What Happens If a Beneficiary Dies Before You?
Usually the gift fails and goes into the rest of your estate. The exception is a gift to your child or grandchild: their own children inherit it instead.
Read guidePractical, jargon-free guides to help you understand what goes into a will and make the right choices for your family.
Usually the gift fails and goes into the rest of your estate. The exception is a gift to your child or grandchild: their own children inherit it instead.
Read guideOften, yes. A dementia diagnosis does not stop someone making an LPA. What matters is whether they understand it on the day they sign, and they choose the attorneys.
Read guideDecide what you own, who gets it and who deals with it. Then put it in writing and sign it in front of two independent adult witnesses who are both present.
Read guideAn LPA appoints a person to decide for you. An advance decision records a treatment refusal in advance. They work together, but the signing order changes who wins.
Read guideNo. Marriage gives your spouse no automatic right to manage your money or make medical decisions if you lose capacity. Without an LPA they must apply to a court.
Read guideThe two LPAs cover different decisions: one handles money and property, the other health and care. Most people make both, because one without the other leaves a gap.
Read guideThe OPG rejects thousands of LPAs a year, mostly for signing order and date mistakes. Here are the common failures and how to sign yours correctly first time.
Read guideA certificate provider must be 18+, independent of the family, and either a professional or someone who has known the donor well for at least two years.
Read guideYou can organise an LPA for your mum or dad and do all the typing. But the LPA is theirs: they must understand it, choose their own attorneys, and sign first.
Read guideEvery LPA costs £92 to register with the government. On top of that: £0 doing it yourself, around £129 online, or £400 to £1,000+ through a solicitor.
Read guideIf both parents die while the children are under 18, a guardian named in your will decides who raises them. Here is how to choose one and make it count.
Read guideA deed of variation lets the people who inherit change who gets what after a death, often to save tax or skip a generation. Here is how it works and its limits.
Read guideYou can leave someone out of your will, but in England and Wales some people can still make a claim. Here is how to reduce the risk of a challenge.
Read guideYou cannot leave money directly to a pet, but you can name someone to care for them and leave that person a sum to cover the cost. Here is how to do it properly.
Read guideIf you own a company, a share of a business, or a trading business with assets, a standard will is not enough. Here is what is at stake and when to see a solicitor.
Read guideMost estates pay no inheritance tax at all. If yours might, here are the main legitimate ways to bring the bill down, from the spousal exemption to lifetime gifts.
Read guideThe standard "everything to my partner" will can quietly disinherit children from a previous relationship. Here is why blended families need more care, and usually a solicitor.
Read guideYou can leave a fixed sum, an item, or a share of your estate to charity. Charitable gifts are free of inheritance tax, and a large enough gift cuts the rate on the rest of your estate too.
Read guideNo. A name change does not cancel your will, but the mismatch slows your executors down. Marriage is different: it revokes a will outright.
Read guideYes. Your spouse does not automatically inherit everything, joint ownership does not cover what happens if you both die, and marrying cancels any earlier will.
Read guideUnmarried partners have no automatic inheritance rights in England and Wales. Without a will, your partner could receive nothing from your estate, regardless of how long you have lived together.
Read guideA simple will costs £150 to £400 from a solicitor and £79 to £160 online. It can be free through Will Aid or Free Wills Month, or if you write it yourself.
Read guideBoth options can produce a legally valid will. The right choice depends on how straightforward your estate is.
Read guideProbate is the legal process that gives your executor authority to deal with your estate after your death. Here is when it is required, when it is not, and how a will makes it simpler.
Read guideA will reflects your circumstances at the moment you wrote it. Marriage, divorce, children, and changes in assets can all make an existing will outdated or invalid.
Read guideA beneficiary is anyone who receives a gift from your estate. Here is how different types of beneficiary work and what happens if one dies before you do.
Read guideWhether your home passes to your spouse, children, or anyone else depends on how the property is owned and whether you have a will.
Read guideYou can legally exclude children from your will in England and Wales. But adult children can challenge the estate under the Inheritance Act if they were financially dependent on you.
Read guideA letter of wishes sits alongside your will and gives your executor guidance that the will itself cannot cover. It is not legally binding, but it can make a real difference.
Read guidePhotographs stored in the cloud, cryptocurrency, online bank accounts, and social media profiles all need to be considered when you write your will.
Read guideYes. Naming the same person as executor and beneficiary is allowed and is the most common setup in England and Wales. Just never use them as a witness.
Read guideNo. A will is valid in England and Wales without being registered anywhere. A voluntary register does exist, and it is worth using. Here is how it works.
Read guideTo make a valid will you must have "testamentary capacity" — a legal standard for mental competence set out by a court case in 1870 and still in use today.
Read guideA codicil is a formal amendment to an existing will. It has to be signed and witnessed in the same way as the original will. For minor changes it can work well — but for anything significant, writing a new will is usually simpler.
Read guideInheritance tax is charged on estates above £325,000. Most estates pay nothing. Here is how the thresholds work, what is exempt, and what your will can and cannot do about it.
Read guideA will needs two independent witnesses who are present when you sign. Get this wrong and the will, or a gift in it, may be invalid. Here is exactly who can and cannot witness.
Read guideA trust holds assets on behalf of beneficiaries, managed by trustees. Trusts in wills are most useful for protecting children's inheritances, providing for a spouse while preserving assets for children, or handling complex family situations.
Read guideDying without a will means the rules of intestacy decide who inherits. The results can be surprising — and they do not consider who you actually wanted to benefit.
Read guideYes. English law does not require a solicitor to make a valid will. But how you write it matters. Here is when DIY works, when online services are appropriate, and when a solicitor is genuinely worth the cost.
Read guideThe nil-rate band is the amount you can leave on death before inheritance tax applies. It has been frozen at £325,000 since 2009, and a separate allowance exists for people leaving a home to their children.
Read guideThe mortgage does not disappear. The debt remains, the lender must be notified, and what happens next depends on how you own the property and whether you have life insurance.
Read guideYou cannot change a will after someone has died. But beneficiaries can agree between themselves to redirect gifts using a deed of variation — and within two years of the death, this can also have tax advantages.
Read guideA straightforward probate application currently takes three to six months from death to final distribution. Complex estates, disputed wills, or property sales can push that to a year or more.
Read guideA lasting power of attorney (LPA) lets someone you trust make decisions for you if you no longer can. There are two types, and most people need both.
Read guideYes, but children cannot receive an inheritance directly until they turn 18. Without a trust clause in your will, the money is held under a court-supervised arrangement until then.
Read guideAn executor administers the deceased's estate: applying for probate, collecting assets, paying debts, and distributing what remains to the beneficiaries. Here is what that looks like in practice.
Read guideA will can be invalid for several reasons: improper signing or witnessing, lack of mental capacity, undue influence, or because a later will has revoked it. Most mistakes are preventable.
Read guideMost people who do not have a will say they will make one eventually. The case for doing it now is not about being morbid — it is about what happens to the people you care about if you do not.
Read guideNot owning a house does not mean you have nothing to leave. Savings, personal possessions, a car, and digital assets are all part of your estate — and without a will, none of them go where you might expect.
Read guideA mutual will is an agreement between two people not to change their wills after one of them dies. Unlike mirror wills, mutual wills are legally binding — which makes them inflexible and often inadvisable.
Read guideMirror wills are two separate, matching wills for couples. Find out how they work and when they're the right choice.
Read guideChoosing an executor is one of the most important decisions when writing a will. Here's everything you need to know.
Read guideHow to correctly sign and witness a will in England and Wales, and what makes it legally valid.
Read guideNo guides match that search.