault so you can access them whenever you require. Please refer to the separate guide for details as discounts are given if both storage facilities are utilised at the same time.
The document storage service is also available to clients who have not made Estate Planning arrangements with CJH.
Digital Storage Vault
Due to a movement to a more digital age of banking and management of your financial affairs, such as Ebay or Pay Pal, plus various shopping accounts or storing of online assets, it is recommended that details of these accounts are stored somewhere so that they can still be accessed in the event that you are unable to do so yourself.
Safe-4, in association with the Society of Will Writers , have created a facility for the secure online storage and management of all of the information that comprises your Inheritance planning, with provision for the rapid and efficient completion of the probate process when it is due.
This allows us to place information in a secure facility (e.g. draft documents) that you can access at any time, from anywhere with an internet connection. You can upload information to the vault yourself and edit and update files that are held there, such as a list of your assets and liabilities, confidential passwords, or access details to mobile phone or lap tops etc.
If you choose, you can allow other people such as your executors or attorneys and/or members of your family to have access to selected sections of your vault. You can also add personal items such as family photos or personal messages and again choose who accesses them.
We set this up for you free as part of the initial instruction taken so we can add your ‘Confirmation of Instructions’ and your ‘draft documents’ to your vault for security, thus preventing possible security breaches via email or post. You are able to log on securely to amend and edit this information and agree any changes, as we are advised automatically when the document has been seen and agreed by you and is then ready for us to issue.
On the anniversary of your instructions you may continue with your vault for a small annual charge. Currently this charge is fixed but if you have already agreed to store your actual documents with us and wish to add on the digital facility the cost for the digital Vault is reduced.
Our Storage facility through Guardian Storage is still available for all your important documents and can include title deeds, birth certificates, and any other important paperwork. Copies of your signed documents will be downloaded into your digital vault upon receipt it so you can access them at any time. Please refer to our separate leaflet on the current storage facility of those documents that are currently in place.
Conveyancing
Now working in conjunction with a legal Conveyancing specialist based in Surrey, we can arrange your property sale or purchase knowing that all the legal implications are handled by experts. This is also relevant if your property has been placed into a Trust, and you wish to move house, maybe downsize or wish to raise capital under an Equity release scheme.
Life Policy Trust
Trusts and why we recommend them
Life Policy Trusts issued by Life Companies carry a disclaimer that the wording of the document is for guidance only and is not guaranteed to be effective in any specific situation and that clients therefore should take independent legal advice, but they seldom pay any attention to this or, if they do, they usually assume that their Financial Adviser is qualified to give such advice.
As Insurance companies are best to arrange the Life Policy Trusts it is always advisable to seek help from your financial adviser, as often your policy/policies can be placed into trust easily and without cost.
If you are unable to arrange a trust through your adviser, and if you have held this policy for many years and the company has since changed hands or name, it is not always possible to go direct, then we can arrange a life policy trust suitable for your needs. Contact our office first for further advice.
Funeral Plan
Having to think about your funeral arrangements can be an uncomfortable thing to do, but thoughtful pre-planning can secure not only your own peace of mind but also the comfort and reassurance that your family will be spared the extra burden at such an emotional and distressing time.
There is no such thing as a cheap funeral. The average funeral bill is well in excess of £4,000 and costs are rising all of the time. Pre paid funeral plans start from just £2,170 and the most popular plan being only £3,500 – making them value for money and allowing you to be specific about your future requirements.
Just under 1% of the population know what their loved ones want for their funeral. Not planning can lead to family conflict.
Families can be indecisive about whether they need to arrange a green burial, cremation or a grand burial service. If you don’t arrange this in advance then you are leaving it to your family to organise for you and not everybody may be in agreement or are even aware of your wishes.
Why Plan ahead?
You’ll understand how complicated arranging a funeral can be if you’ve ever had to organise one. There are some delicate matters to consider and difficult decisions to make. These are things that you might not want to leave for your family to deal with, so we can help you to decide now.
Funeral costs can often cause financial strain on a family. Choosing to cover these costs in advance is the practical solution. A pre-paid funeral plan means that payments made at today’s prices have the effect of freezing funeral director’s charges for years ahead. In short, it’s a money saving and inflation–beating way of funding a funeral, offering many advantages over conventional savings plans, especially for the elderly or infirm where the merits of taking out insurance to meet this cost is no longer viable.
A funeral Plan has many advantages. Your loved ones have the freedom to tailor their plan to suit their needs. It may be a straight forward plan that covers all the basics, an all inclusive premium package or one that is totally unique.
It also enables the individual to specify in advance the funeral they want. This includes the choice of music to be played and whether you prefer charity donations rather than floral tributes for example. ‘Green Funerals’ or minimalistic funerals are sometimes requested these days and we can cater for all choices.
Family and friends will still have the freedom to add specific services or personal tributes of their choice when the time comes.
Another advantage of a pre-paid funeral plan over a traditional insurance policy or savings account is that the chosen funeral director is guaranteed to be covered in full and all disbursements are covered, being guaranteed to increase in line with the Retail Price index (RPI). If you’re not sure that the traditional approach is right for you then you don’t need to worry. We can help you create your own tailor made day so your family and friends remember you as you want to be remembered.
