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Probate Law Executor for Mr. Harbottle’s estate
Probate Law : Executor for Mr. Harbottle’s estate
Question 1
According to British law, an estate is defined as ‘the total value of everything owned at the time of death, less any outstanding liabilities such as mortgages, overdrafts, loans and household bills’.4 The law scenario for this paper involves a Probate issue of the validity of a will and its execution. The deceased is Mr. Harbottle who has left a self-prepared will requesting execution of it from an acquaintance. For some reason, when Mr. Harbottle died, he appointed Mr. Browne as his executor instead of his daughter Jane. According to British law:” 4According to British law: “The administrator of an estate is the person or people up to a maximum of four, appointed under wills and probate law, whose authority is vested following application to the Probate Registry that deal with affairs if one should die without making a will. The equivalent position in cases where there is a will is that of ‘executor’ who is specifically appointed by the deceased in the will.” 4Mr. Harbottle left clear instructions for the distribution of his estate in the form of a handwritten will; including who he wanted to manage his estate. The fact that the document is torn does not negate the validity of it. As long as there is no other instance of a will to dispute the one Mr. Browne is in possession of, the date is not an issue either. Neither instance, Mr. Browne’s name missing the letter ‘e’ and the will failing to represent Mr. Browne’s current address, negate the validity of his appointment as executor.
To perform the task of executor for Mr. Harbottle’s estate, Mr. Browne would need to apply for a Grant of Representation or Grant of Probate to legally access and distribute Mr. Harbottle’s assets, according to the will. He must follow these steps to complete the application:
Complete a probate application form.
Complete an Inheritance Tax form.
Send off application.
Swear to an oath.
Even if Mr. Harbottle does not owe any taxes, Mr. Browne must complete the appropriate Inheritance Tax form1. According to the law, any taxes must be paid before certification: “If there is tax to pay, you normally have to pay at least some of it before a grant of representation is issued to you.”1There are different Inheritance Tax forms for different cases. Mr. Browne must choose the appropriate form. According to the law:
“Inheritance Tax is due at 40% on anything above the threshold of £325,000. If 10% of the estate is donated to charity this is reduced to 36%.” 3
At this point, the Probate administration may validate Mr. Browne’s appointment as executor, as long as no one such as his daughter Jane objects to the appointment. Mr. Browne’s address is not current on the will. However, if Mr. Browne has ever lived at the address listed in Mr. Harbottle’s will, the Probate will likely grant him the proper certification2. Also, it does not appear that anyone is in dispute over Mr. Harbottle’s election of Mr. Browne.
The courts encourage soliciting help in cases where there is property involved. Mr. Browne may seek counsel from Josie Morrison regarding Mr. Harbottle’s will; however, he is responsible for the actions taken on behalf of Mr. Harbottle’s estate. The cost of Ms. Morrison’s assistance will be paid from Mr. Harbottle’s estate, rather than by Mr. Browne. According to British Law: “For complex wills, it is not unusual for lay executors to appoint a solicitor to deal with matters on their behalf. The solicitor’s fees will usually be paid out of the net estate before distribution of the assets. They are not paid personally by the executors although they are the personal liability of the executors who are entitled to pay them from the assets of the estate.”4When he applies at Probate, he can also ask for guidance from them. Once he obtains the Grant, he must send copies of it to all of Mr. Harbottle’s creditors and debtors. This is the first step to paying any of the deceased’s debt and collecting any assets due
Mr. Browne’s primary obligations are only to pay any taxes owed and debts by Mr. Harbottle, collect from valid creditors, and locate Mr. Harbottle’s daughter to distribute his estate.“The executor or administrator has a legal responsibility to pay off debts or outstanding payments before distributing the estate. The executor or administrator can use money from the estate to pay any solicitor’s fees as part of the probate process.” 1
According to British law a beneficiary is ‘any person who stands to gain as a result of a bequest or who receives something from an estate. Most beneficiaries are specifically named however they can apply to people who are not specifically named and who can still benefit from the will.4Jane Harbottle is a sole beneficiary of her father’s estate, minus Mr. Browne’s £50,000 legacy. She is entitled to whatever remains after Mr. Harbottle’s debts are paid and any amounts owed to him are collected.
Mr. Harbottle left Mr. Brown a legacy of £50,000, which Mr. Browne does not want to claim, but rather to pass it to his gardener’s daughter, Mary Stapleton,to help with her education. Ultimately, he wants to avoid being placed in a higher tax bracket by accepting the gift. Mr. Harbottle left the legacy to Mr. Browne, not Mr. Browne’s gardener’s daughter Mary Stapleton. In order to pass the £50,000 to her, Mr, Browne would first have to receive the legacy to himself and then donate it to the gardener’s daughter, Mary Stapleton. In this fashion, coming into possession of the £50,000 should not burden his tax obligations if he does not profit from the transfer and he donates it within the same year.
