Six things not to do when you make a will in the UK

A simple will that leaves everything outright often fails to protect the home. The six things to avoid: outright gifts of the house, life cover outside a trust, children on the deeds, joint accounts instead of an LPA, assuming joint ownership is enough, and leaving everything stuck behind probate.

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Most people making a will in England and Wales want the same thing: the house and the savings to reach the children, not a care-fee bill, a second marriage, or a year of probate. A simple will that leaves everything outright often fails that job.

Here are six things a careful estate plan avoids, with an ordinary example for each. This is general information for England and Wales, not advice for your family.

1. Do not leave the house to your partner or children outright if you need it protected#

Sarah and Tom live in a three-bed in Leeds, worth about £340,000, owned as joint tenants. They have two children, aged 11 and 14, and mirror wills that say “everything to each other, then to the children.”

That works if nothing changes. It fails in two ordinary ways.

If Tom dies first, Sarah owns the whole house. She can remarry and make a new will. The children from the first marriage can be left out. Solicitors call this sideways disinheritance. Mirror wills are not binding on the survivor.

If Sarah later needs residential care, the whole house can be counted in her means test once she is a permanent resident and no qualifying relative still lives there. In England, capital above £23,250 means you pay care fees in full.

The alternative is not “leave them nothing.” It is to leave each partner’s share into a trust in the will — often a life-interest or property protection trust. The survivor can live in the home. The capital is earmarked for the children. That share is not normally counted in the survivor’s care means test.

Read more: mirror wills and property protection trusts.

2. Do not name your partner or children as the direct beneficiaries of a life policy#

A £200,000 life policy paid to “my wife” lands in the estate, or at least in her hands with no wrapper. If it is paid into the estate it can face inheritance tax and probate delay. If it is paid to her outright, it is hers to lose in a later divorce, debt, or care assessment.

Insurers usually offer a trust form at no extra cost. The payout is then held for the people you name, outside your estate for inheritance tax, and the trustees can release money without waiting for probate. Ask the insurer for the trust deed before you assume the nomination form does the same job. A nomination and a trust are not the same document.

3. Do not put the children’s names on the house to “avoid care fees”#

Margaret, 76, is told by a friend to sign the bungalow over to her son so the council cannot take it. Three problems follow.

• If the local authority decides the transfer was mainly to avoid care fees, it can still treat her as owning the house. That is deliberate deprivation under the Care Act 2014. There is no fixed time limit.
• If she keeps living there, the gift can also be a gift with reservation for inheritance tax. The house may stay in her estate anyway.
• Her son’s divorce, bankruptcy, or mortgage lender can now reach a house she still lives in.

A lifetime trust is sometimes used instead of a straight gift, but it is not a magic shield. If avoiding care is the only reason, the council can still challenge it. Most families are better served by a will trust set up while both partners are alive and well, years before any care need.

See care fees explained and what actually protects the home.

4. Do not add a child or partner to the bank account instead of an LPA#

Joint accounts can be frozen or argued over when someone dies or loses capacity. Adding a son “so he can help with the bills” can also look like a gift, and the money is legally his as well as yours.

A property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney lets a chosen person pay bills and deal with the bank if you cannot, without giving them the money. It has to be made while you still have capacity. A will does nothing for this. A will only speaks after death.

Guide: property and financial affairs LPA.

5. Do not assume the family home is “sorted” because you own it together#

Joint tenants pass the home to the survivor automatically, outside the will. That is simple. It also means the first of you to die cannot leave their half on trust. If protection matters, a solicitor changes the ownership to tenants in common, then each will leaves that half into trust.

This is paperwork at the Land Registry, not a sale. Your mortgage lender does not have to be paid off. They should still be told.

6. Do not leave the family to get a grant of probate for assets that did not need to be in your name#

Probate is the court grant executors need before they can collect many assets held in your sole name. Banks, share registrars and the Land Registry often wait for it. Straightforward estates are often dealt with in months; complicated ones take longer. While they wait, bills still arrive.

Assets already in a trust, jointly owned accounts that pass by survivorship, and life policies written in trust are not stuck behind that grant. The will is still needed. A trust does not appoint guardians for children, and it does not replace a will.

What an average couple should actually do#

For a homeowner couple in their forties or fifties with children, the usual sensible set is:

1. Wills, not a downloaded one-pager if the home is the main asset.
2. Tenants in common, if a will trust is going to hold a share of the house.
3. A life interest or property protection trust in each will.
4. Life insurance written in trust.
5. Both types of lasting power of attorney.
6. A review when you buy, remortgage, remarry, or have another child.

None of this makes the home disappear from the tax return, and none of it is a licence to hide assets from a foreseeable care bill. It does stop the most common way ordinary families lose the lot: a survivor who inherits outright, and a will that cannot protect anyone after that.

Frequently asked questions

What should you not put in a will in the UK?

Avoid leaving the family home outright to a partner or child if you need it protected, and do not rely on the will for things it cannot do. A will cannot redirect a life policy that pays a named person, cannot pass on a home owned as joint tenants, and does nothing if you lose capacity — that needs a lasting power of attorney.

Are mirror wills legally binding on the survivor?

No. Mirror wills are two matching documents, not a contract. After the first death the survivor owns what they inherited and can change their will. A life-interest or property protection trust in the first will is what ring-fences that share for the children.

Can I put my house in my children’s names to avoid care fees?

Not safely. If the local authority decides the transfer was mainly to avoid care fees, it can treat you as still owning the house. That is deliberate deprivation of assets under the Care Act 2014 guidance, and there is no fixed time limit. If you keep living there, the gift can also stay in your estate for inheritance tax as a gift with reservation.

Should life insurance be written in trust?

Usually, yes. A policy written in trust pays out to trustees for the people you name, outside your estate for inheritance tax and without waiting for probate. Insurers usually provide the trust form at no extra cost. A nomination form is not the same thing.

This is general information, not legal advice. Everyone's situation is different — speak to a qualified adviser before acting. KeepTheLot is an independent information service covering England & Wales. We are not a law firm.

Part of our guide to wills.