“Do I have to include family in my will?”

A will is a personal document. It lets you set out how you would like your assets to be distributed after you’ve died. In theory, there’s free rein to specify who you would and wouldn’t want to benefit from the things you own. But should you choose others over your family?

Clients generally want to make sure their husband/wife, children, grandchildren and other relatives are provided for. In fact, much of our work involves advising people and families on organising their affairs so that those close to them stand to inherit the greatest possible value. There are all sorts of mechanisms for doing that, and planning can’t really begin too soon. However, providing for relatives is not for everyone; perhaps there’s been a family rift, only distant family members are around, or there’s a strong allegiance to a charity. So, the short answer is: no, you don’t have to include family in your will.

However, this all takes careful consideration and good legal advice. It’s really important to make sure that a decision to exclude family isn’t made in the heat of the moment or for reasons that could change in the future. We always discuss the structure of a will with clients and the implications of taking one course or another. And one of these potential implications is that a will that leaves out certain family members might not actually take effect as planned.

A claim for ‘reasonable financial provision’ can be made in the courts by:

• a spouse or civil partner (current or former) who hasn’t remarried;
• the deceased’s child;
• someone who the deceased was in a parental role towards and who was treated as a child of the family; or
• someone who was being maintained by the deceased.

‘Reasonable financial provision’ is therefore a major consideration when a client tells us they don’t want to leave money, property or other possessions to family. It may be possible to mitigate the risk of a challenge later on by including with your will your reasons for leaving certain family members out, and evidence that you were of sound mind when you took the decision.

For advice about how to allocate assets in a will, or any other will-related issue, contact our team on info@bsandi.co.uk or call us on 01264 353411.