All married couples should consider making an appointment with a Will Writer but that applies especially where both partners have previously been married.
Couples who have previously been married not only have their own children to think about, they must also consider the children from previous marriages. This can have implications on inheritance tax both in the couple’s lifetime and beyond.
The introduction of a transferable nil rate band has meant that the neccessity for ensuring each partner uses their nil rate band allowance up had become a thing of the past. Now one partner’s entire nil rate band passes to the surviving partner on death.
This works fine in first marriages where both partners want the same people to inherit from the Will, however the transferable nil-rate band is not so useful when the couple wish their Estate to pass todifferent people so that each partner’s family members still benefit.
Transferring all asssets from the survivor on first death risks the Estate only benefiting the survivor’s family and with the other family losing out completely.
If the main asset is the home it is often not practical to write the Will so that specific gifts are shared to specific families.
A Will Writer can set up a Discretionary Trust of the Nil Rate Band combined with debt or charge provisions. In that case upon the death of the survivor, all the children would receive an equal sum from the Estate.
Alternatively an immediate post death interest in the assets can be created by a Will Writer in favor of the survivor. This provides a life interest to the survivor but ensures that the assets pass to the children of the first death on the survivors death.
If one of the couple was previously widowed there will be different considerations to make. This person may have already received a 100% uplift in their nil rate band from the earlier spouse and it would not be good planning for them to pass their Estate to the new spouse because that would waste their nil rate band allowance. Also their new spouse if they died first would not be able to pass their nil rate band allowance to the other partner because he/she had already received one 100% uplift.
In these circumstances the Will Writer can set up a Discretionary Trust so ensure that all tax allowances are properly utilised. This requires specialist consideration to ensure that the long term aim of providing for beneficiaries that may be outside of the traditional family unit.