Today I’m bringing you an infographic created by I Will, a firm of solicitors who specialize in will writing. I published their previous infographic, An Essential Guide to Writing Your Will, back in 2017.
The infographic below is all about what happens with a property when the owner dies. As the graphic says, when the house is in joint ownership (as is typically the case with a married couple) and the surviving partner wants to go on living there, it is usually just a matter of notifying the Land Registry and (if relevant) the mortgage-holder.
If the house was in sole ownership, though – e.g. after the second partner dies – as the graphic says, the situation is more complicated, and there are various important things the executor will need to take into account.
It’s quite a long graphic, so please take a little time to scroll down it, and I’ll see you at the other end!
Thanks again to I Will Solicitors (not an affiliate link) for permission to use their graphic.
The company specializes in Islamic wills, but offers numerous legal services to people of all faiths and none, including Probate, Lasting Power of Attorney, Deputyships, and more. They say, ‘The writing of Sharia-compliant Islamic Wills is our specialty, but we are by no means a “Muslim-only” legal services provider.’
As I have said before on Pounds and Sense, where wills are concerned I strongly recommend using a properly qualified solicitor (and even more so where property is involved). I have had several experiences within my own family where failing to do this has caused serious delays and problems. In my view it really isn’t worth trying to save a few pounds by using a cut-price ‘will-writing service’ or attempting to do it yourself, not to mention all the hassle this can entail.
If you have any comments or questions, as ever, please do post them below.
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I recently spent a weekend at Lake Vyrnwy, a few miles over the border from Shropshire into Wales. I had wanted to visit the area since watching a TV programme a few months ago about the history of the lake.
Lake Vyrnwy is actually a man-made lake (or reservoir if you prefer). It was created to provide a water supply for Liverpool in the 19th century. It’s about 25 miles from Oswestry. I’ve embedded a Google Map below showing the area.
My Hotel
I stayed at the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel and Spa (pictured below), which is near the dam at the western end of the lake. I booked on the Booking.com website.
The hotel dates back to 1890 – it was originally built to accommodate senior managers and engineers on the construction project. Since then it has been extended several times, although as recently as the 1970s it was still owned by the water company (it’s now in private hands). The hotel doesn’t make as much of its interesting history as it could, in my opinion.
Anyway, I pushed the metaphorical boat out and booked a Premier Lake View Room via Booking.com. The view certainly didn’t disappoint, as the cover photo (taken from my balcony) indicates.
My room was on the top floor, up various flights of stairs. One thing to bear in mind if you plan to stay here is that there is no lift in the main hotel, though I was told there is one in the spa (which I didn’t go in, partly because you have to pay extra – see below).
My room was spacious and comfortable, with all the features you might expect from a four-star hotel, including tea and coffee-making equipment, flat-screen TV, refrigerator, walk-in shower, and so forth. There was also good free wifi in the room, and in the public areas of the hotel too (just as well, as there was no mobile phone signal!).
I had my breakfast and evening meals in the hotel. Breakfast was included in the fee I paid. Evening meals were extra, though to be honest there isn’t really anywhere else to eat in the vicinity (apart from a couple of cafes that aren’t open in the evening anyway).
A lot of people rave about the food at the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel. Personally I thought it was good but not exceptional. It was let down by little things, e.g. at breakfast on the first day the muffin with my Eggs Benedict was burnt. I went for the full Welsh breakfast the next day, and on my final day decided to chance the Eggs Benedict again. This time the muffin wasn’t burnt but dense and tasteless – I’m guessing it had come straight out of the freezer. I’ve had much better Eggs Benedicts at my local Wetherspoons. For the money I was paying I’d have expected better really.
You have two dining options at the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel: the restaurant and ‘less formal’ brasserie. My top tip would be to stick to the restaurant and give the brasserie a miss. On my second night I tried it and found it crowded (it’s in a small room and the tables are pushed close together) and noisy. There were also young children running around apparently unsupervised. Okay, the brasserie might be a bit cheaper, but the main restaurant offers a much more relaxed, civilised dining experience, and much better views across the lake as well.
Financials
As Pounds and Sense is primarily a money blog, I should say a few words about this.
For my Premier Lake View Room (with single occupancy) I was charged £589 including VAT for three nights. Obviously I could have booked a cheaper room without the lake view, but in my opinion it would be a shame to stay at the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel and not have this.
