What belongs on this page?
Dated, specific corrections: what was published, what it says now and which primary source was checked. Routine rewording is not logged, and a figure is never rewritten quietly as if the page had always been right. The rules are in the editorial policy.
What was corrected on 6 October 2026?
6 corrections. The entries below record the specific facts reviewed on this date. Other pages and source-check dates have not been treated as reverified.
| Page | Was | Now | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to change or update a will | The short marriage explanation omitted the intention that the will survive the particular marriage or civil partnership; the body omitted the contrary-intention exception for divorce effects. | Clarified the specific-event and survival-intention requirements, and the contrary-intention exception for divorce or dissolution. The civil-partnership conversion exception remains. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Name change and your will | The OPG name-change paragraph did not specify copies or warn against altering the LPA. | Send OPG copies of name-change evidence, not the originals; do not alter the LPA itself. | gov.uk |
| Free will template: limits and alternatives | The text download was described as including an asset/debt list, although the file contains a preparation checklist. | The description matches the checklist; the fictional sample PDF and paid completed will are distinguished from it. | swiftwill.co.uk |
| SwiftWill vs ClearLegacy | ClearLegacy £69 single, £99 mirror and £69 for a later full rewrite. | ClearLegacy £89 single and £129 mirror from 1 October 2026; homepage FAQ prices a later full rewrite at £89. Sources checked 6 October 2026. | clearlegacy.co.uk |
| SwiftWill vs Which? Wills | £99 starting price with no current promotion information. | £99 remains the last verified non-promotional comparison price (24 September). Separately disclose the £89.10 promotional starting price checked 6 October, ending 31 October 2026; no post-promotion price assumed. | whichwills.which.co.uk |
| Free will options: find a suitable route | Next campaign: 1 October 2026; contact a participating firm when the campaign opens. | Official site accepting enquiries when checked on 6 October 2026; visitors must check local participation and remaining appointments. Registration does not book a place. | freewillsmonth.org.uk |
What was corrected on 24 September 2026?
97 corrections. The September review covered guides, tools and comparisons; organisation authorship and publication dates were also corrected.
| Page | Was | Now | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will template: appointment of guardians | "If I die while any of my children is under the age of 18, and no person with parental responsibility for them survives me, I appoint …" A conditional appointment that would not take effect if the other parent survived and died later, or where a child arrangements order named the will-maker as the person the child lives with. | "I appoint … to be the guardian[s] of any of my children who are under the age of 18 at the date of my death. If more than one guardian is appointed, they shall act jointly. This appointment takes effect in accordance with section 5 of the Children Act 1989." Wording from the owner's solicitor. Earlier customers can regenerate their will free with their recovery file. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Will template: provisions for younger beneficiaries (21 or 25) | "Their share shall be held by my trustees on trust until they reach that age", after gifts made "absolutely": a beneficiary could probably call for the share at 18, and the will did not say who takes it if they die before the chosen age. | The beneficiary "shall attain a vested interest … only if and when they reach that age", notwithstanding "absolutely" in any gift; if they die first, the gift "shall fail and pass under the remaining provisions of this Will as if that beneficiary had predeceased me". Trustees may apply income and capital at their absolute discretion meanwhile. Wording from the owner's solicitor. | gov.uk |
| Kaiser Khan, founder of SwiftWill | Guides credited to "Marcus Kaiser, Legal Content Lead", a content persona with a profile, a Person entry in every page's structured data and an author line in llms.txt and the Markdown copies. | Guides are published by SwiftWill as an organisation. The founder, Kaiser Khan, has a profile; /author/marcus-kaiser/ redirects to it. | mrkaiserkhan.com |
| All pages | Every page stated a first-publication date of 15 January 2026, before the swiftwill.co.uk domain was registered (25 May 2026). | First-publication dates come from records: 28 July 2026 for the 66 pages in that day's production deployment, otherwise the date the page was added. | rdap.nominet.uk |
