Malcolm Finney compares two important post-death arrangements.
A key element in any estate plan is the need for a will; a will allows a deceased to distribute their estate as they wish and, where possible, to mitigate any inheritance tax (IHT) charge (at 40%) on their estate on death.
A will thus effectively allows a degree of forward tax planning to be undertaken. However, future circumstances can (and typically do) change, whether that be the tax climate or a beneficiary’s own circumstances, which may mean that what was ‘tax-effective’ when the will was originally executed is no longer the case.
Re-writing a will post-death?
It is, of course, not possible to change the terms of a testator’s will after their death. However, despite this, it is possible for IHT and capital gains tax (CGT) purposes to, in effect, change the distributions