The fact that Mr. Browne is an actuary is not important. Compensation for acting as executor of Mr. Harbottle’s estate is available. However, Mr. Harbottle has left him a legacy of £50,000 which he does not want to account for. So if he refuses the legacy, he is forfeiting his right to compensation. It is possible that Mr. Harbottle considered the legacy as payment to Mr. Browne for his time and effort.
Since Mr. Harbottle has a survivor, Jane Harbottle, she is entitled his estate. If Mr. Browne does not want to accept the £50,000, it should go to Mr. Harbottle’s next of kin, Jane Harbottle, not the gardener’s daughter. If Mr. Browne accepts the legacy, it is his right to give it to anyone he wants to once it is in his possession. But if he refuses the legacy, it should go to Jane Harbottle because Mary Stapleton is of no relation to Mr. Harbottle and does not deserve £50,000 of Jane’s father’s money. If Mr. Browne is extremely wealthy, let him pay for Mary’s education from his own personal funds.
Last, Mr. Browne must prepare the estate accounts and sign them along with Jane Harbottle. At this point, he should ask for help to accomplish it.
Destroying his present will or adding Harriet Reid to his will as executrix is Mr. Browne’s choice, as is forfeiting his £50000 legacy. This has nothing to do with Mr. Harbottle’s estate.
References
Gov.UK. “Applying for a Grant” Crown Copyright. Gov.UK. 2013. Retrieved fromhttps://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/applying-for-a-grant-of-representationGov.UK. “Valuing the estate of someone who’s died”” Crown Copyright. Gov.UK. 2013. Retrieved fromhttps://www.gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died
Gov.UK. “Wills, Probate, and Inheritance: Overview”. Crown Copyright. Gov.UK. 2013. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/if-the-person-left-a-will“The Probate Guide to the UK: The Role of Solicitors, Registries, the Courts, & You” Probate 1. 2013. Retrieved from http://www.probate1.com/glossary.html
The Financial Crisis of 2014
The Financial Crisis of 2014
Introduction
Financial crisis is caused by a sudden imbalance in financial markets. This effect weakens the entire financial markets and brings the market prices of financial assets down. This leads to investors disposing these assets at a lower price; hence, losses will be incurred. The difference between this loss and constant market price is what brings about the financial crisis. Financial crisis is a global thing. It has effect on all economies across the globe. Financial crisis is a slow and steady effect that grips on the economy gradually until it takes root.
Weakening of the Dollar
Dollar is one of the widely used currencies across the globe. The dollar is used for all types of trades and transactions across the economy. Financial crisis of 2014 causes the prices of financial assets to drop down. This dropping of prices is associated to loss of currency. The loss of the currency being used to trade the financial assets leads to weakening of the currency. In most cases, the dollar is normally and widely used to trade financial assets. Therefore, the dollar will be weakened hence affecting its trading power. This will range from one economy to the other, for example, other will experience losses when trading their goods with the dollar. For instance, at one end, a person may decide to trade or rather to export goods from his country to another; this person will trade more goods for more money. This normally applies to the farmers who practice agriculture. On the other hand, a person who practices and trades manufacturing products, for example, cars, will benefit extensively from this effect on the dollar.
Trade Imbalances
The financial crisis of 2014 has affected the trading powers of economies negatively. This negative effect on the trading power is so extensive that most of the economies are almost running bankrupt. China is one of the world leading economies which have been affected by the financial crisis. China relies on 75% of its trading power to balance off the national budget. This is the main source of livelihood to the revenue kitty of this economy. This has had a great negative effect on the welfare of this economy. Trade imbalances; in terms of the selling power and purchasing power from one economy to the other, has been affected totally due to the financial crisis that is taking root. The purchasing power of the stable economy has been affected by the effect of low trading volumes in exchange of high prices. This is the most affected sector that is causing trade imbalances in the global perspective.
Increased Debt
Most independent economies have witnessed instances of increased debts. Financial crisis causes an economy to run out of revenue. Given the fact that, an economy can’t operate without influx of revenue, then the central government borrows from the world bank in order to offset this menace. Borrowing leads to acceleration of debt into the economy. An economy that is subjected to plenty of debt can’t operate efficiently. This is due to the bare fact that, it has to offset the outstanding debt first before going forth for other investments. Increased debt has led very many economies to low economic development and growth. This is attributed to the fact this type of an economy is operating on a loss and hence offsetting this imbalance will take a great deal of time before it is done.
