Deed of Variation: Changing a Will After Someone Has Died

It’s a genuine and useful feature of UK law: beneficiaries can collectively agree to change how a deceased person’s estate is distributed, even after death, using a legal document called a Deed of Variation. Here’s how it works and why families use it.

What a Deed of Variation actually does

A Deed of Variation allows one or more beneficiaries to redirect some or all of their inheritance to someone else - a different family member, a charity, or into a trust - and, if done correctly within the required timeframe, have the redirection treated as if the deceased had made that gift themselves for Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax purposes, rather than as a gift from the original beneficiary. Only what’s left once the estate’s own debts have been settled is actually available to redirect this way (see our dedicated article on what happens to debt when someone dies).

The two-year time limit

A Deed of Variation must be made within two years of the date of death to have this special tax treatment. Variations made after this window can still redirect the inheritance as a matter of general law, but lose the specific tax advantage - meaning the redirection would instead be treated as a gift from the original beneficiary, potentially triggering their own IHT and gifting rules (see our dedicated article on the seven-year rule) rather than being read back into the original estate.

Common reasons families use one

• Reducing an Inheritance Tax bill, for example by redirecting part of an inheritance to grandchildren instead of children, potentially skipping a generation of future IHT liability, or by redirecting a gift to charity to secure the reduced 36% IHT rate (see our dedicated article on this).
• Correcting an outdated will that no longer reflects the family’s actual circumstances or wishes - for example, if a will was written years before a new grandchild was born, or before circumstances changed significantly.
• Providing for someone left out of the will, such as an unmarried partner not otherwise provided for, with the agreement of the beneficiaries who would otherwise have inherited that share.
• Making use of both spouses’ nil-rate bands more efficiently, in situations where the original will didn’t structure things optimally (see our dedicated article on how married couples pass on up to £1 million).

Who needs to agree

Only the beneficiaries whose entitlement is being changed need to agree and sign the deed - beneficiaries whose inheritance isn’t affected don’t need to be involved. If a beneficiary being asked to redirect their share is a minor or lacks capacity, court approval is generally required, since they can’t consent to reducing their own entitlement themselves.

What a Deed of Variation can’t do

• It can’t be used against the wishes of the beneficiary whose entitlement is changing - genuine agreement from that person (or their legal representative, if a minor or lacking capacity) is required.
• It generally can’t reduce means-tested benefit entitlement improperly - the Department for Work and Pensions and local councils (when assessing care costs) can look through arrangements that appear designed primarily to manipulate benefit eligibility.
• It doesn’t change who was legally entitled to the estate at the point of death - it operates as a redirection agreed by the beneficiaries, not a rewriting of history.

Formal requirements

• Must be in writing and signed by all relevant beneficiaries (and by the executors too, if the variation increases the Inheritance Tax due).
• Must specifically state it’s intended to be read back for IHT and/or CGT purposes under the relevant legislation - this isn’t automatic just because a redirection is made in writing.
• HMRC doesn’t need to approve it in advance, but if the variation means more Inheritance Tax is payable, a copy must be sent to HMRC within six months of the date it was made.

The bottom line

A Deed of Variation offers genuine flexibility to adjust how an estate is distributed after death, with favourable tax treatment if done within two years and with the agreement of the relevant beneficiaries. This is a useful tool for correcting an outdated will or optimising the overall family tax position, but it requires the correct legal wording and the consent of everyone whose entitlement changes - professional advice is strongly recommended given the tax stakes involved.