Changing a will after death

Trusts Discussion
1

Dear All

Can a beneficiary be removed from a will after the testator’s death, if he agrees to being removed.

I understand that without the agreement of the person affected one cannot be removed from the will.

Kindly confirm.

Awais

2

Hi Awais

This will help IHTM35161 - Disclaimers: introduction - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Like you state a beneficiary can agree to renounce their bequest.
Kim Jarvis
Vitality

3

Similarly a beneficiary can “vary” their entitlement in favour of anyone they choose. This can be useful if the consequence of disclaiming is not what the beneficiary wants to happen to their entitlement. Depending upon the wording of the original will, a disclaimer does not necessarily have the same effect as the beneficiary might expect - for example a disclaimer might create a partial intestacy when what the beneficiary wants to achieve is a division among the other named beneficiaries. A variation can solve that problem.

4

Whilst it is possible for an inheritance to be disclaimed, Awais needs to consider what is intended by this. For example, if the intended beneficiary had hoped to avoid loss of means-related benefits the disclaimer may be treated as deliberate deprivation, so could end up without both inheritance and benefits.

5

What if an estate is split between 10 people and 9 people want to remove one beneficairy because they have no contact or know his whereabouts nor are they on good terms with them is this a possiblity. From my reasearch this is not possible unless that person concerned agrees

6

In simple terms, not legally. In practice if the executors/administrators are agreeable they may be willing to risk a breach of trust action against them personally, although I think it likely that any legal adviser would advise against this and possibly refuse to act further.
Obviously this will depend on the precise circumstances of each case, including the terms of any will or intestacy provisions, the ages and capacity of all ten beneficiaries, and the value of each share involved. If the “unwanted” beneficiary has been “missing” for some time, and may be of advanced age and/or poor health, it is possible that an insurance firm may accept the risk - but will expect all usual checks/searches to have been undertaken first …