The complete guide to wills, Lasting Power of Attorney, Inheritance Tax, pension nominations, trusts, digital assets, blended families, and a full estate planning checklist.
This guide is part of ProbateHelp's Wills & Planning guide cluster. Estimated reading time: 25 min.
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Estate planning is the process of arranging your affairs so that your assets pass to the right people, in the right way, with the minimum of tax and delay. It typically involves making a will, setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney, reviewing pension nominations, and considering Inheritance Tax.
No — you can make a will yourself using a template or an online service. However, a solicitor is strongly recommended if your estate is complex, you have a business, you want to set up trusts, or your family circumstances are complicated (e.g., blended families, estranged relatives).
Your estate is distributed according to the rules of intestacy. In England and Wales, this means your spouse receives the first £322,000 plus half the remainder if you have children; children share the other half. Unmarried partners receive nothing automatically, regardless of how long you lived together.
A basic mirror will for a couple costs £150–£300 from a solicitor. A Lasting Power of Attorney costs £92 to register with the OPG, plus solicitor fees if you use one (typically £300–£500 per LPA). A comprehensive estate plan covering wills, LPAs, and IHT advice typically costs £1,000–£3,000.
The standard nil-rate band is £325,000 per person. An additional residence nil-rate band of £175,000 applies if you leave your home to direct descendants. A married couple can combine these allowances, giving a potential IHT-free threshold of £1 million. Estates above the threshold pay IHT at 40%.
A will takes effect when you die — it determines who inherits your estate and who administers it. A Lasting Power of Attorney takes effect while you are alive but have lost mental capacity — it determines who can make decisions on your behalf about your finances and health. You need both: a will without an LPA leaves a gap if you lose capacity before you die.
Yes. You can update your will at any time by making a new will, which normally revokes the old one, or by adding a codicil — a formal amendment signed and witnessed in the same way as a will. Marriage or civil partnership usually revokes an earlier will unless it was made in contemplation of that marriage or civil partnership. Divorce does not revoke a will, but gifts or appointments to your former spouse are treated as if they had died on the date of the final order.
Mirror wills are two separate wills made by a couple that reflect each other — typically leaving everything to the other partner first, and then to children or other beneficiaries if the other partner has already died. They are the most common type of will for couples. They are separate documents and either party can change their will at any time without the other's consent.
No. Transfers between spouses and civil partners are completely exempt from Inheritance Tax, regardless of the amount. However, when the surviving spouse dies, their estate (which now includes the inherited assets) may be subject to IHT. The unused nil-rate band from the first death can be transferred to the survivor's estate.
A nil-rate band discretionary trust (NRBDT) is a trust written into a will that holds assets up to the nil-rate band (£325,000) for the benefit of a wide class of beneficiaries, rather than passing them directly to the surviving spouse. It was widely used before 2007 to preserve both spouses' nil-rate bands. Since the transferable nil-rate band was introduced in 2007, NRBDTs are less commonly needed for IHT purposes, but they are still used in some circumstances.
Under current rules, most defined contribution pension pots do not form part of your probate estate and usually sit outside Inheritance Tax. They normally pass under the pension scheme rules, guided by your expression of wishes form. From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits will be brought within the value of the estate for IHT purposes, so nominations still matter but tax planning needs a fresh review.
A Deed of Variation allows beneficiaries to redirect their inheritance within two years of the death. All affected beneficiaries must agree. It can be used to give assets to people not mentioned in the will, reduce IHT by redirecting assets to a spouse or charity, or equalise shares between family members. It is treated as if the deceased had made the variation themselves for tax purposes.
Not necessarily — a will does not need to name specific properties to be valid. However, if your will leaves 'my house at [address]' to a specific person and you have since moved, you should update it. More importantly, if your financial circumstances have changed significantly, a review is always worthwhile.