Increased Interest Rates
Financial crisis of the 2014 has caused the market interest rates to rise up. This is due to the mere fact that; due to the increased borrowing, the economy regulators tend to hike the interest rate within the economy in order to reduce borrowing. Increased in market interest rates has had negative effects on the prices of essential goods. The prices of essential goods have been increased to ensure that there is trade-off balance to offset the pending debt that was borrowed. Most of the consumers in the economy drop off due to the heavy market prices that are way beyond their expectations. Due to the increase in market prices of goods, the consumers’ purchasing power is lowered. The purchasing power of the consumers is the ability by the consumers to buy a given number or size of goods at a given period of time. An instance where the purchasing power is irregular then possible chances of inflation might be triggered. This financial crisis has been detrimental to the welfare of the economy and that of the consumers. Instances where prices of goods goes up stimulates hoarding of goods from the black market or from other economies. These hoarded goods are then sold at a lower price compared to the current market price. This has negative effect on the sovereignty of the economy.
Loss of Confidence on Future Economic Pattern
Financial crisis of 2014 was untimely. It came at a time when it was least expected. This is due to the stable conditions that favored the economy. This has led to loss of confidence on any future economic pattern by the consumers. This financial crisis didn’t show any sign of taking effect on the economy, it happened at a period of less than three days. This crisis took place when all the economic parameters were constant. Consumers as well as the producers are beginning to develop a negative attitude towards the economic patterns. They seem to be confusing both the producers and consumers. Constant signs of confidence waiver is manifesting as the situation is slowly getting back to normal.
Conclusion
Financial crisis is an effect that affects economic stability. This crisis is proofing to be an annual event due to its constant repetition. Economists ought to devolve some of the best strategic approaches that should be used to avert these instances in the future. Most of this financial crisis can be attributed to the failure by governments to stabilize their economies. When this happens, the effect is spread gradually from one economic circle to the next one until it affects regional economy. World banks should also come up with ways that can be used to mitigate the borrowing menace. It should develop policies that enhance an economy to borrow money from it, only when in need. Every economy should have a residual reserve that can be used to address instances of financial crisis in the near future. This will determine the level of preparedness of a given economy. Hence, this will work to boost economic development and curb instances of negative effects that is brought along with financial crisis.
Bibliography;
Eddy, N 2013, ‘IT Spending Expected to Rebound in 2014: IDC’, Eweek, p. 14
LI, G 2014, ‘Chinese-funded Banks Enter the City of London — A Win-win Choice’, China Today, 63, 2, pp. 34-37,
Schuman, M 2013, ‘Will 2014 Finally, Really, Truly Bring an End to the Financial Crisis?’, Time.Com, p. 1
Zweig, J, Light, J, & Pleven, L 2014, ‘Lessons From the Bull Market’, Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition, 8 March
‘The worldwide wobble. (Cover story)’, 2014, Economist, 8 February,
Probability-calculation-1
Probability Analysis
Name
Institution Affiliation
Course
Tutor
Date
Probability Analysis
Decision tree model.
This is more useful in calculating probabilities in a combined form. It assists to map out probabilities of several graphs with no use of sophisticated probability equations. The tree makes one to easily outline when to multiply and add and also enables you see a graph of the problem you have.
Facilitydemand optionsprobability
165036516510000303022087630000.4Low demand0.2
17125951130300045720025273000Small facility
3030220107315000.50.6High demand0.3
4572008699500
165036518097500308419573660000.50.4Low demand0.2
171259511430000171259511430000Large facility
303022055245000.6High demand0.5
Probability calculations, the tree consists of two main parts the end point and branches. We multiply alongside the branches as well as add probabilities down the lines and this should sum up to 1.
Small facility – low demand- 0.5* 0.4 = 0.2
High demand- 0.5*0.6 =0.3
Large facility- low demand – 0.5* 0.4 =0.2
High demand – 0.5 * 0.6 = 0.3
Determination of expected value, this we forecast to get in the long run while calculating the probabilities. We multiply the probability with the give expected payoffs.
Small facility – low demand = 0.2*$40 = $8
High demand =0.3* $55 =$16.5
Large facility – low demand= 0.2* $50 =$ 10
High demand =0.3*$70 =$ 21
The GM had to decide on the new facility must be build large basing on the probability analysis carried out. In considering the expected monetary value calculated we can opt for building a large facility since the outcome in both low and high demand is $10 and $21 respectively while the small facility has low expected value of $8 and $ 16.5 in both demand options. Thus, the General Manager chooses to build a large facility because of its promising outcomes as compared to having a small facility. In regards to the calculation of the probability the GM was placed in a position to know which size to take in relation to his/her expected value. This is why the GM was able to opt for large size basing on the calculated expected monetary value. The expected value can be that you can attain using the probability of occurrences given.