Pension separation on divorce.

This is always a difficult area to advise on and Mark has quite a lot of experience in advising clients on this subject.

When two people separate, as you will be aware, the transfer value i.e. net of any outstanding charges can form part of the financial settlement. There are two main methods used in a separation agreement, pension earmarking whereby one spouse is allotted a "share" of their ex spouses pension at retirement. This is a very uncommon route as there can be circumstances when the agreement is overturned on the re-marriage of either spouse.

The more common method is for a transfer of a pre-agreed proportion of the fund in to a new policy in the other spouses name. This is where we come in as it is important that the new policy is a). the right one for the clients and b). the client is properly risk profiled in order for a correctly risk profiled asset allocation to be applied to the new pension plan.

In previous cases he has dealt with all issues regarding the pension arrangements of a settlement including contacting the existing scheme trustees to obtain Cash Equivalent Transfer Values etc.

Investment Planning

Another area I have worked in conjunction with Solicitors on previous occasions is to provide investment advice for clients who have recently come in to a large cash sum either by way of an Inheritance or Compensation payment.

There are many tax issues to take in to consideration for a client such as this, not least of which is the subject of Inheritance Tax Planning which can go hand in hand with a suitable trust arrangement put in place by David.

Again, care must be taken in establishing the right products for a given client to ensure that their attitude towards risk is accurately reflected in any investment portfolio put in place for them.

Business Assurance

The final area that he has worked with Solicitors is the subject of Business Assurance, more commonly known as Share Purchase Assurance.

As you may be aware, share holding partners in a business often put in to place an arrangement whereby if any of the partners was to either die or more importantly be diagnosed as suffering from a Critical illness, there is a means by which the surviving partners have sufficient capital available to purchase the deceased / ill partners shares and an agreement in place to do so.

Such an arrangement usually involves the use of life and critical illness assurance policies written subject to a legal cross option agreement which is where the Solicitor gets involved in drawing up the agreement.

If you are approached by any corporate clients seeking advice regarding share purchase agreements, it is worth establishing whether or not they have an IFA advising them on the best means for providing the capital.

The above is a brief summary of the key "common ground" that I have experience of when working with the legal profession.

Other areas of Financial Planning where advice is given include:

• Life Assurance
• Critical Illness Assurance
• Income Protection Planning
• Tax Efficient Savings and Investments
• Existing Financial Planning reviews
• Corporate employee benefits including:
  • Group Pension Schemes
  • Group Death in Service Life Cover
  • Group Medical Insurance
  • Group Income Protection

Proper financial advice is an ongoing process and I keep in regular contact with all of my existing clients, regularly reviewing the arrangements put in place since the advice given now may not match an individuals changing circumstances in the future and it is therefore important to continually monitor and advice acted on previously.