Estate planning documents

Flexible Life Interest Trust Wills

A Flexible Life Interest Trust Will — often referred to as a FLIT Will — takes the protective principles of a Protective Property Trust Will and extends them across your entire estate, not just the family home. It's designed for couples who want to ensure the survivor is genuinely looked after during their lifetime, while preserving the underlying estate for the next generation. It's one of the most comprehensive and widely used Will structures for married couples with assets to protect.

What it does and how it works

On the first death, rather than your estate passing outright to the survivor, your share is placed into a trust. The surviving partner — the life tenant — has an absolute right to income generated by the trust assets, and a discretionary right to capital. In practice, this means the survivor is properly provided for: they can receive income from investments, continue to live in the property, upsize or downsize if needed, and access capital if circumstances require it — all with the support of trustees who can respond to changing needs. What they cannot do is own the assets outright, redirect them to a new partner, or alter where they ultimately go.

When the life tenant dies — or in some cases upon remarriage or another specified event — the trust comes to an end and the assets pass to the beneficiaries named by the person who died first. Usually these are children, but they can be whoever you choose. Crucially, your say in where your estate ultimately ends up is preserved even after you're gone.

The difference between a FLIT Will and a PPT Will

A Protective Property Trust Will protects your share of the main residence only — everything else in your estate, savings, investments, and other assets, typically passes to the survivor outright. A FLIT Will covers the whole estate. Both the property and the residue sit within the trust, meaning the same protections apply across everything you own rather than just the home. For couples with significant assets beyond their property, this is usually the more appropriate structure.

The other key distinction is the survivor's rights. Under a PPT Will, the life tenant has the right to occupy the property — that's the extent of it. Under a FLIT Will, they have an absolute right to income from all trust assets, and trustees have discretion to release capital when needed. It offers considerably more flexibility and support to the survivor, while maintaining the same underlying protection for the estate.

What it can protect against:

• Remarriage

  • If the surviving partner remarries, your share of the estate remains in trust. It cannot be redirected to a new partner or their family, and it cannot be included in a new marital estate. This is one of the most common motivations for a FLIT Will — the desire to ensure that what you've built together ultimately reaches your children, regardless of what happens in the survivor's life after your death.

• Care fees

  • Because the assets are held in trust rather than belonging to the survivor outright, your share may not be included in a care financial assessment if the life tenant later needs residential care. The life tenant's own assets — those they already owned or inherited outright elsewhere — would still be assessed, but the trust assets are held separately. This can make a material difference to how much of the estate ultimately reaches the next generation.

• Changes to the survivor's Will

  • Without a FLIT Will, the surviving partner inherits everything and can do whatever they choose with it — including changing their own Will entirely. A FLIT Will ensures that your share of the estate is committed to your chosen beneficiaries from the moment you die, regardless of any decisions the survivor makes afterwards.

• IHT — the flexibility benefit

  • One of the less obvious advantages of a FLIT Will is the flexibility it gives trustees on the IHT front. If the surviving partner reaches a point where they no longer need some of the trust assets, trustees can reduce the life tenant's interest in the trust — potentially reducing the overall IHT liability on the second death. This isn't automatic, but the structure allows for it in a way that an outright inheritance doesn't.

Things to consider

• Unmarried couples

  • For unmarried couples, the IHT position needs careful thought. A life interest given to an unmarried partner means your share of the estate is likely to be treated as part of their estate for IHT purposes, which can lead to double taxation. For unmarried couples, a Discretionary Trust Will may offer a more tax-efficient structure, and is worth considering alongside — or instead of — a FLIT Will.

• Timing

  • Like all Will trusts, a FLIT Will only takes effect on death. It doesn't protect assets during your lifetime. If lifetime protection — for example against future care fees while you're still alive — is a priority, this needs to be addressed separately through lifetime planning.

• Choosing trustees

  • The trustees of a FLIT Will carry real responsibility. They oversee the trust, support the life tenant, and ultimately ensure assets pass to the right people at the right time. Choosing people who are trustworthy, sensible, and willing to take professional advice when needed is important. In some cases, particularly where family dynamics are complex, appointing a professional co-trustee is worth considering.

"A FLIT Will is the closest thing to having your cake and eating it — the survivor is genuinely looked after, with access to income and capital as needed, while the estate itself remains committed to the people you intended from the very beginning. It's a well-balanced structure for couples who want both."

Who a FLIT Will works well for

A Flexible Life Interest Trust Will is most commonly used by married couples with children — particularly where the estate includes significant assets beyond the family home, where there's a concern about care fees or remarriage, or where both partners want the assurance that their share of the estate will ultimately reach their children regardless of what happens after either of them dies. It's also used in blended families, where each partner may have children from a previous relationship and wants to ensure their own estate is preserved for those children.