How To Make A Will

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Frostie

One thing that often gets put off in life is creating a will to protect our families. 2/3 of people in the UK don’t have one; a risky choice for parents in particular, whom, once giving it some thought, would doubt like to ensure they protect their children and partners for peace of mind.

We got Mark Edwards, Vice President and General Manager of www.rocketlawyer.co.uk, to talk us through creating a will. Rocket Lawyer is a complete online legal service.

Mark says:

“Two thirds of the population don’t have a will. Lots of people don’t have wills because the law is daunting, by offering our services online, Rocket Lawyer gives people more control and choice, providing legal help that is simpler and easier to access at a lower cost.”

The new year is the perfect time for parents to bite the bullet and create one. Making a will may seem like a difficult and costly process but there are now great online legal services which simplify the process and make it really affordable, giving you peace of mind that everything will be taken care of according to your wishes, should the worst happen. A will covers appointing executors, guardians for your children, legacies and what will happen to your estate and possessions. Failing to make a will can have consequences which can cause serious problems for you and your family.

Benefits:

Protecting your partner

You might think that when you die, if you are married or in a civil partnership, your surviving spouse or civil partner will automatically receive all of your estate. However, this is not the case. If you die without leaving a will, there are legal rules, called the ‘intestacy rules’, which dictate which members of your family will receive your estate.

Rocket Lawyer recommends connecting with an On Call Lawyer when dealing with matters concerning personal assets valued at over £325,000 or combined assets with your spouse or civil partner valued at over £650,000.

If you are not married or in a civil partnership and you do not have a will on your death, your partner will not be entitled to anything. Even if you have joint bank accounts with your partner, or a home, any jointly held property will not necessarily pass onto your surviving partner.

So here is the overarching golden rule: it’s best to take control of your estate by making a will.

Nominate Executors

Executors are the people who will carry out your wishes after your death. Nominating your
executors means you can select reliable family or friends that you know will be best capable of fulfilling your requests. You can have up to four executors and they can also be beneficiaries of your will. Their roles are sensitive and personal but making a will ensures these responsibilities are managed by people you trust.

Executors make your funeral arrangements in accordance with your instructions. They work out what your estate is worth and decide whether or not there is any Inheritance Tax to pay on your estate. They apply to the Probate Registry for the Grant of Representation of your will. A Grant of

Probate is a document from the Family Division of the High Court which confirms that your will is valid and that your estate can be wound-up in accordance with the terms of your will.

Look after your children

Once you have decided who you would like to be your Executors, you then need to consider whether or not you need to appoint guardians in your will. Testamentary guardians are people who will look after your children if any of them are under 18 at the time of your death. They take over the role of parental responsibility for your children.

If children inherit money and/or property, it is usually held in a trust until they are 18. Specify how you would like trusts to be managed, your nominated executors can deal with this fund.

Remember to follow the signing rules

Once you’ve made your will, you need to follow some rules about how to formalise it. The execution of your will requires three people, yourself and two witnesses.

In the presence of your two witnesses and in the spaces provided, you should date the document and sign your name using your “usual” signature where indicated whilst your witnesses watch. Ask your two witnesses to add, in your presence, their “usual” signatures where indicated, asking them to print their names, addresses and occupations clearly for identification purposes.

Anyone over 18 can create a will for free with Rocket Lawyer’s three day free trial, during Free Wills Month and all year round.

CARE International’s Walk In Her Shoes Led by Helen & Laura Pankhurst

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Frostie

Helen Pankhurst, great-granddaughter of suffragette Emmeline, and daughter Laura invite UK women to join her in London on Saturday 8 March (International Women’s Day) to ‘walk in the shoes’ of women and girls across the developing world who must walk for many miles every day to collect water for their families. The walk launches CARE International’s nationwide campaign, Walk In Her Shoes.

The walk will begin at the Tate Britain and end at the Southbank Centre’s ‘Women of the World’ festival. It aims to raise awareness of CARE’s wider Walk In Her Shoes campaign, which encourages women and men here in the UK to walk 10,000 steps a day for one week from 24-30 March and raise money for CARE. The charity’s work includes building wells in poor communities, allowing girls and women more time to go to school or work.

Helen Pankhurst said: “Join me on International Women’s Day to walk in solidarity with women and girls around the world who are denied the rights to live, learn, earn and thrive simply because they were born female. Walk In Her Shoes so girls can go to school and women can do paid work instead of walking for miles every day.”

Seventy per cent of the world’s poorest billion people are women, many millions of whom walk more than six kilometres a day in search of water and firewood, carrying loads of up to 20kg.

