If you have remarried, or you and your partner have children from previous relationships, your family is exactly the kind that standard DIY wills fail. Not dramatically, and not immediately. The failure shows up years later, after one of you has died, when it is too late to fix.
A couple make simple mirror wills leaving everything to each other, then to "the children". The first partner dies and everything passes to the survivor. If the survivor later remarries, their existing will is usually revoked automatically by the marriage, and the first partner's children can end up with nothing at all, entirely legally.
Stepchildren have no automatic inheritance rights under intestacy, so if you die without a will, a stepchild you raised for twenty years may receive nothing.
The residence nil rate band of £175,000 depends on your home passing to "direct descendants", a definition that does include stepchildren, but only if the will is written so they actually inherit.
Start with our inheritance tax calculator to see what is at stake for your estate.
Read our sideways disinheritance guide to understand exactly how the common mirror-will mistake happens.
If you want your wills properly built, we can connect you with a vetted specialist who works with blended families and structures like life interest arrangements.
Book a free call. We will talk through your position and whether there is anything worth changing. No hard sell, no obligation.