Case File: the Will that looked perfect

Via their adviser, a couple asked us to review their Wills. On the face of it, everything was in order: the Wills were well drafted, and included sensible trust planning. Both also had registered LPAs, so on the surface it looked like they had been well served.

However, before signing it off, our estate planner double-checked the Land Registry - and something did not add up. The couple's home was not held the way their Wills assumed. Years earlier it had been placed into a trust they had essentially forgotten about. That trust, not their Wills, now controlled what happened to the house.

The consequences were serious. Because the home sat inside that trust, the couple stood to lose an inheritance tax allowance designed to protect the family home - potentially a six-figure sum in lost relief. The trust also carried tax-reporting duties that had gone unmet for years, with penalties possible.

What the case teaches

None of this was visible from the Wills themselves, which read perfectly well on paper. But they had not been drafted by a specialist - and that is exactly what led our estate planner to look behind them. Running that kind of check is second nature to a STEP-qualified estate planner and easily missed by a general drafter. A Will can look immaculate and still be built on a foundation nobody checked.

Key takeaways

• What the Land Registry says can override what the Will says
• Old lifetime trusts carry tax and reporting consequences families forget
• Specialist review means checking behind the documents, not just reading them

Only around 1 in 7 of the Wills we review need no action at all. If you have an existing Will, a review by a STEP-qualified estate planner is often the most valuable hour you can spend on your planning.