Evening meals in the restaurant were charged at £27 for two courses or £35 for three (there were supplements for certain dishes such as sirloin steak). You do also get a complimentary ‘taster’ of fresh soup with home-made focaccia bread, which I enjoyed and recommend.
At the brasserie you order from an A La Carte menu, so the price depends on what you choose.
As mentioned earlier, the hotel also has a spa, for which you have to pay an extra £10 a day admission charge. The spa has a thermal suite, including a sauna, steam room, ice fountain, whirlpool, and tepidarium (no swimming pool though). It offers various treatments at extra cost, including massages, facials, manicures, pedicures, and so on..
Activities
One thing I should mention before describing what I did is that when I visited – the weekend before Easter – it was bitterly cold. The temperatures typically didn’t rise above 4 or 5 degrees, and when you factor in the wind chill as well, it was probably around freezing. I was very glad I remembered to take my quilted winter coat, gloves, scarf and woolly hat!
First Day
On my first day I walked to the dam down the precipitous bridle path from the hotel (I asked the receptionists how many guests they lost on this – they laughed but didn’t reply).
The dam is undoubtedly impressive and leads to a small tourist area with a visitor centre; this is a good place to start your exploration. A short film plays constantly inside with alternating English and Welsh narration. It tells you about the history of the lake, and the various plants and animals that live around (and on) it today. Nature conservation is quite a major theme around the lake.
Also in the village is an RSPB shop and a bird hide that is well worth a visit (see picture below). There is also a friendly cafe called The Old Barn, and Artisans, a cafe and shop where you can also hire bicycles. I had planned to do this myself, but the very cold weather dissuaded me. I did see quite a few – admittedly much younger – people cycling around the lake, though.
A short distance away is a sculpture park, and I recommend this if you fancy an enjoyable walk that isn’t too taxing. The sculptures are all made of wood, and some are quite striking. This one is called Mother Earth, for example.
In the afternoon I walked the opposite way from the hotel to the Victorian Straining Tower (picture below). This Gothic-style building filters the lake water through mesh before it starts its journey to Liverpool. Unfortunately it’s not open to the public, but you can admire it from the road. It’s a pity there isn’t an explanation board, just a forbidding ‘Keep Out’ notice.
Second Day
On my second day I decided to drive around the lake, stopping at points of interest along the way. There is a good (if narrow) road all round the lake, about 12 miles in total.
I had picked up a leaflet from the hotel reception about walks in the area, and decided to do the two-mile round trip to Rhiwargor Falls. This walk starts near the east end of the lake at a convenient car park. Despite the cold I enjoyed this. I didn’t see another soul on foot the whole time, although I did come eye to eye with a few sheep…
The waterfall is pretty impressive, and I imagine if it has rained recently it is even more so. Here is a video I recorded.
On the way back I stopped at another bird hide on the side of the lake, but there wasn’t a lot to see. I spotted a Canada goose and three mandarin ducks and duly logged them on the whiteboard. I erased the previous recorded sighting of six pterodactyls, as I suspected this wasn’t entirely genuine.
In the afternoon I took a short walk from the hotel to visit a church I had noticed before. This turned out to be St Wddyn’s (pictured below).
St Wddyn’s was built in 1880 to replace the original church of that name that was flooded (along with the rest of the old village of Llanwddyn) when the lake was filled. It is a quiet, peaceful place with some beautiful stained glass windows. It is well worth a visit if you are staying at the hotel, as it’s barely 10 minutes’ walk away. Again, I didn’t see another living soul while I was there.
Closing Thoughts
So that was my visit to Lake Vyrnwy. I didn’t hang about on my last day, as it was still very cold, and the wind was getting up as well.
I thought the area was beautiful and unspoiled (if you can say that about a man-made reservoir) and the hotel itself very good despite my minor reservations.
It’s probably not a place to take young children as there wouldn’t be a great deal to occupy them. But if you enjoy beautiful scenery and (especially) if you like walking, running or cycling, it would make a great short break destination. The Lake Vyrnwy Hotel and Spa is also a popular venue for people celebrating their honeymoon or anniversary, or wanting some serious pampering in the Spa. In view of the many steps and lack of lifts it’s probably not ideal if you’re physically infirm, though.
