Executors, guardians, beneficiaries and funeral wishes are all written down. What is missing is a signed will — and that gap is the largest single risk in this hub.
Everything below comes from The Byrne-Bernards.docx — a thorough set of notes,
clearly prepared for a solicitor. No executed will, no registered Lasting Power of Attorney,
and no completed trust deed has been found in the folder.
With a £746,778 mortgage, two children and £800,000 of life cover, dying intestate would put the family through the slowest possible version of this.
The solicitor prep pack is already on file: SIMPLER LAW — Preparing for Your Appointment · dated Sept 2023, so this has been pending a while.
The plan for the children: expenses met until 21, then inherit at 21 — or an allowance until 28 unless spent on a house. That choice is still marked undecided. Guardian plan: sell the London house, buy in Consett, children live with Pascale. Funeral: David — cremation, ashes spread on the heath.
Life insurance for Violaine · consolidate the pensions · one trust covering all life insurance and pensions · whether marriage would simplify matters (the £325,000 inheritance-tax transfer between spouses) · putting the property into trust to protect the survivor · adoption status for Francoise · and the note "Musical Dice loan to die with me".
That last one matters: the HSBC Bounce Back Loan runs to about 2030 and is a company liability. Whether it truly dies with the director is a question for the accountant, not an assumption.