It is possible to change a person’s Will after their death, as long as any beneficiaries left worse off by the changes, agree to them.
It might be that changes to the law since the Will was made might enable you to reduce Inheritance or Capital Gains Tax. Someone might have been left out of the Will and the executors and/or beneficiaries feel they need to be included. You might want to move the deceased person’s assets into a trust or perhaps you need to clear up some uncertainty within the Will. All of these reasons are perfectly legal reasons for changing a Will and this happens on a regular basis.
To change a will you’ll need to make a ‘variation’. You don’t need a formal document for this, you can simply write a letter, as long as it meets the requirements of the Inheritance Tax Act and the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act. The document you’ll need for this is called the Instrument of Variation checklist. If the variation means there’s more Inheritance tax to pay, you’ll need to notify HMRC within 6 months.
If there’s no will the law decides who inherits using the intestacy rules. However, you can still make changes to the inheritance in the same way as if there’s a Will.
Changes to the will must be completed within 2 years of the death.
If you would like some advice on the type of change you would like to make to a Will and how to go about it, please give us a call. The first 30 mins is completely free of charge and you may find that is enough time to sort out your queries and set you on the right path.