| Editorial policy: how guides are checked | "Any customer can add a review of their completed will by an SRA-regulated solicitor for £25." | Removed. The automated service does not sell a solicitor review (the add-on was withdrawn on 8 September 2026). | swiftwill.co.uk |
| Editorial policy: how guides are checked | "Templates drafted and reviewed by legal professionals." | Removed: no independent legal review of the clause templates is on record. The page now explains how documents are produced. | swiftwill.co.uk |
| How to sign and witness a will | An at-a-glance card said video witnessing ended on 31 January 2022. | 31 January 2024: the temporary rule covered wills made from 31 January 2020 to 31 January 2024. | gov.uk |
| How to sign and witness a will | "Studies of homemade wills suggest 20 to 30 per cent fail on execution errors" (also in the FAQ), and "about 15 minutes" for the signing. | Both removed: no source could be found. | legislation.gov.uk |
| SwiftWill reviews and review policy | "Every customer receives a Trustpilot invitation about 24 hours after their will is delivered, with one reminder a week later." | SwiftWill's order emails do not send review invitations; the page says so and shows no ratings until genuine independent reviews exist. | swiftwill.co.uk |
| Share image | "A legally valid will, in your inbox in seconds." | "Make a will online in England and Wales … print and sign with two witnesses": a will is valid only once signed and witnessed. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Witnessing card and delivery email | "Never store your will in a bank safe-deposit box — the box cannot be opened without probate", "Allow about 15 minutes" and "Once signed and dated, your will is legally valid". | Neutral storage advice (GOV.UK lists a bank as a place to keep a will), no timing, and "signed this way, your will meets the signing requirements of section 9". | gov.uk |
| Structured data | HowTo markup with an invented 15-minute duration on the signing pages, and speakable markup on every page. | Removed. Pages carry Organization, WebPage or Article, BreadcrumbList, FAQPage (matching the visible FAQ) and, on product pages, Product and Offer priced from checkout. | developers.google.com |
| Probate costs: court fees and other expenses | Extra sealed copies of the grant cost £1.50 each (also on /probate/, /executor-checklist/, /tools/probate-fees-estimator/ and in the registry description "plus £1.50 copies") | Copies cost £2 each when ordered with the application and £16 each at any other time, from 13 July 2026. Before 13 July they were £16; £1.50 is only the fee for bulk electronic copies of documents of people not named in the request (entry 8(b)). | legislation.gov.uk |
| What is probate? England and Wales guide | £526 court fee from 13 July 2026 (unchecked) | Confirmed: S.I. 2026/642 article 3 raised the fee from £300 to £526 where the estate exceeds £5,000; it was due to start on 6 July 2026 and S.I. 2026/665 moved the start date to 13 July 2026. Second application after a grant £22 (was £21); caveat £4 (was £3). | legislation.gov.uk |
| How to register a death in England and Wales | Register within 5 days; the clock starts from the date of death (also on /what-to-do-when-someone-dies/, /bereavement-support/, /executor-checklist/ and the scenario pages) | Register within 5 days of the medical examiner's office confirming you can (the date the registrar is notified), including weekends and bank holidays; tell the register office if you need longer. | legislation.gov.uk |
| How to register a death in England and Wales | Medical certificate is sent electronically by the doctor; form BD8 given for State Pension; green form is free; appointments last 30 to 40 minutes; you cannot register online but some offices offer phone appointments | Doctor confirms the death, a medical examiner reviews the cause and their office confirms you can register; GOV.UK now lists only the green form and death certificates as what you get; unsourced appointment and format claims removed. | gov.uk |
| What is probate? England and Wales guide | File IHT205 for excepted estates (also on /executor-checklist/ and /probate/how-long-does-probate-take/) | IHT205 is only for deaths from 6 April 2011 to 31 December 2021. For deaths from 1 January 2022, excepted estate values are reported in the probate application; IHT400 is used when tax is due or full details are needed. | gov.uk |
| How long does probate take? | Grant typically 4 to 12 weeks after a digital application; full administration 6 to 12 months; valuation weeks 2 to 8; simple estates 3 to 4 months (also on /probate/) | GOV.UK: you will usually get the grant within 12 weeks of applying, longer if more information is needed. No official figure exists for the whole administration, so the unsourced ranges were removed. | gov.uk |
