Willing the way

For those who fail to take action and put in place a will before they die, the automatic rules of inheritance will apply, potentially with some unexpected results in terms of which family relations will stand to receive an inheritance. In England and Wales, the position for the surviving spouse has improved since 1 February 2009, with an increase in the statutory legacy figures. However, this should not be seen as a justification for not writing a will, since the ideal outcome is still that a client controls who inherits their estate, when and how. Good estate planning nearly always star...