CARE will provide fundraising support to all who participate. To join Helen on 8 March or take part in the Walk In Her Shoes campaign, visit www.careinternational.org.uk/iwd2014 or call 020 7091 6111.

The Current State-of-Mind of Working Mums Today

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Frostie

GUILT-RIDDEN, TORN BETWEEN TWO ROLES AND OVER-LOOKED -The current state-of-mind of working mums today

* Over three quarters (80%) of women feel guilty about going back to work and worry about leaving their child in the care of others compared with just 39% of men.
* Childcare responsibilities still fall on the mother’s shoulders, even when both parents are working.
* A fifth of dads (20%) say they wished they hadn’t gone back to work after having a family, saying they wished they could have looked after their child while over a third (37%) of men say they work full time with NO flexibility at all.

New research into the state of mind of working parents in the UK has found that we are a nation divided with women battling to find a healthy work-life balance, taking on the majority of childcare responsibilities while not at work. The research, undertaken for The Work & Family Show which is due to take place for the first time on 21st and 22nd February, found that over three quarters of women (80%) feel guilty about going back to work after having a family. Men, on the other hand, are relatively confident about returning to their jobs with just 39% feeling guilty about leaving their children in childcare.

The biggest concern for more than 35% of women was not having the help or understanding from their employer when dealing with the difficult transition from working woman to working mum. They also worried that their employers would be discriminatory towards them, entrusting them with responsibility and fewer big projects.

One mum who struggled to return to work after having a baby is 31 year old Leah McGrath. She returned to her role as an HR Service Manager at a large agra-pharmaceutical company after a year at home with her daughter. The plan was for Leah to do a job share but this fell through and she found herself fitting in a full time job into her contracted three days a week. She says: “I was finding it such a struggle, commuting three hours, three days a week, and trying my best to be a good mum. I was getting ill all the time; whenever there was a virus going around, I would catch it as I was so run down and my little girl’s behaviour was becoming very challenging. After a while I realised there must be more to life and resigned. It was extremely scary but I am so pleased I did.” Leah has since re-trained as a yoga teacher, running her own Yogabellies franchise, teaching pre-natal, post-natal and baby massage classes in her lo cal wellbeing and community centres. She has managed to get a healthy work-life balance and work flexibly but only by leaving her past career behind her.

Ben Black, Director of MyFamilyCare.co.uk who, together with Clarion Events, are organising The Work & Family Show says: “Due to the lack of support from their employers on returning to work, women often feel forced to give up the careers they have trained and worked so hard for in order to fit in their new role of motherhood. However, it shouldn’t be like this. Staff need to be supported as they return to work and deal with the challenges that being a working parent can bring. Employers who respond to their needs will be rewarded with engaged, productive and loyal employees.”

The research also asked fathers how they felt about the transition from working man to working dad. More than a third (37%) said they returned to work and received no flexibility at all. One in five, meanwhile, said they wished they had never gone back to work at all, wishing they could take on the full-time role of child carer.

Ben Black continues: “So many big companies like Barclays, Discovery Channel and Rolls Royce have made big improvements to their policies to help their parents who work, but these results show there’s a huge deficit. Women shouldn’t feel restricted in work when they become a mother and a man’s role in bringing up a child has evolved so much in the past 30 years and it’s time that businesses recognise this too.”

The Work & Family Show has been born out of the high demand from families in need of help when returning to work or starting up their own business. Jenny Willott, Minister for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs, will introduce the show while inspirational experts and employers on the lookout for motivated staff will be on hand to give working parents and career break women access to practical advice. Organised by Clarion Events and My Family Care, it takes place on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd February 2014 at the ExCeL London. Tickets are available from www.theworkandfamilyshow.co.uk from just £12, and people coming to the neighbouring Baby Show will have free entrance*.

Opening times:
Friday 21st February: 9.30am – 5pm (trade and press entry from 8.30am on Friday for a networking breakfast)
Saturday 22nd February: 10am – 5pm
**Ends**

*Free entry will be for everyone who has a paid-for ticket to The Baby Show

We have six tickets to the Work and Family Show to giveaway

What The Tube Map Looks Like During The Strikes

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Frostie

Can’t get to the office? Can’t get anywhere at all and need to work? Chris Ward has visited coffee shops in London and worked out of each of them in his quest to get ‘out of office’.

Chris Ward is author of no.1 best selling book ‘Out of Office’ How To Live An Awesome Life Without An Office Job!