| Do I need probate? | Banks release balances below a threshold of roughly £5,000 to £50,000 (and £25,000 to £50,000) on the death certificate (also on /probate/, /bank-accounts-after-death/, /tools/probate-checker/ and in the checker's logic) | No universal threshold: GOV.UK says every organisation has its own rules. Dated examples only: Barclays needs a grant above £50,000 across sole accounts; NS&I may ask when total NS&I savings are £5,000 or more. The checker now asks what each organisation has said. | gov.uk |
| Probate costs: court fees and other expenses | DIY probate £600 to £800 all-in; solicitors £1,500 to £5,000+ or 1 to 5% of the estate; online services £1,000 to £2,500; 20 to 60 hours of work (also on /probate/ and the fees estimator FAQ) | Removed: no primary source. The page now says fees vary and to ask for a written estimate. | gov.uk |
| Probate costs: court fees and other expenses | Statutory creditor notices cost about £90 to £110 (also on /executor-checklist/ and the fees estimator FAQ) | Price removed (The Gazette's own page could not be fetched today); the notice gives creditors at least two months, and a local newspaper notice is needed where the estate includes land. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Probate costs: court fees and other expenses | The fee applies to the estate's total value | The fee depends on the assessed value: the net estate passing under the grant, which excludes joint assets passing to a survivor. The estimator now asks for that value separately. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Probate fees estimator | Residence nil-rate band always £175,000 when a home goes to children; transferable allowances ignored; fee based on total estate | Residence band limited to the value of the home (less mortgage) and tapered above £2 million; optional late-spouse allowances; court fee based on value passing under the grant. | gov.uk |
| Probate fees estimator | Nil-rate band frozen until at least 2030; transfers between UK-domiciled spouses are exempt | Thresholds fixed until 5 April 2031; the exemption applies to a spouse or civil partner who lives permanently in the UK (domicile test replaced from 6 April 2025). | legislation.gov.uk |
| Bank accounts after a death | ISAs lose tax-free status at death | For deaths from 6 April 2018 an ISA becomes a continuing account of a deceased investor and stays tax-free until closed, the estate is completed or 3 years pass. | gov.uk |
| Bank accounts after a death | Premium Bond prizes after death stay in the estate; banks usually pay funeral costs and inheritance tax directly | Premium Bonds can stay in the draw for up to 12 months after death (NS&I). Some banks pay funeral costs (Barclays example); the Direct Payment Scheme pays IHT, but GOV.UK notes some providers are not in it. | nsandi.com |
| What happens to debt when you die? | Debts paid in the legal order: funeral and admin costs, secured debts, taxes, then unsecured debts (also on /bank-accounts-after-death/ and /executor-checklist/) | In an insolvent estate, reasonable funeral, testamentary and administration expenses come first, then bankruptcy priority rules; secured creditors rely on their security. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Tell Us Once: report a death to government | Tell Us Once list omitted Social Security Scotland and named Veterans UK and public sector pensions loosely; eligibility and 30-day HMRC lag not stated | Full GOV.UK list, eligibility (not Northern Ireland or permanent residents abroad), 28-day limit, and HMRC may take at least 30 days to respond. | gov.uk |
| What is an executor? | Professional executor fees can run into thousands; MoneySavingExpert warns against them | Secondary source and unsourced figure removed; professional executors can charge only under a charging clause or the Trustee Act 2000, and lay executors can recover expenses properly incurred. | legislation.gov.uk |
| I have been named executor: what now? | Registering the death is not the executor's responsibility | Usually a relative registers, but a personal representative is one of the qualified informants. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Unmarried parents: both need a will | Mirror wills name guardians and substitutes, executors with a substitute in reserve; unmarried fathers have parental responsibility for births registered after December 2003 | SwiftWill appoints guardians and executors jointly with no reserve appointment; parental responsibility for births registered from 1 December 2003; SwiftWill's screening sends unmarried couples who share property to a solicitor, as GOV.UK advises. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Executor checklist: tasks in order | CTA promised 'named substitutes' | Removed: SwiftWill documents appoint executors jointly and do not appoint substitute executors. | swiftwill.co.uk |