As concerns about the environment loom larger in our daily lives, more and more people are choosing ecologically conscious funerals. These particular funeral services use natural, biodegradable coffins that have a minimal impact on the environment – whether cremated or buried. Many clients decide to take their green funeral a step further too and opt to leave a natural memorial, plant a tree or donate to conservation projects.
Our Funeral plans are designed to be nationwide no matter where you live. Plans can be purchased in full or the cost spread over several years if there is not the budget to pay one lump sum.
By arranging a funeral plan in advance the funeral director’s charges and other such costs are fixed at today’s prices. This means that your family will not face any extra or unexpected costs.
All payments made are deposited in the Golden Leaves Societies Trust. It is managed independently and securely. Golden Leaves is the only pre paid funeral plan approved and recommended by the Society of Will Writers and Estate Practitioners and they are also a founder member of the National Association for Pre-paid Funeral Plans and registered with the Funeral Authority (FPA).
There are currently four plans to chose from (Bronze – Silver – Gold – Platinum) and the Green Funeral have three. (Glade – Meadow – Woodland) There are also various methods of payment from one lump sum payment, payments over 1, 3 or 5 years, or by a fixed monthly cost with cover for life.
Further details are available from our office at Caterham and we can arrange a free consultation without charge or obligation. Call us now for peace of mind regarding these future charges.
Here at C.J.H. we will listen to your requirements and tailor a programme that totally reflects them. Talk to us and we can organise this all for you as we work with companies that have over 25 years experiencing planning funerals both here in the UK and overseas. We’ll show you how the costs will be covered so you and your relatives won’t need to worry giving you peace of mind.
RECENT BEREVEMENT
If you have suffered a recent bereavement and there is no existing funeral plan in place – don’t worry our experienced team are still on hand to advise you, and working with Golden leave and other local Funeral directors we can assist and help you at this time of need, from assisting with the funeral arrangements, organising the order of service and even planning and booking the wake. Please refer to our Probate section for further details on the overall packages available including de cluttering the home and even helping with minor repairs and maintenance needs.
Advance Directive or Living Wills
No one has a crystal ball to see when unfortunate accidents or illnesses will befall them.
If you should go into hospital for an operation, prior to being taken down to the theatre you are always advised of your rights if something should go wrong.
Often a ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ clause is agreed, as patients are concerned about the effects of being ‘kept alive’ might have on their family, especially if it meant the estate was frozen, because they were in a continued state of ‘Limbo’.
The most famous example of this is the 1988 Hillsborough Football Disaster which lead to the ‘Right to Die’ principle in 1993, established in British Law by the Tony Bland case. A brain damaged survivor of the Hillsborough disaster, Mr Bland had been in a vegative state since the tragedy at Sheffield Wednesdays grounds over 4 years earlier. In a landmark judgement it was ruled that doctors could allow a patient to die where it was held to be in the person’s best interests.
However in the 10 years that followed, fewer than 40 people had been granted that right.
In each case only the President of the High Court Family Division (at that time Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss) or a High Court Judge sanctioned by her – can give that permission.
Some years ago questions were raised about the European Human Rights Legislation which gives everybody the ‘Right to Life’. But back in October 2000, Dame Butler-Sloss presiding over the case of two woman granted the ‘Right to Die’, ruled that the legislation did not affect the Bland Judgement.
The whole issue has proved controversial in recent years, with the High Court sometimes making a stand against euthanasia.
Diane Petty, a Motor-Neurone disease sufferer who lived in Luton, went to court to seek the ‘Right to die with Dignity’ but was repeatedly turned down.
She eventually died in May 2002, aged 43 years.
All this trauma can have a devastating effect on one’s family and loved ones, who are unable to ensure that their ‘nearest and dearest’ can pass with dignity, enabling the rest of the family to get on with their lives.
Whilst the person remains in this state of limbo – and often cases such as the above are left in a vegative state or coma for several years – the estate is often frozen and cannot be passed onto to dependant relatives i.e. spouse or children. If however, the person has made ‘A WRITTEN STATEMENT’ in advance, outlining their intentions after discussion with their family the situation is clearer for all.
THESE “ADVANCE INSTRUCTIONS” ARE KNOWN AS A ‘LIVING WILL’ OR ‘ADVANCE DIRECTIVE’
Once the document has been completed, (we have 4 to choose from) signed and witnessed, it can then direct that:
In the event that they suffer from one or more of the conditions mentioned in the schedule, and if they have become unable to participate effectively in decisions about their medical care, and
That one or two independent doctors are of the opinion that they are unlikely to recover from the illness or impairment without involving ‘severe distress or incapacity for rational existenc, then IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES , they ask that they not be subjected to any medical intervention or treatment aimed at prolonging or sustaining life.
It is also usual to request that a close relative or friend be contacted first to enable them, and other relatives to be with you before being allowed to ‘die in peace.
Once this document is authorised by you, we recommend it be passed to the family doctor who will often take a copy for their records, returning the original for safekeeping.
This form of ‘Living Will’ is becoming very popular and can be arranged for the total inclusive cost of up to £35.00 for a single directive, or £55.00 for a double directive. Discounts may be given if this is arranged at the same time as other Estate Planning instructions.