If you like the idea of visiting the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel and Spa, if you follow any of the links in this article you can get a £15 discount via the Booking.com website. This is credited to your card once you have completed your break. I will also receive £15 as a reward for introducing you 🙂
As always, if you have any comments or questions about Lake Vyrnwy or the hotel, please do post them below.
Note: You can get the £15 discount on Booking.com wherever you go on your next visit, be it Lake Vyrnwy or elsewhere. Just click on my link and follow the instructions!
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I was gifted this automatic tyre inflator from RING Automotive – a company specializing in this type of product – in exchange for publishing an honest review. So here are my thoughts about it.
The RING RTC1000 is not the first automatic tyre inflator I have ever used, but overall it is the best I have tried to date. It certainly beats the old foot-pump I used in bygone days, and is a lot more convenient (and probably more accurate) than the machines on garage forecourts. And once you’ve bought it, of course, it’s free to use!
The RING RTC1000 Rapid Digital Tyre Inflator is undoubtedly smart looking. I like the round, flat design, which makes it very stable.
It comes with a range of accessories, including adaptors for bicycle tyres, balls and other inflatables, and even a set of plastic gloves for keeping your hands clean. There are also some spare valve dust caps and a spare fuse. These are all useful, thoughtful additions, though it would be nice if there was a compartment somewhere within the device in which to keep them.
Using the RTC1000 is simple and intuitive. You plug it in to your car’s cigarette lighter socket (it was quite a tight fit in my Vauxhall Corsa) and turn on the ignition. You can then set the target pressure you want by turning the small dial under the display (see photo below).
If you prefer, you can change from the default PSI to Bars or kPA by pressing down the dial (see below). This will cycle through the pressure measurement options available.
Once you have attached the air hose to your tyre using the brass valve connector, the device then operates to inflate it to your target pressure. I found this quick and surprisingly quiet. I did, though, find that it stopped inflating just below the selected target figure. I would guess that this is a safety feature to allow for any possible margin of error in the measurement, but it is still a little frustrating. Of course, you can get around it by setting a target pressure slightly above what you actually want, but I don’t really see why you should have to do this.
On the plus side, the device has a small recessed area on top in which to put the valve dust cap while inflating the tyre. This avoids the scenario of putting a cap on the ground and having it roll away and vanish (we’ve all been there). There is also a built-in LED light, which is great if you need to check your tyre pressures in poor lighting conditions.
Another welcome feature is the long power lead, which winds up inside the unit. There is also a recess on the side in which the air hose fits, so everything is neatly out of the way when not in use. And it comes with a zipped grey carrying case as well.
Overall, I think the RING RTC1000 is a great piece of kit to have in your car, with some excellent features and accessories. It is also by a distance the most user-friendly tyre inflator I have tried. It is a pity about the minor niggles mentioned above, but they don’t seriously detract from the quality of the product. If you need an automatic tyre inflator that is quick and easy to use (and reasonably priced), it is well worth your consideration.
The RING RTC1000 Rapid Digital Tyre Inflator is available from all good motor accessory stores and online suppliers including Amazon.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this review, please do leave them below.
Disclosure: As stated above, this is a sponsored post. I was gifted a RING RTC1000 tyre inflator in exchange for publishing a review of it here. This has not affected my review in any way. All comments and opinions set out in this post are mine and mine alone.
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Today I have another great giveaway to share with you. I’ve joined forces with some of my fellow UK Money Bloggers to put together a giveaway of not one, not two, but three Marks & Spencer Easter Hampers.
These hampers sell for £50 apiece on the M&S website. They contain an assortment of Easter goodies, beautifully presented in a stylish dark brown hamper. The full contents are as follows:
Assam tea (25g/10 bags)
Caramel eggs (120g)
Simnel cake bar (400g)
Cheeky chicks (120g/pack of 6)
Mini luxury hot cross buns (325g/pack of 9)
Hide and seek egg hunt bag (135g)
British strawberry soft set jam (113g)
Chicky choccy speckled eggs (100g)
8 Easter biscuits (200g)
Bubbly bunny (23g) x 4
Presented in a dark-stained wicker hamper with brown faux-leather handle and straps
In the event of supply difficulties, or with discontinued products, M&S say they reserve the right to offer alternative goods or packaging of equal quality and value. If you need to know about any possible allergens in the contents, full information can be found on the M&S website.