| Making a will with no children | No living parents: siblings (whole blood first), then their children | Whole-blood siblings, with the children of any who died first taking their share; then half-siblings; then grandparents; then whole-blood and half-blood aunts and uncles; then the Crown. | legislation.gov.uk |
| My partner died without a will | Letters of administration: spouse first, then children, then parents, then siblings; no mention of two administrators or the 28-day survival rule | Closest living relative applies (spouse or civil partner, then children 18 or over); unmarried partner cannot apply; two administrators where a beneficiary is a minor; spouse must survive by 28 days; interest runs on the £322,000. | gov.uk |
| What to do when someone dies | Only the medical certificate, registration and Tell Us Once have real deadlines | Deadlines table adds Bereavement Support Payment (3 months for full amount, 21 months at most), Funeral Expenses Payment (6 months after the funeral), IHT payment (end of sixth month) and IHT400 (12 months). | gov.uk |
| Bereavement support and practical help | AtaLoss runs The Bereavement Journey, a 7-session course held in hundreds of locations | Removed (could not be verified on AtaLoss's site today); AtaLoss described as a UK-wide site for finding bereavement support. Cruse helpline hours added from Cruse's own page. | cruse.org.uk |
| Free will options: find a suitable route | Cancer Research UK service: participating solicitors; H1 contained 'October 2026' | Panel of solicitors and will writers (CRUK terms); evergreen H1. | cancerresearchuk.org |
| Who can witness a will? Rules and examples | Witnesses must be aged 18 or over; nobody aged 17 or under can witness (also in the witness checker, signing checklist and src/lib/signing.ts). | The Wills Act 1837 sets no minimum age for witnesses. GOV.UK says witnesses should be over 18 and Ministry of Justice guidance says mature minors can witness, so under-18s are shown as not recommended rather than legally barred. | gov.uk |
| Who can witness a will? Rules and examples | No mention that a witness must be able to see the signing. | Ministry of Justice guidance says a witness needs a clear line of sight and blind people cannot witness a will; added to the page, the witness checker question and SIGNING_MUST_NOT. | gov.uk |
| Can a beneficiary witness a will? | Occasionally a gift can be saved where two other independent witnesses signed, but that is a question for a solicitor, not a rule to rely on. | Section 1 of the Wills Act 1968 disregards a benefiting witness's attestation if the will was duly executed without them, so the gift survives where two other non-benefiting witnesses signed. | legislation.gov.uk |
| How to sign and witness a will | Attaching anything with pins, staples or clips, and signing a draft, listed among the mistakes that invalidate a will (also SIGNING_FAILURES in src/lib/signing.ts). | These are good practice, not validity rules. Marks suggesting a removed attachment can lead the probate registry to ask for an explanation. SIGNING_FAILURES now lists only statutory failures (ss.9, 15, 21 and video/e-signature); practical points moved to a new SIGNING_GOOD_PRACTICE export. | legislation.gov.uk |
| How to sign and witness a will | Electronic signatures are not valid for wills in England and Wales today. | The Law Commission says it is not clear whether an electronic will could be valid under the Wills Act 1837; do not rely on one and sign a paper will in ink. | lawcom.gov.uk |
| Where to store a will: options and costs | Never use a bank safe-deposit box: the box cannot be opened without probate, and probate needs the will first (also /how-to-sign-a-will/ and src/lib/signing.ts). | GOV.UK lists your bank as one place to keep a will; ask the bank how executors would retrieve it and tell them where it is. | gov.uk |
| Where to store a will: options and costs | HMCTS Probate Service will storage costs about £23. | £24 one-off fee from 13 July 2026 (raised from £23). | legislation.gov.uk |
| Where to store a will: options and costs | SwiftWill stores your answers (encrypted) so you can regenerate the document free at any time. | Encrypted order answers are scheduled for deletion within seven days of checkout or an update; the customer keeps an unencrypted recovery file to prepare replacements. | swiftwill.co.uk |
| Where to store a will: options and costs | The Certainty National Will Register; registration is a small one-off cost. | The National Will Register records a will's existence and location, not its contents; its site does not state a public price, so readers are told to check the current fee. | nationalwillregister.co.uk |
