Nowadays, money makes the world go around. With everything becoming digital, even banking, it’s important now more than ever to insure you protect yourself financially. Sadly, increased security only leads to criminals trying harder to get your details and access your money. Keep yourself and your money safe by following these important tips to maximize your financial security.

Protect Your Pin

The first thing you should do is ensure your pin is kept secure. Never share your pin with anybody, even those you trust. Always make sure if you’re entering it on your phone or at an ATM that there is nobody lurking around trying to sneak a peek. When you’re at the ATM, you should also use your hand to shield your pin. Scammers have been known to attach cameras to ATMs, so you could be giving a stranger your pin without even realizing!

Online Banking

The next step you can take to help improve your financial security is by signing yourself up to online banking. By doing this you’ll be able to access your account instantly and will be able to keep track of your finances and pay attention to any unusual looking transactions you don’t recognize. There are even a number of online banking apps designed to replace your physical bank account with an online account. These apps allow you to keep a more organised look into your spending and allows you to access your security settings and account history from your phone. If you like the sound of that, read more here and get yourself an online account sorted today. They also are perfect for accounts if you’re going on holiday, you can convert your money straight away in the app using the best conversion rate and use one card no matter where you are.

Update Your Details Regularly

You should make sure your security settings are regularly updated. Make sure to change your password regularly and try to make sure you use a different password for your bank account to all of your other passwords. Keep a note of your password and make sure it’s in a safe place where nobody can access it.

Protect your Documents

Whilst most banking correspondence is done digitally these days; you may still receive letters from your bank. These letters can often contain important details you should be sure to keep protected. If you’re wanting to throw out letters from your bank, it may be worth investing in a shredder or even having a mini bank bonfire out in your backyard. By thoroughly destroying these letters you can rest assured nobody will be able to access your private details.

Be Mindful of Scams

Unfortunately, as security measures become more complicated to get through, scams have also become a major problem as it’s become harder than ever to recognize. If you ever get an email or text from your bank asking you for ANY details whatsoever, DO NOT click the link. Instead go onto your banks official website or app and get in contact with them directly. Most banks will never contact you asking for your own details.

Have you ever found yourself frustrated with your neighbor? Whether they have a habit of playing their music just a bit too loud in the middle of the night or their dog/child refuses to give you a moment’s peace, chances are we’ve all had to face a frustrating neighbor at some point in our lives. But if you think blasting music is an issue, imagine your disdain when you discover your neighbor is trying to sue you over a tree in the backyard. Well, that’s just what one couple had to go through. The couple, who shall remain nameless for legal reasons, had been living in their new home for around 6 months with no issue. They had finally found their own little section of paradise when a letter came through the door that would turn their perfect world upside down over the next few years. One lovely summer day, the couple had come home from work to discover a letter inside their door addressed to them.

In it, they found a letter addressed to ‘The Couple in # 47’* (*house number has been purposely changed). In the letter, it explained how their next-door neighbor was getting frustrated with the growth of #47’s tree. They went on to say that it has been an ongoing issue and if it wasn’t sorted within the next week, the neighbor would be forced to take matters into their own hands. The couple scoffed at the letter and set it on their table. They wound up forgetting about it and a week had passed. If you’re looking to avoid mimicking this issue, why not keep your trees and your relationship with your neighbor in order by checking out tree loppers Perth for all your Australian tree grooming needs.

The couple had heard nothing and even began to forget about the letter when early one morning, they were woken by a loud crash. They didn’t worry and continued with their day; it wasn’t until later that week that they received an official court summons. The neighbor claimed that they had forced him to take matters into his own hands, and after trying to deal with the tree, he had wound up causing damage to his shed out his backyard and was wanting to sue the couple for damages. What followed was a ridiculous back and forth that cost both sides millions of dollars.

So, What’s the Moral of the Story?

The moral of the story is that no matter what the issue is, communication and proper research is key to solving any problem that may come your way. You can find out how the Australian laws work in your own backyard and can know for yourself what you’re entitled to. Keep yourself covered by staying with these laws and be cautious when exploring some of the grey areas.

Keep yourself knowledgeable of what you can and can’t do and who knows, someday you might be saving yourself from splurging on millions of dollars on legal fees.

Legal disputes during the grieving process are never ideal. The time is bad enough without further complications and everyone deserves that period to be as least stressful as possible. That is what inheritancelaw really understands. they are based in Manchester, Birmingham, and London.

Cross Border Inheritance

Recently, lawyers have cautioned that UK people with assets and belongings in Europe could, unbeknownst to them, leave them to the mercy of the English law after new rules have emerged, and cross border inheritance has come into effect.

I can’t tell you how mad this makes me. It’s another post Brexit thing and I’m sick of it.

The whole purpose of this change is to make it easier for EU residents by giving them the choice between either choosing the law of the country of their nationality or the last place they lived to have an effect on their inheritance.

Forced Heirship

And what’s more, the UK has elected not to follow the new rules but the changes will still affect the UK citizens with, as I said, assets and belongings in Europe. The biggest uproar from this is it allows people to be exempt from the ‘forced heirship’ rules that affect a large number of countries in the EU and dictate how assets are inherited throughout a family after death. The Society of Trust and Estate, as an example of how the rule will be used in action, has said a woman in the UK that owns a house in France would have had to have left it in her will to her husband and kids. This is due to the French Forced heirship rules.

However, because of the new rules implemented, she could choose to have the UK law affect her house, allowing her to leave it to a sibling if she chooses. It offers more freedom. Unfortunately, this also means that people not born in the UK could be affected by their laws without even noticing it.

This could be incredibly problematic and, as I have said, the grief period is a stressful and awful time anyway without this piling on top.

People that don’t want the English law to have an effect on their assets will need to alter their will to make this clear and people with assets across the EU are being urged to review their plans and wills.

If someone in your family or a close friend dies and you are an heir, as a basic rule, you can settle their inheritance with:

• A person authorized to perform legal actions of any EU country
• The courts where the recently deceased lived before their death.

Heirs Choosing the Court

So if there is an issue that needs to be resolved by a court, as an heir you will normally be required to go to the courts of the country in the EU where the deceased previously lived. On the other hand, if the deceased had, in fact, chosen that law of their nationality to apply to what they’re leaving behind, and that is also the nationality of an EU country, you and other heirs can present the issue to the EU courts of that country.

If you are an heir, you also need to prove your entitlement.  Usually, this comes from a national document certifying your status. You can also ask the powers that be to grant you a European Certificate of Succession. So overall, the benefit of this is that it means its effects are identical throughout the EU regardless of where it was given and it’s recognized without any additional procedure. It can be obtained from any EU court.