{"id":26639,"date":"2024-05-10T14:04:27","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T13:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smh.group\/?p=26639"},"modified":"2024-05-10T14:04:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T13:04:27","slug":"is-your-will-fit-for-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/is-your-will-fit-for-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Is your Will fit for purpose?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>A recent case illustrated the dangers of using homemade wills when one was found to be invalid. It emphasises the importance of keeping even a well-drafted will current, especially with the potential for future changes in inheritance tax (IHT) laws.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Invalid will<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>While there is usually the presumption that the testator will have had knowledge of a will, and will have approved it, a will might be considered as suspicious if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It is a homemade will;<\/li>\n<li>It is created by a beneficiary;<\/li>\n<li>It contains spelling mistakes;<\/li>\n<li>It represents a radical change from a previous will; or<\/li>\n<li>The relationship between the testator and beneficiary was not close.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the case of <em>Ingram and Whitfield v Abraham 2023<\/em>, a homemade will would have seen Joanne Abraham\u2019s estate inherited by her brother \u2013 who drafted the will \u2013 rather than her children who were previously the beneficiaries. The homemade will, which also misspelt Joanne\u2019s name, was held to be invalid, therefore, her children inherited the estate.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Future IHT changes<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Although IHT reliefs have remained largely unchanged since the introduction of the residence nil rate band in 2017, future changes cannot be ruled out \u2013 especially with an election on the horizon.<\/p>\n<p>The Institute for Fiscal Studies has recommended that three IHT reliefs are cancelled:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>AIM shares: <\/strong>these shares are exempt from IHT, with AIM portfolios \u2013 including AIM ISAs \u2013 often used to avoid IHT.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Business and agricultural property relief:<\/strong> although full abolishment might be politically difficult, relief could be capped.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pension pots:<\/strong> funds in money purchase pension schemes can currently be passed on to beneficiaries free of IHT.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The lesson here is to review your will regularly, even if it is well-written, because your circumstances, wealth and IHT rules could change.<\/p>\n<p>The Government\u2019s guide to making a will can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/make-will\/writing-your-will\">here<\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For more information,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/contact\/\">contact us<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<strong>0114 266 4432<\/strong>\u00a0or email\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:info@smh.group\"><strong>info@smh.group.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent case illustrated the dangers of using homemade wills when one was found to be invalid. It emphasises the importance of keeping even a well-drafted will current, especially with the potential for future changes in inheritance tax (IHT) laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":26627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[479,726],"class_list":["post-26639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smh-accounting-business-advisory","tag-making-a-will","tag-will"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is your Will fit for purpose? - SMH Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A recent case illustrated the dangers of using homemade wills when one was found to be invalid.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is your Will fit for purpose? 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