| Wills Bill tracker: proposals and status | Remote witnessing: witnesses could be present by video link rather than physically in the room. | The Law Commission recommends remote presence by video only for electronic wills made with a reliable system. | lawcom.gov.uk |
| Wills Bill tracker: proposals and status | Status: awaits a government response and a parliamentary slot; last reviewed July 2026. | The government gave an initial response on 16 May 2025 and said on 19 September and 26 November 2025 that next steps would be announced in the near future; no Wills Bill had been introduced to Parliament as of 24 September 2026. | questions-statements.parliament.uk |
| Intestacy rules: who inherits without a will | Order without a spouse or children: parents, full siblings, half-siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, then the Crown (half-blood aunts and uncles omitted; the flowchart went straight from 'no siblings' to the Crown). | Parents; whole-blood siblings or their issue; half-blood siblings or their issue; grandparents; whole-blood aunts and uncles or their issue; half-blood aunts and uncles or their issue; then bona vacantia. src/lib/intestacy.ts final outcome rewritten so the flowchart and MCP tool no longer end at the Crown after siblings. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Intestacy rules: who inherits without a will | If nobody can be found, everything passes to the Crown (Treasury Solicitor). | The estate passes to the Crown, the Duchy of Lancaster or the Duke of Cornwall as bona vacantia, which may provide for dependants. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Intestacy rules: who inherits without a will | Research consistently shows around 54 to 60 per cent of UK adults have no will, more than 30 million people. | Removed as unsourced. Replaced with the Ministry of Justice written answer of 5 July 2018 (about 40% of adults do not have a will), labelled as a dated estimate, on /uk-will-statistics/. | questions-statements.parliament.uk |
| Intestacy rules: who inherits without a will | No mention of the 28-day survival rule for a spouse or civil partner. | A spouse or civil partner who dies within 28 days is treated as not having survived (s.46(2A)); added to /intestacy-rules/, /do-both-spouses-need-a-will/, /does-marriage-revoke-a-will/ and src/lib/intestacy.ts. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Intestacy flowchart | The result card and table labelled the spouse's entitlement (for example 'Chattels + £322,000 + half the residue') as what an 'Unmarried partner' receives. | Labelled 'Spouse or civil partner receives' for married outcomes and 'An unmarried partner receives' otherwise (IntestacyFlowchart.tsx and the IntestacyOutcomes column header). | legislation.gov.uk |
| Intestacy flowchart | Beneficiaries can redirect an intestacy within two years using a deed of variation, provided everyone entitled agrees. | Those who benefit can vary their own entitlement in writing; the two-year limit and a statement in the instrument are needed for inheritance tax to read the variation back to the death. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Does marriage revoke a will? | Forming a civil partnership revokes a will under the same provision of the Wills Act 1837 as marriage. | Civil partnership revocation is section 18B (inserted by the Civil Partnership Act 2004); marriage is section 18. Conversion of a civil partnership into a marriage does not revoke a will (s.18(5)). | legislation.gov.uk |
| Does marriage revoke a will? | The will must expressly state that it is made in contemplation of marriage to a named person and that it is to remain in force. | It must appear from the will that the testator was expecting to marry a particular person and intended the will not to be revoked (s.18(3)); express wording naming the person is recommended. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Does divorce affect a will? | Registry description: 'your ex is treated as having died on the decree absolute'; body said the court appoints an administrator if no substitute executor. | Final order (terminology since 6 April 2022); gifts and appointments take effect as if the former spouse died on that date unless the will shows otherwise, and a guardian appointment is revoked. If no executor can act, someone entitled under probate rule 20 applies for letters of administration with the will annexed. | legislation.gov.uk |
| How to change or update a will | Divorce treats your ex-spouse as having died before you. | The former spouse is treated as having died on the date the marriage is dissolved or annulled (s.18A; s.18C for civil partners). | legislation.gov.uk |