Here then are all the details you need to enter, provided by my colleague Emma Drew (who is co-ordinating this event). Good luck! It would be great if a Pounds and Sense reader wins one (or more) of the prizes 🙂
This Easter, some of the UK Money Bloggers have come together to offer you the chance to win one of three M&S Easter hampers. Three lucky winners will win an Easter hamper delivered before Easter. Keep reading to find out how you can enter.
Who are the bloggers behind the giveaway?
The UK Money Bloggers are a group of bloggers, podcasters, and influencers in the UK who are passionate about helping you to improve your finances. Whether you want to make more money, spend less, understand investing or pay off debts, we all contribute something unique to the community. Here’s who we are:
The giveaway is open until midnight on 14th April 2019, when the winners will be chosen.
The giveaway is open to UK residents only.
Winners will be contacted by email from hello@emmadrew.info
Should the Easter hampers be out of stock then a suitable replacement will be found.
How to enter
You can enter by completing as many of the Rafflecopter widget entry options below as you would like. You can also enter daily by tweeting from the Rafflecopter widget.
Comment with your best money saving tip to unlock more entry options.
All of us who wear glasses know how annoying it is when one of the small screws that hold the frames or arms in place comes loose and falls out.
Even assuming you can find the tiny screw, reinserting it is no joke, especially if your eyesight isn’t great (which of course is likely to be the case if you need glasses!).
So I was delighted to receive a free review copy of the SnapIt Glasses Repair Kit, pictured below.
The clever thing about this inexpensive kit is that it includes screws with a long ‘tail’ that are easy to insert into the spectacle frame. You then tighten the screw and snap off the protruding tail (hence the name, of course) for a perfect quick repair.
Here’s a step by step illustration of the process. Please excuse the fact that I used an old pair of glasses for this demonstration, so they aren’t exactly in pristine condition!
As you can see, I’m repairing an arm which has come loose. The first step is to insert the screw into the appropriate hole in the frame. You get five different screw sizes to choose from. The long tail on the screw makes doing this a doddle.
Next you use the little screwdriver provided in the kit to screw it in. Here’s a picture with a 20p coin beside it to give you an idea of the size.
It takes just a few moments to tighten the screw, so it looks like this.
Finally you just snap off the tail (easy again). Hey presto, a perfect repair!
Giveaway
As you can tell, I was very impressed with the SnapIt Glasses Repair Kit, so I was delighted to be offered one to give away to my readers. To enter the competition, just follow the steps on the Gleam form below. The more ways you enter, the better your chances of winning!
Good luck in the giveaway. If you have any comments or questions about this article, as always, please post them below.
And if you are a company or agency interested in running a giveaway like this on Pounds and Sense, please do drop me a line.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf on SnapIt, who were kind enough to provide a kit to me free of charge and are also providing the prize in my giveaway.
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I know quite a few Pounds and Sense readers have an interest in writing, whether for pleasure or profit (or both). So today I thought I would share some information about an invaluable free resource for writers and aspiring writers.
Best Writing Forum is a discussion forum for writers that was set up by my old friend (and former publisher) Karl Moore a year ago. It was created in response to requests from members of My Writers Circle, another online forum I helped set up with Karl and managed for almost ten years.
In the last few years My Writers Circle has changed ownership several times and been rather neglected. So in response to members’ requests, Karl set up the new forum as an alternative place for writers to share their work and get feedback and advice.
Best Writing Forum uses the popular SMF messageboard software. Anyone who was ever a member of My Writers Circle will find it quite familiar, therefore. Of course, the board names and overall design are a bit different, but most people soon get the hang of it. And if you have any problems, there is a dedicated volunteer moderator team on hand to help you out.
If you have any interest in writing, I highly recommend that you check out Best Writing Forum. And if you like what you see, please do sign up. It’s free of charge and only takes a few moments. You will then be able to:
get feedback from fellow writers across the world in Review My Work
Talk about poetry and get comments on your own in Poets Corner
Now is a great time to join Best Writing Forum, as it’s still quite new and you really can play a part in helping guide its future direction. I’ll hope to see you there soon!
