Three businessmen who met while playing table football competitively have set up a company to offer end of life planning.
Richard Thomson, Ben Mason and Tom King have combined their skills to create Kinherit, which is based in Bradley Stoke near Bristol.
Ben, 37, worked in financial services and estate planning for more than a decade before co-founding the company with Oxford University graduates Richard and Tom.
He also came seventh at the table football European Championship in doubles.
He said: “The last thing someone needs after the death of a loved one is to be worrying about finances.
“We help ensure the right money goes to the right people and quickly. We also have processes in place to help keep the money with those whom it was intended for.”
The company's services include asset protection trusts, which help protect against the loss of inheritance following events such as marriage after a death and divorce.
The team says it also has a secure online vault and "robust system" to pass on information to the executor – so assets are not lost behind computer passwords or misplaced paperwork.
'When I die I want to know that my little girl is taken care of'
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Ben, a dad of one, believes such protection is vital for most people – not just the well-off.
He said: “When I die, I want to know that my little girl is taken care of - regardless of whether my wife remarries, or if my own daughter divorces later in life, or my computer melts down.”
The trio say they have combined their experience to offer a "well-rounded service" and claim to have already saved people hundreds of thousands of pounds on inheritance tax and probate - the process of dealing with the property, money and possessions of a person who has died.
Kinherit’s youngest client is 24 and eldest 83 - with assets ranging from less than £100,000 to more than 10 million.
Ben said: “If you died today, do people know what assets you have? Often the answer is no and this can lead to stress, expense and family fallouts at an already difficult time.”
The team also work with Independent financial advisors - enabling them to find out about a client’s death quickly and support their family.
Tom, 41, who has worked as a web developer and programmer at Oxford University, said: “When choosing a platform to build our infrastructure on, I was looking at not just the best set of tools for today, but something which would provide long term service.
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"We need to be able to hold data for our clients for a long time.”
Richard’s parents were updating their own will and he decided to put them in touch with Ben. His conversation with Ben also led him to discover he could save his own children from a hefty inheritance tax bill.
Richard added: “Ben did what no lawyer had previously done for us. He explained how a will and asset protection trust can work brilliantly to protect my family in a way a standalone will could not. I thought this enhanced product should be available to a wide range of people.
“Despite working in finance, I was in the dark over the potential for trusts and I thought the general public would be too. The lack of awareness can lead to unnecessary expense and upset when a loved one dies.”