| What is a residuary estate? Residue explained | A lapsed residuary share is divided among the remaining residuary beneficiaries or, failing that, falls into intestacy. | A lapsed share does not automatically pass to the other residuary beneficiaries; unless the will provides a backup or accruer (SwiftWill's clause does), it passes as a partial intestacy, subject to the s.33 exception for the testator's descendants. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Can an executor be a beneficiary? | Under-18s cannot act as executors. | A minor can be named but cannot act until probate is granted to them; until 18, a grant is made to someone else for their use (Senior Courts Act 1981 s.118; NCPR 1987 r.32). | legislation.gov.uk |
| Do I need a solicitor to make a will? | The nine situations below are the same checklist as the 60-second test at /start/ (list included care-fee planning, special attestation and mutual wills, and omitted jurisdiction, upcoming marriage and shared property). | The table mirrors the nine screening questions in src/documents/will/screening.ts; special attestation and care-fee planning are described separately as other reasons for advice. | gov.uk |
| Do I need a solicitor to make a will? | A solicitor typically charges £150 to £300 or more for a simple will (also on /can-i-write-my-own-will/). | Removed as unsourced. Readers are told solicitors set their own fees and, per the CMA, to get at least three quotes and check what a fixed fee includes. | gov.uk |
| What is a codicil? Amending a will | Solicitors typically charge £50 to £150 or more for a codicil; a codicil can accidentally reinstate clauses you thought were gone. | Both removed as unsourced or misleading. | gov.uk |
| Digital legacy: online accounts after death | Every SwiftWill will includes a digital assets provision. | The will records significant digital assets only if the customer lists them in the interview, without credentials. | swiftwill.co.uk |
| Digital legacy: online accounts after death | Without the private keys or seed phrase, crypto is lost forever; no court, solicitor or exchange can recover it. | Crypto held with an exchange or app may be claimable through the provider's process; self-custody wallets may be unreachable without the key. Digital assets can be personal property (Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025, s.1). | legislation.gov.uk |
| Wills in Scotland and Northern Ireland | A Scottish will must be signed on every page in front of a witness, and the witness signs the last page (attributed to Citizens Advice Scotland). | Under the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995 a will is formally valid if subscribed by the granter; one witness aged 16 or over and a signature on every sheet make it presumed valid. Minimum age in Scotland is 12. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Can I disinherit someone in my will? | Courts routinely award spouses reasonable provision; no-contest clauses have limited effect. | Removed as unsupported. Replaced with the statutory standards in s.1(2) and the s.3 factors, and the six-month time limit in s.4. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Can I write my own will? What makes it valid | Make your will in about 15 minutes (the same timing claim appeared on /how-to-sign-a-will/, /do-i-need-a-solicitor-for-a-will/, /what-is-a-codicil/, /does-marriage-revoke-a-will/, /does-divorce-affect-a-will/, /can-stepchildren-inherit/, /can-a-beneficiary-witness-a-will/, /can-an-executor-be-a-beneficiary/, /what-is-a-beneficiary/, /what-is-a-residuary-estate/, /what-is-a-letter-of-wishes/, /can-i-disinherit-someone/, /intestacy-rules/, /tools/signing-checklist/ and the intestacy flowchart result). | Removed as an unsupported timing claim; no measurement supports it. | swiftwill.co.uk |
| UK will and probate statistics | Registry description promised will ownership and record IHT receipts, which the page did not contain; latest quarter shown was January to March 2026. | Adds April to June 2026 Family Court Statistics Quarterly figures published 24 September 2026, 2025 grants of representation, contested probate cases, letters of administration shares and waiting times, and ONS deaths for 2024; description rewritten to match. | gov.uk |
| Inheritance tax calculator | The calculator gave the full £175,000 residence nil-rate band (£350,000 with the widowed option) whenever the home went to children, whatever the home was worth. | The residence nil-rate band is capped at the value of the home, or share, passing to direct descendants; the calculator asks for that value. | gov.uk |
| Inheritance tax calculator | The 36% charity rate applied when the percentage of the whole estate left to charity was 10% or more, and the charity gift was not deducted from the taxable estate. | The charity gift is deducted as exempt, and 36% applies when it is at least 10% of HMRC's baseline amount (chargeable estate less the available nil-rate band, with the gift added back; the residence nil-rate band is not deducted). The HMRC worked example (£750,000 estate, £50,000 to charity, £135,000 tax) now reproduces. | gov.uk |