Chris Ward has visited every single one of these coffee shops, and believes it’s time for a re-think on how the working week is viewed.

Here is an excellent coffee-shop based London tube map

www.workwhereyoulike.com

What do you think?

Syria: Humanity in Conflict

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Frostie

8 February – 14 September 2014, WaterWay Gallery, IWM North

Free Entry; Donations Welcome

‘The reason I do it is because first and foremost I am Syrian and I can’t stand to see my people suffer.’ Hamza, Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer, December 2011

Photographs by an award winning Syrian photographer that reveal the impact of conflict on humanitarian volunteers in the country, are being unveiled at IWM North, part of Imperial War Museums, in Manchester.

The powerful images explore the experiences of Syrian civilians and humanitarian volunteers who place their lives on the line, almost three years since the outbreak of conflict in March 2011.

Created in association with the British Red Cross, this small, emotive display at v shows images by Syrian – Italian photographer Ibrahim Malla.

The free display features the comments of local volunteers for the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), reflecting on their motivations to become a volunteer and the risks they take as they stay in Syria to respond to the current conflict and humanitarian crisis.

The British Red Cross and SARC are part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the world’s largest independent humanitarian network.

Malla is currently working in and around Syria for the International Federation of the Red Cross. This free display contains his most recent work. Malla has previously photographed many humanitarian crises. He has exhibited in Syria, Italy, Madrid, Paris, London, Geneva, Sydney, China, Germany and Scotland and won six international awards during his career.

SARC volunteers have been at the front line of the humanitarian response in Syria since fighting erupted. Many SARC staff and volunteers have been killed; many more have been injured, kidnapped or detained. Ambulances have been fired upon or in some cases stolen.

Across the country, thousands of SARC volunteers continue to provide essential assistance to those affected by the crisis.

SARC volunteers and staff are delivering a wide range of life-saving aid to almost 3 million people each month: food parcels, blankets, mattresses, hygiene kits, kitchen sets, first aid and ambulance services, fixed and mobile health clinics, psycho-social support services for children and their families, water and sanitation. They also support temporary shelters in schools, offices, and public buildings.

Visit www.iwm.org.uk for more information, follow @I_W_M #IWMNorth, or like facebook.com/iwm.north

Ibrahim Malla said: “My photos show the tragedy of the conflict with a message of hope – showing the hard job that the Red Cross and the Red Crescent volunteers are doing, always helping everybody in respect of our principle of neutrality. This is the message that I started to carry around the world, to let everybody know and see the bravery of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers. I feel this is my duty to honour my friends who sacrificed their life.”

Graham Boxer, Director of IWM North, said: ‘From images of aid distributions to the evacuation of 2,000 people from a besieged town in October 2013, Malla’s images portray the role, dedication and bravery of these volunteers in Syria today.’

The Cost Of Love

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Frostie

We love this infograph about love from prezzybox.com Check it out.

Wow Women Launches The Woman Of The World Collection

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Frostie

New contemporary designer brand Wow Women has announced the launch of their latest collection. A very cool and colourful range of t-shirts and vests.

The Women of the World collection consists of ten original and eye-catching designs placed on t-shirts women would want to wear.

All the Wow Women designs are created and produced in the UK. Made using high quality materials, the t-shirts and vests are comfortable, made to last and to retain their shape. Each item is lovingly crafted with attention to each and every detail.

Every t-shirt and vest is finished with a special damask woven and hand sown Wow Women label tag in the neck and on the sleeve or hem.

There is the additional option of purchasing beautifully presented packaging in the Wow Women colours where the t-shirt or vest arrives in a gorgeous black and cerise box, folded professionally and within cerise tissue paper.

To celebrate the launch, the first 100 orders placed with Wow Women will automatically receive the gift box.

Both t-shirts and vests are available in white and black; and in sizes small to extra-large. All t-shirts retail at £29 and all vests retail at £27.99.

The Wow Women collection is available now and exclusively through the Wow Women online store.

Zac Posen Designs Affordable Wedding Dresses

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Frostie

It’s time to get excited; New York designer Zac Posen has designed some beautiful yet affordable wedding dresses. Truly Zac Posen is exclusively for David’s Bridal, the US export that’s now big in the UK. Even better, it launches tomorrow (6th February).

“It’s a love note to a bride on her most beautiful day.” Zac said. They are all available in plus size.

The collection, called Truly Zac Posen, includes seven wedding gowns and ten special occasion gowns. Prices start at £725 and stretch to £1,295. Take a look and tell us what you think.