Financial planner Bran Howard (pictured) has been helping some new Lifetime clients deal with their financial affairs.

Brian takes up the story: “Unfortunately, a close relative (and a Lifetime client) had passed away unexpectedly, but had left them with a sizeable sum of money and property.

“The initial Lifetime client’s Transact pension has been transferred over to the new clients. As the initial client had sadly passed away before he was 75, this enabled them to access his pension and complete some updates on their home, tax-free.

“Also, a previous adviser had arranged life cover on each of the new clients, individually, but neither of the policies had been written in trust. I explained the benefits of writing the plans in trust, and helped them to complete the trust forms.

“I had completed a fact find previously, and put their details onto our Truth financial planning software. This proved to be a good move for two reasons. Firstly, it confirmed that they would be fine in retirement, which they had no idea about, but also confirmed that the cost of the updates on their home wouldn’t have an adverse effect on their retirement. Secondly, it highlighted the need for income protection for the husband, which we are in discussion about.

“We also talked about how to obtain a State Pension forecast, which was easy as they are both on the Government Gateway and Self-Assessment, as they have inherited a property from the deceased relative that they rent out.

“They have agreed to regular annual reviews as well.”