Inheritance Issues For The LGBT Community

What do LGBT families and individuals need to be aware of?

Statistics from the Office of National Statistics show that in 2017 there were 190,000 same sex families in the UK of which over half were co-habiting couples rather than spouses or civil partners. In some ways the law is still evolving to encompass the different forms of family that now exist and consequently same sex families and transgender individuals should be aware of their legal position under Wills and how they stand in relation to inheritance tax.

Same sex families who are co-habiting are faced with the same inheritance issues that affect opposite sex co-habiting families. A major consideration is that co-habiting partners do not automatically inherit assets held in their partner's sole name and it is therefore very important that a suitable Will is made to ensure the surviving partner is not disinherited and is forced to apply to the court for financial provision.