These can include unfairness between family members, inefficient
tax outcomes, or practical difficulties in dealing with inherited
assets.
This is especially true where the will was made many years
before death, or where the family's circumstances have changed
in the meantime — through marriage, divorce, new children or
grandchildren, or business succession planning.
Fortunately, there is a legal mechanism that allows
beneficiaries to make changes to the way an estate is distributed,
without the need for a court application: the Deed of
Variation.
What is a Deed of Variation?
A Deed of Variation is a formal agreement that allows a
beneficiary of a deceased person's estate to redirect all or
part of their inheritance to someone else. For tax purposes, the
redirection is treated as though it had been made by the deceased
in their original will or under the rules of intestacy. This can be
enormously useful, especially for inheritance tax (IHT)
planning.
