Will your will stand up to scrutiny? The case of multi-billionaire Shahzada Dawood, who has left his wife under £100,000, highlights how even wealthy families can struggle if legal documents are not in order.
Dawood, who died with his son Suleman when the OceanGate submersible Titan imploded in June 2023, appears to have died without a valid UK will. As a result, most of his fortune remains in Pakistan, while court papers show his widow, Christine, has received just under £76,958.
Sarah Manuel, head of professional standards at STEP, the professional body for lawyers, accountants and others dealing with inheritance issues, says not making provision for assets held in other countries is a common mistake when drafting wills.
‘If you have assets in other countries you must ensure you make a will in your country of domicile and the other countries where you own a business, property, accounts or shares. If you do not, you risk those assets being subject to the inheritance laws of the country in which they are located which may be unfavourable to family members,’ she says.
Record numbers of people now dispute wills every year, and mistakes in drafting can mean your family is not taken care of in the manner you intended
While it is unclear what will happen to the Dawood fortune, the problem of invalid and contested wills affects many wealthy families as well as those of more modest means.
Record numbers of people now dispute wills every year, and mistakes in drafting can mean your family is not taken care of in the manner you intended.
‘Making sure your will is valid and kept up to date will prevent countless costly mistakes and damaging unintended consequences,’ Manuel says.
Here, experts reveal the 13 biggest – and most frequent – errors they see when dealing with wills and inheritance planning.
1. Not making a will of any kind
Nearly three quarters of Britons don’t have a will, according to the Co-op, but dying without one means your wealth will be distributed in line with the intestacy rules, which are a generic set of rules stipulating who gets what.
‘Often those rules will not be in line with what you want,’ warns Ian Dyall, head of estate planning at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners.
Intestacy rules are complex, unusual, and vary across the UK. Without a will, though, your family will have to abide by them.
‘Don’t let your fears about getting it right stop you from making a will. A solicitor can help you get the big decisions right and your will can always be changed in future if necessary,’ Dyall says.
2. Botching a DIY will – or getting AI to do it
If you wouldn’t plumb in your kitchen, perhaps you shouldn’t DIY your will. Dyall, at Evelyn, says some he’s seen, particularly from those trying to use an AI tool to draft a will, were ‘pretty shocking’.
‘Wills need to be drafted in a way that unambiguously determines who gets what, even when perhaps one of the beneficiaries has died before you. It therefore needs to address many different contingencies.
Manuel, at STEP, points to reports that The Wanted singer Max George made notes on his phone before an operation thinking it could act as a will. Unwitnessed, difficult to find and muddled, these actions are not valid, she says.
3. An incorrectly witnessed will
An incorrectly witnessed will could be invalidated. A witness must not be a beneficiary, they must also be over 18 and not related to the people making the will.
In one very extreme case, Marley V Rawlings, an elderly couple accidentally signed each other’s mirror wills in 1999, rendering them invalid and triggering a long court case.
4. Using an unqualified will maker
While you can use a solicitor to make a will, you can also use a will writer. Many are expertly trained, but the profession isn’t regulated.
‘Dishonest, unqualified and incompetent will writers can cause significant distress and leave grieving families to deal with the financial and emotional consequences of bad advice,’ says Manuel. They also might not have insurance if anything goes wrong. ‘Always check that your will writer is trained, has a recognised specialist qualification with proven experience and holds insurance,’ Manuel says. You can check if they are a member of STEP at step.org/directory/members, or the Institute of Professional Willwriters at ipw.org.uk.
Don’t assume your will is final. Divorce doesn’t revoke a will, but being remarried does, so if you remarry and don’t make a new will your estate will be distributed under intestacy rules.
5. Assuming your will is final
Review your will as family circumstances and tax rules change.
‘You can’t just cross out changes in your will – that will just invalidate it. You can only make changes by adding a codicil or writing a new will,’ says Manuel.
Divorce doesn’t revoke a will, but being remarried does, so if you remarry and don’t make a new will your estate will be distributed under intestacy rules.
If you are officially divorced, a will naming your ex-spouse as your partner will treat them as if they died before you, so they won’t inherit. But if you die one day before the decree absolute they will still inherit.
Emma Holland, partner in the trust and probate litigation team at family law firm Stewarts, says a gift could fail entirely if you don’t update your will to account for a change in family or assets. This could happen, for example, if a gift of the money that is held with a specific bank is mentioned in a will, and that bank account changes hands or the account is changed without the will being updated.
6. Believing the ‘common law’ myth
Think you’ve got a ‘common law partnership’ that means you’ll inherit? Think again. No matter how long you live together, unless you are married or in a civil partnership you have no rights to your partner’s money or property unless a will is made.
Common law marriage is one of the biggest misconceptions in the business, says Trusha Velji, director at Touch Solicitors, citing figures from WillAid showing that 68 per cent of cohabitees were unaware of the rules of intestacy and that they would apply to them.
‘The law does not recognise you as common law spouses, even if you have children together and have lived together for many years,’ she says.
