Don’t Let Probate Eat into Your Family's Inheritance
Nobody likes thinking about what happens when they're gone. But if you have a life insurance policy and you haven't thought about how that money will actually reach your family, this is worth five minutes of your time. Because right now, the probate system in the UK is under serious strain. And your loved ones could be the ones paying the price.
Probate is the legal process that gives someone the authority to deal with your estate after you die. In theory, it should take around 16 weeks. In practice? The number of probate cases taking between 21 and 23 months to be granted has risen by 131% since 2020/21, according to industry analysis. That's nearly two years before your family can access what you've left them.
It gets worse. HMRC can charge interest on any unpaid inheritance tax (IHT) from just six months after death. Long delays can actually increase the final tax bill, even when the hold-up is entirely outside your family's control. And with pensions set to become part of the taxable estate from April 2027, the process is only likely to become more complex. IHT receipts already hit £7.7 billion between April 2025 and February 2026, a record, and few in the industry were surprised.
So what's the solution?
One of the most effective, and often overlooked, tools is putting your life insurance policy in trust. When your life insurance is written in trust, the payout sits outside your estate. That means no inheritance tax on it, and crucially, your beneficiaries don't have to wait for probate at all. Payouts can land in a matter of weeks rather than months or years.
You stay in control of who receives the money, when they receive it, and under what conditions. And in many cases, insurers will set it up for you completely free of charge.
A few things to bear in mind
Life insurance in trust isn't entirely without complexity. Once set up, the decision is generally irreversible, so it's not something to rush into without proper advice. There are also legal and tax considerations to think through, particularly around the seven-year rule if you change beneficiaries down the line.
The best time to sort this is while everything is straightforward. Not during a period of grief, stress, and paperwork. If you'd like to understand whether putting your life insurance in trust makes sense for your situation, I'm here to talk it through.
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