| Inheritance tax calculator | The widowed option always added 100% of a late spouse's nil-rate band and residence nil-rate band, and lifetime gifts were ignored. | The unused percentages are entered by the user, and gifts made in the seven years before death reduce the nil-rate band available to the estate. | gov.uk |
| Inheritance tax calculator | Any unused proportion of a deceased spouse's £325,000 nil-rate band and £175,000 residence band transfers automatically to the surviving spouse, creating a combined £1m tax-free allowance. | The unused percentage must be claimed by the survivor's executors (IHT402 and IHT436, or in the probate application for an excepted estate), and £1 million also needs a home worth at least £350,000 passing to direct descendants and an estate of no more than £2 million. | gov.uk |
| Inheritance tax calculator | Gifts between spouses or civil partners are 100% tax-free. | Gifts between spouses and civil partners are exempt, but capped at £325,000 where the giver is a long-term UK resident and the spouse or civil partner is not. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Inheritance tax calculator | Tool panel: 'Without a valid Will, statutory intestacy rules decide how your estate is distributed, which can accidentally trigger unnecessary Inheritance Tax bills.' with a 'Protect your estate — £35' button. | Removed. The page states that SwiftWill's automated will does not do inheritance tax planning and that planning needs individual advice. | gov.uk |
| Leave money to charity in a will | If you leave at least 10% of your net estate to charity, the tax rate on everything else drops from 40% to 36%. | The test is 10% of the baseline amount: the estate after exemptions and reliefs, less the available nil-rate band (not the residence nil-rate band), with the charity gift added back. | gov.uk |
| Leave money to charity in a will | Sometimes a bigger gift to charity leaves the family barely worse off at all, because the taxman funds most of the difference. | Replaced with HMRC's worked example: on a £750,000 estate a £50,000 charity gift cuts the tax from £170,000 to £135,000, so it costs the family £15,000. | gov.uk |
| Lasting power of attorney | LPA registration takes around 8-12 weeks. | The Office of the Public Guardian's service status (1 September 2026) says processing and registration take 8 to 10 weeks, including a statutory waiting period of 4 weeks. | gov.uk |
| Lasting power of attorney | Deputyship typically costs £3,000 or more spread over a few years. | Unsourced total removed. Official fees stated instead: £432 Court of Protection application fee (from 13 July 2026), £100 assessment fee, and £320 a year general supervision or £35 minimal supervision; a security bond may be required. | gov.uk |
| Lasting power of attorney | For a property and financial affairs LPA, an attorney must not be bankrupt. | An attorney for a property and financial affairs LPA must not be bankrupt or subject to a debt relief order. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Lasting power of attorney | H1: Lasting power of attorney (LPA): the complete UK guide | H1: Lasting power of attorney (LPA): a guide for England and Wales. GOV.UK says an LPA made this way is legally binding only in England and Wales. | gov.uk |
| Lasting power of attorney | Most people make both, usually naming the same attorneys for simplicity. | Removed: no primary source for how most people choose. | gov.uk |
| Will for parents with young children | Your will is the only place you can appoint testamentary guardians. A conversation, a letter of wishes, or a family understanding has no legal force. Only a will does. | A parent with parental responsibility can appoint a guardian in a will or in any other written, dated and signed document; a will is the usual place. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Will for parents with young children | Name guardians and substitutes, in the order you chose them; FAQ: always name a substitute guardian too. | SwiftWill appoints at least one and up to four guardians jointly and does not draft a back-up guardian who steps in only if the first choice cannot act. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Will for parents with young children | Without a will, a court decides who raises your children: social services and the family court choose a guardian. | A surviving parent with parental responsibility continues to care for the children. Only if no one with parental responsibility survives does someone have to apply to the family court to be appointed guardian (£270 from 13 July 2026); the local authority must accommodate a child in need who has nobody with parental responsibility. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Will for parents with young children | Unmarried fathers have parental responsibility if named on the birth certificate (for births registered after December 2003). | For births registered on or after 1 December 2003. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Will for parents with young children | Both wills should name the same guardians, in the same order. | Both wills should name the same guardians (SwiftWill appoints guardians jointly, with no order of priority). | legislation.gov.uk |
