Estate planning documents

Basic Wills

A Basic Will is the most straightforward starting point in estate planning. It sets out clearly who benefits from your estate, who you trust to carry out your wishes, and — if you have young children — who you want to care for them. It is better than having nothing in place, and for many people, it's the right starting point. But it's worth understanding clearly what it does and doesn't protect against.

What a Basic Will does

When you die, a Basic Will ensures your estate is distributed to the people you've named — your chosen beneficiaries — directly and absolutely. That means they inherit outright, with no conditions, no trustees, and no ongoing management. The estate goes through the administration process first, and once that's complete, your beneficiaries receive their share. It's simple, clear, and easy to understand — which is both its greatest strength and, in some circumstances, its main limitation.

Who it names

Your beneficiaries — the people or organisations who inherit from your estate. Your executors — those responsible for carrying out the Will's instructions after your death. Your trustees — who manage any assets held on behalf of beneficiaries, often the same people as the executors. And if you have young children, your guardians — the people who would take on legal responsibility for their upbringing if both parents were no longer here.

Better than intestacy

Dying without a Will means the law — not you — decides who inherits. This can have unintended consequences, particularly for unmarried partners, stepchildren, or anyone outside the standard legal hierarchy.

Funeral wishes

You can include guidance on your funeral preferences. While not legally binding, it gives your family clear direction at a difficult time rather than leaving them to guess.

What a Basic Will doesn't protect against

Because beneficiaries inherit absolutely — meaning the assets become fully theirs — a Basic Will offers no protection once the inheritance has passed. This is worth understanding clearly, because life doesn't always follow a straightforward path. Here are the main risks to be aware of:

• Marriage after death

  • If a beneficiary remarries or cohabits after inheriting, the assets they received could become part of their new partner's estate — potentially disinheriting your children or other intended heirs further down the line.

• Care fees

  • Assets inherited directly are included in a beneficiary's financial assessment if they later require care. The inheritance you intended for them could be used to fund care costs rather than passing to the next generation.

• Divorce

  • An inheritance received directly can be considered during divorce proceedings — potentially passing to a soon-to-be ex-partner rather than staying within your intended bloodline.

• Debt & bankruptcy

  • If a beneficiary is in financial difficulty, assets inherited directly may be accessible to their creditors. The inheritance effectively becomes exposed to their personal financial situation.

• Means-tested benefits

  • Receiving an inheritance outright may affect a beneficiary's entitlement to means-tested benefits — in some cases reducing or removing support they rely on.

Inheritance Tax

A Basic Will doesn't reduce your estate's IHT liability, no Will really does, a Will can be tax efficient, but in order to mitigate IHT, you should explore Lifetime Planning & Gifting. When a beneficiary later dies, the same assets may be taxed again in their estate — sometimes referred to as double taxation. If you are married or in a civil partnership, your estate can utilise spousal exemption and the transferable nil rate bands (IHT-free allowances).

Something worth understanding

A Basic Will protects your wishes — not the inheritance itself

This is the key distinction. A Basic Will ensures your estate goes to the right people at the right time. But once it does, you have no further influence over what happens to it. If a beneficiary's circumstances change — through divorce, debt, care, or remarriage — the inheritance is exposed to those changes. For some people and some estates, that's an acceptable position. For others, it's a reason to look at whether a trust written into a Will might offer more appropriate protection.

"A Basic Will is always better than no Will at all. The question worth asking is whether passing assets to someone directly — with no protection around them — is the right approach for your particular family and circumstances."

Who a Basic Will works well for

A Basic Will is a sensible starting point for younger people, those with modest estates, and anyone whose priority is simply to ensure their wishes are recorded and their children's guardians are formally appointed. It's also a natural starting point for those who haven't yet thought about estate planning in depth — it opens the conversation without overcomplicating it. As your assets grow, or as family circumstances become more complex, it's worth reviewing whether additional layers of protection make sense.

Keep it current

Marriage automatically revokes a previous Will in England and Wales. Divorce, new children, changes in your financial position, or the death of an executor can all mean your Will no longer reflects what you'd actually want. A Will isn't a one-time task — it's worth revisiting every few years, or whenever something significant changes.