Along with no forced heirship in England and Wales (unlike in some other countries such as Spain), the law also states that you have the freedom to do as you please in relation to your assets. This is known as ‘testamentary freedom’. Therefore, the short answer is that there is no obligation by law for you to leave your assets to any of your children.
If you fail to make reasonable financial provision for any dependent children (specifically minor children), those children may be able to make a claim against the estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (see here for more information on such claims). However, for financially independent adults, any claim is unlikely to be successful.
When taking instructions for a Will, I am required to ensure that clients understand any moral claims that may be made on their estate as part of the process of checking a client has the required mental capacity to make a Will. Doing so will also strengthen the case against any later claim a disappointed beneficiary might try to make on the estate. Therefore, when a client with children comes to me to make a Will and specifically states that they want to leave their children or a child (or other close relative in certain circumstances) out of their Will, it is important that I find out why.
If relations are good, it could be for a pragmatic reason. It may be that your children are adults and already doing quite well for themselves, perhaps with children of their own, so it can make sense to skip a generation and leave your estate to your grandchildren instead. This may be a sensible decision since it can avoid the potential for tax to be paid twice on the same assets, when considering the age of your children and their own assets. Even if tax is not payable on the first death due to the available Nil Rate Bands (NRBs), bunching your estate with an already wealthy child could mean that this relief is ultimately wasted upon the death of that child.
If adult children are already well established, leaving your estates to your grandchildren can help them to get a head start on things such as buying a property to live in, with their education and training, or to start a business. While your children could gift some of their Inheritance to their children later (other than by way of a Deed of Variation which has been mentioned in other articles) there is a risk that this will remain in their estate upon their death for tax purposes.
If relations are bad, it may be that you simply do not feel your (usually adult) children deserve to inherit under your estate when you die, or maybe to a lesser extent than a sibling. In most cases, clients have not arrived at this decision lightly and by the time I see them for the initial meeting, usually, relations have been sour for quite a long time.
These are just a couple common examples of why someone might choose not to leave their estates to their children upon death. Whatever your reasons, you should always seek specialist advice and assistance when making your Will to ensure its validity, and to limit the chance of any claims upon your estate.
If you would like assistance with preparing your Will, or to discuss estate planning options, then please contact Jen Bleby by email or on 01494 893526.