I'm Widowed
The plan you and your spouse made together is now a plan you'll execute alone.
The IHT allowances transfer, but the assumptions in your old will almost never do. Widowhood is the single most common trigger for out-of-date estate planning.
What typically applies
On the first death, both spouses' nil-rate bands can be combined — meaning your estate now has up to £1m of allowance if the home is passing to direct descendants. But that only helps if your will actually captures it.
Widowhood is also the moment life insurance often lapses, LPAs become urgent (your co-attorney has died), and the question of the family home's long-term future comes back onto the table.
Where to go from here
Delivered by IMS
Wills
A widow's will is almost always a new document, not an amendment.
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Lasting Power of Attorney
The attorney arrangement usually needs redoing after a spouse's death.
Delivered by IMS
Living Trusts
For protecting the family home from future care fees and remarriage risk.
Regulated adviser
Insure the Inheritance Tax Bill
Where the combined estate now has real IHT exposure — regulated advice.