A SOMERSET Solicitor who draws up dozens of ‘Deeds of Variation’ a year for local clients says such a legal document is just “sensible tax planning”.

This week politicians all of parties have argued over the effect of a Deed of Variation, and there has been talk of Labour banning the practice if they come to power. A Deed of Variation is a signed document that simply changes a Will after someone’s death and enables the beneficiaries of a deceased’s estate to alter the distribution of that estate by changing their Will.

David was shortlisted as one of the top five young lawyers in the UK in 2009, is a UK Director of Solicitors of the Elderly, and runs a success-story solicitors with offices in Street and Taunton. David Sinclair, Senior Partner of Acorn Solicitors, said:

“I have heard people saying about a Deed of Variation being a ‘vanilla form of tax evasion’, but this is simply not the case. There is nothing illegal about a Deed of Variation. A Deed of Variation is not tax evasion. It is sensible tax planning which has been around for years.

“If you inherit more money that you don’t already need, it is a way of putting it into the next generation. It is freedom of choice for people.”