| Will for parents with young children | Making a will takes about 15 minutes; download instantly; free updates for life and no upsells. | Timing claims removed. You read a preview before paying; free updates are for the same people, as the terms state. | swiftwill.co.uk |
| Writing a will with children | Without one, a court picks the guardian and children inherit outright at 18. | Without a will, children inherit under the intestacy rules at 18; only if no one with parental responsibility survives would someone need a family court order to take legal responsibility for them. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Writing a will with children | Our 60-second suitability check ... £35, about 15 minutes. | Timing claims removed; the page describes what the suitability questions screen for. | swiftwill.co.uk |
| Writing a will with children | Most people choose 21 or 25 for larger sums. | Removed as unsourced; the page explains the choice without a popularity claim and notes the age applies to every younger beneficiary in the will. | legislation.gov.uk |
| Property owned with a partner | A 'Form A restriction' in the proprietorship register usually means tenants in common; no restriction generally means joint tenants. | HM Land Registry says it cannot confirm the type of joint ownership from the register: a Form A restriction is entered for tenants in common but also by default when the transfer did not record the choice, so it is not proof. The page now lists the transfer (TR1 panel 10), Form JO and any declaration of trust as the documents to check. | hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk |
| Property owned with a partner | Most people with a joint mortgage are joint tenants, but many aren't. / Joint borrowers are each liable for the whole debt. | Removed as unsourced. The page now says the mortgage and the type of ownership are separate questions, and that the surviving borrower should contact the lender and check any life cover or mortgage protection. | gov.uk |
| Property owned with a partner | Each of you answers a plain-English interview and downloads instantly — £35 each, or £55 for a pair of mirror wills (offered to all couples who own property together). | SwiftWill's suitability check recommends a solicitor when someone shares property with a person who is not their spouse or civil partner, following GOV.UK. The page now offers the £55 pair only to married couples and civil partners with straightforward wishes and directs unmarried co-owners to advice. | gov.uk |
| Unmarried and own a house together | If your affairs are straightforward, you can each make a will in about 15 minutes: start here ... £35 one-time (or £55 for a pair of mirror wills). | Unmarried co-owners are told that GOV.UK recommends legal advice when you share a property with someone who is not your spouse or civil partner, and that SwiftWill's suitability check recommends a solicitor in that situation before any payment. | gov.uk |
| Unmarried and own a house together | The spouse exemption does not apply to unmarried couples, so anything above the £325,000 nil-rate band passing to your partner is taxed at 40%. | The estate, not the partner, pays inheritance tax at 40% above the available threshold; unmarried partners get no spouse exemption, and the residence nil-rate band applies only when a home goes to direct descendants, not to a partner. | gov.uk |
| Unmarried and own a house together | If one of you dies, the other has no automatic right to inherit anything at all. | Added that a partner who lived with the deceased as a couple in the same household for the whole of the two years before the death can apply to court under section 1(1A) of the Inheritance Act 1975, which is a claim, not an inheritance. | legislation.gov.uk |
What was corrected earlier in September 2026?
12 September 2026: unified the mirror-will preview and generated document logic so structured references to each partner are reciprocal, and corrected guardian labels to describe joint appointments (separate substitute appointments are not supported).
8 September 2026: corrected the video-witnessing expiry from 31 January 2022 to 31 January 2024 on the main signing text; replaced stale provider comparisons with linked, dated sources; removed unsupported professional-status claims and an unavailable solicitor-review option. Source: Ministry of Justice.