7. Not reading the small print
If you don’t understand the different charges involved in will-writing and executor services it could lead to a large amount of your estate going on admin.
Some will-writers might offer to act as an executor (someone who carries out the wishes in your will on death) or appoint a third-party to do this for a charge.
In some cases, you may wish to appoint a professional executor rather than asking a trusted family member or friend, but it’s vital to know what you will be charged.
‘Far too many people are lured into getting a free or cheap will online thinking it will save them money. All too often people don’t realise they’ve become a victim of rogue will advice until it is too late,’ Manuel says. ‘Always read the small print, don’t be afraid to ask questions, trust your instincts and discuss your decisions with your loved ones.’
8. Ignoring first marriages
Inheritance tax becomes complex if you’ve been married and widowed because the tax rules allow a surviving spouse or civil partner to benefit from the ‘nil-rate band’ when the first member of a couple dies.
The nil-rate band is the amount of your estate that you can pass down IHT-free, and it is set at £325,000 per person, so the widowed member of a couple potentially has a £650,000 nil-rate band when passed to the next generation.
But if that person marries again, the nil rate band they’ve received from their former partner can be lost if a will isn’t drafted carefully.
The widowed partner, if they draft a standard will leaving everything to their spouse, and then any children, will still have a £650,000 nil rate band to share with their new partner. This partner could, however, save their children more IHT on their estate if the will is structured in such a way as to retain their late partner’s nil rate band as well.
Melissa Henderson, of BRI Wealth Management, says that by drafting wills that leave some money to the children on the death of the first member of this new couple, rather than leaving it all to the new spouse, the extra £325,000 band can be used too. This could potentially save £130,000 in IHT (40 per cent of the £325,000 nil rate band).
Dyall says that legal trust structures can also be used in this situation to keep the extra nil-rate band intact but not deprive the new spouse of money. This will need careful advising however, so seek professional help.
9. Leaving everything to your spouse
Leaving everything to your wife or husband can be a sensible move, especially since everything you leave to them is exempt from inheritance tax.
But this may not be the most tax-efficient or helpful solution for everyone. In some cases, giving money to a child or trust on the death of the first partner will help save inheritance tax on the growth of that money, says Dyall.
‘It will no longer be part of the surviving spouse’s estate,’ he explains.
If money inherited by a spouse continues to grow, so will their potential inheritance tax liability. However, the tax-free allowance is not increasing – it has been fixed until April 2030 at £325,000 or £650,000 for a couple.
10. Missing out blended family arrangements
If you have young children, and particularly if you have a complex ‘blended family’, careful will drafting can avoid mistakes and later disputes.
For example, if you remarry you may want to make it clear whether you would like to ensure that your children will inherit from you even if you die first. Otherwise your new spouse could choose to disinherit your children should you pass away first.
‘Many of us now live in blended families with children from previous marriages so it’s even more important that your will makes provisions for those that need them,’ says Manuel.
11. Forgetting assets outside your estate
Your pension is not technically part of your estate, so is not covered by your will. To decide who you wish your pension to go to, you need to fill out a nomination form from your pension provider.
This is set to change in April 2027 and, although the final rules have yet to be revealed, it is likely you will have to stipulate your wishes for your pension in your will as well.
Dyall says he has seen first-hand the consequences of getting this wrong.
‘I have seen examples in the past where the will stipulated that one child got the deceased’s £500,000 pension and, to be fair to both children, the other child got the £500,000 house.
‘The gift of the property was effective, but the gift of the pension wasn’t, as it was not part of the estate controlled by the will,’ he explains.
While in his example he says the problem was resolved amicably so they both got the same value, in a different family, the outcome could have been very different.
12. Not including a letter of wishes
A ‘letter of wishes’ is not part of a will, but goes with it, giving the executors and administrators of your will an idea of what you’re trying to achieve with your bequests.
Henderson, at BRI, says that while these letters aren’t legally binding, they reduce potential conflict. ‘Being specific with your intentions leaves less room for ambiguity,’ she says.
Richard Cousins, the chief executive of Compass Group, who was killed in a plane crash in 2017. His £41 million estate went to Oxfam because his fiancee and three children sadly died along with him
13. No default beneficiary
Consider what would happen if you died with or after the beneficiaries of your will.
Rose Macfarlane, a partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell, says failing to appoint a ‘default beneficiary’ can lead to consequences that the willmaker would not have wanted. A default beneficiary– sometimes known as a ‘longstop’ – is someone who will receive your estate if the person you want to inherit it cannot do so. ‘If it’s left to a spouse without an alternative, and the spouse dies second, the estate will pass under intestacy rules,’ Macfarlane says.
An extreme example is the case of Richard Cousins, the chief executive of Compass Group, who was killed in a plane crash in 2017. His £41 million estate went to Oxfam because his fiancee and three children sadly died along with him.
It is believed that a month before, he had placed a ‘common tragedy’ clause in his will stipulating that the money would go to Oxfam if he and his sons died together.
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