Note: this is an updated version of an original article about Best Writing Forum first published on my Entrepreneur Writer blog in December 2017.
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In this post last month I set out a contest/giveaway to win six packets of the new Bahlsen Choco Moments biscuits. To enter, you simply had to comment on the post in question, saying why Bahlsen biscuits cheer you up.
For whatever reason there weren’t as many entries to this competition as my previous one. In fact only five people had entered by the closing date of Friday 1st February.
Still, those biscuits won’t eat themselves, so I used the random number generator at Random.org to pick the winner. Unfortunately the original winner failed to come forward, so in accordance with the rules set out in my original post I have gone back to Random.org to select another winner. I am therefore pleased to confirm that this was entry number 3 from Sally Jenkins (who is, coincidentally, a friend and near-neighbour of mine). Congratulations, Sally!
Thank you to everyone who entered, and commiserations to the entrants who didn’t win this time. A particular mention for Nicola, who came up with the best rhyme, and for the eventual winner, Sally Jenkins, who clearly went to some effort to create a catchy slogan. In this competition the winner was selected at random according to the rules set out in my original post, but I did appreciate the effort you both made with these entries!
You can, of course, buy delicious Bahlsen Choco Moments biscuits in Waitrose and Sainsbury’s supermarkets (and at the online store Amazon).
And finally, thanks again to Bahlsen Biscuits for sponsoring this contest. Watch out for more contests and giveaways on Pounds and Sense soon!
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NOTE: This competition is now closed. The winner has been announcedin this blog post!
The third Monday in January has been dubbed Blue Monday. It’s meant to be the most depressing day of the year, with cold days, dark nights, and a payday that still feels a million miles away.
So today, to cheer everyone up, I am running a giveaway for some delicious Bahlsen Choco Moments biscuits. This is – of course – a sponsored post.
Choco Moments are the ultimate indulgent snack. With a thick coating of rich chocolate over a crunchy biscuit base, they are the perfect melt-in-your-mouth treat to pick you up on a bad day.
They are available in two delicious flavours: Choco Moments Crunchy Hazelnut (my favourite) combines smooth, creamy milk chocolate with warm hazelnut crunch and is mouth-wateringly more-ish; while Choco Moments Crunchy Mint perfectly balances deep notes of dark chocolate with lively and refreshing crunchy mint.
To be in with a chance of winning A WHOLE SIX PACKETS of Choco Moments biscuits (both flavours included) just leave a comment below by 9 am on Friday 31st January 2019 saying why Bahlsen biscuits cheer you up. I will pick a winner at random and arrange to send them the prize.
Just one comment per person, please, and allow a few hours for me to approve your comment if you haven’t commented on my blog before. This competition is open to UK residents only.
Please check back here (or on the PAS Facebook page) after 1st February 2019 to see if you are the winner and claim your prize (you could also subscribe via the box in the right-hand column to be notified about all new posts). Due to online privacy rules I won’t be able to contact you otherwise. Note also that once the competition has closed it will not be possible to leave any further comments on this post.
If the winner doesn’t claim their prize within seven days, I reserve the right to pick another winner at random instead.
Finally, even if you don’t win this time, don’t be blue. Bahlsen Choco Moments biscuits are available at an RRP of just £1.99 in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose supermarkets!
Good luck, enjoy your coffee/tea and Bahlsen Choco Moments, and remember that from today onward the year can only improve 🙂
Disclosure: as stated above, this is a sponsored post. I am receiving some delicious Bahlsen Choco Moments biscuits as a thank-you for posting it
Comments on this post are now closed.
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By courtesy of my friends at Wow Free Stuff, I’d like to offer you the chance to win a Burt’s Bees Natural Gift Set just like the one below.
This attractive gift set contains beeswax-based natural skin-care products, including lip salve and hand salve. On average, Burt’s Bees products are 99% natural, with over half their products 100% natural. They contain no petrochemicals, phthalates, parabens or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), and are not tested on animals.
As is customary for bloggers at this time of year, here are the top posts on Pounds and Sense in 2018, based on comments, page-views and social media shares. They are in no particular order. I have excluded any posts that are no longer relevant.
I hope you will enjoy revisiting these posts, or seeing them for the first time if you are new to PAS. Don’t forget, you can always subscribe using the box on the right to be notified of new posts as soon as they appear.
