An estimated one million people have opted for self-invested personal pensions (Sipp) as they offer a wide choice and the freedom to invest almost anywhere. Hargreaves Lansdown have put together some of the lesser-known facts about the increasingly popular retirement vehicle.
The pension benefits of a Brazilian man who died in 2015 should be equally split between his wife and a woman with whom he had a 20-year relationships during his marriage, a court has ruled.
An estranged daughter has lost a supreme court bid to overturn her mother’s will, which excluded her only child and left her £0.5m ($0.6m, €0.57m) estate to three animal charities, in a decision that leaves things “slightly confused”, says Old Mutual Wealth’s Rachael Griffin.
Led by China, Asia created one billionaire nearly every three days and accounted for over half of new billionaires in 2015 despite global billionaire wealth declining last year by $300bn to $5.1trn (£4.2trn, €4.6trn), according to a joint UBS Group and PwC report.
The Isle of Man has slashed its probate charges for non-resident applications where the only asset is a life assurance policy issued by one of the island’s insurance companies.
The case of a woman who secured £164,000 from her mother’s will despite being excluded from it has led the life industry to recommend trusts as a more secure way to distribute wealth upon death.
