Putting a will in place is the only way to ensure that assets pass to your intended beneficiaries on death. If there is no will in place or it has been revoked, the intestacy rules will apply, which could mean that those close to an individual will not receive any benefit without the time and cost of applying to court.

Take a married couple with children, for example. Under the intestacy rules, the surviving spouse will only be entitled to the personal possessions and £125,000 from their spouse's estate. Of the remainder, half will be held in trust for the survivor's use during their lifetime (this will then eventually pass to the children on their subsequent death). The other half will be held on trust for the children until they reach the age of 18 (or 16 if they marry at that age), when it will be released to them in its entirety.

By putting a will in place, a child's inheritance can be deferred until a later age and/or decisions on distributions can be left to trustees, who can be relied upon to look after the interests of the children.

The will can also be used by parents to appoint guardians to look after their children should they die before the children reach the age of 18. There are rigid rules that would apply if appointment of guardians has not been made and children could end up being cared for by someone whom a parent would not normally intend. If parents are unmarried at the date of birth, the father should take appropriate advice on whether he has the legal authority to appoint a guardian.

"Co-habiting couples (or any individuals who own joint property) should also put wills in place… contrary to popular belief, there is no such legal concept as "common-law spouse"."

Those entering into second marriages should also consider the consequences of being married with children from previous relationships and the potential conflicts that could arise on death. By putting a will in place directing what should happen, these conflicts can be avoided or, at the very least, controlled.

Married couples and registered civil partners can also benefit from significant tax saving by putting tax-efficient wills in place. By ensuring that the spouse exemption is used, inheritance tax can be avoided at the first death. There is further tax saving which can be achieved if an individual owns business or agricultural assets (subject to these qualifying for the relevant tax relief). The saving can be up to 40% of the value of those assets, which could be a significant sum.

When should you review your will?

Wills should be reviewed regularly as intentions; families and finances can change over a relatively short period of time.

You should also review your will if your marital status has changed. Although a will is broadly read as if the ex-spouse had died once the decree absolute has been obtained on divorce, if one spouse were to die whilst only the decree nisi were in place, or a couple are merely separated, the will would still benefit the soon-to-be ex-spouse, usually contrary to the testator's intention.

You should also be aware that marriage and registration of civil partnerships revoke a will. Therefore, any will put in place before such an event will no longer take effect and the intestacy rules would once again apply. Wills can, however, be written "in expectation" of marriage or registration of civil partnership and reviewing your will should therefore not be put off until after the event.

"You should be aware that marriage and registration of civil partnerships revoke a will."

Co-habiting couples (or any individuals who own joint property) should also put wills in place. Many co-habiting couples will be unaware that if they were to die together, for example in a plane or car crash, and it was uncertain who died first, the youngest would be deemed to have survived the eldest. On this basis, property they own jointly (as joint tenants) would pass to the estate of the youngest and on to their family under the intestacy rules. In the case of most couples their main asset will be their home and, under the above rule, the family of the eldest will not be entitled to any share in that property. Contrary to popular belief, there is no such legal concept as "common-law spouse".

Furthermore, because dependants are not automatically recognised under the intestacy rules, a partner from a co-habiting couple, for example, would not be automatically entitled to any share of their deceased partner's assets. Often, this will not be the intention, but assets will instead pass to the parents in the first instance and then to siblings. Under a worst case scenario, if the property in which they live is not owned jointly but is instead owned by the partner who dies, the surviving partner could end up without a place to live.

Other reasons for putting a will in place are to ensure that foreign property, investment property or business assets pass to the appropriate individual. For example, it may not be appropriate for the controlling shares in a company to pass to a spouse when they have no knowledge of the business.

In summary, without having a will in place, there can be uncertainty as to where the assets will pass and those loved ones who one may assume should benefit, could end up without the immediate support they require after the death of a close partner or member of the family. For peace of mind, the only way to guarantee that one's assets will pass in the way that one would wish is to put a will in place.

NB. The above applies to UK domiciled individuals – where an individual is domiciled elsewhere or has a spouse or civil partner who is domiciled somewhere other than the UK, specific advice should be sought to ensure that their estate is structured in a tax-efficient manner and in a way which will avoid a complicated probate procedure on death.

By Steve Harvey, senior trust manager, Coutts