Insurance

Insurance

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: In the Budget on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, announced that from 6 April 2027, unused pension funds and death benefits will be treated as part of an individual’s estate for inheritance tax purposes. The government published a consultation document on 31 October 2024 and invited responses by 22 January 2025 about the mechanism for achieving this measure. The summary of responses to the consultation was subsequently published.

Life assurance and estate planning

Life assurance can be an important tool in estate planning and there are various types of life assurance policies available:

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a whole life policy—this type of policy will pay out a sum on the death of the life insured, whenever that death occurs, in return for a premium
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a term assurance policy—this type of policy insures a person’s life for a specific sum and for a specific length of time, typically for a period up to 20 years. If the insured person dies within the term of the cover, the life assurance company will pay out the sum. This type of life assurance provides

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This Q&A considers whether, if H and W each own a half share of the family home and H’s Will creates an interest in possession trust over his half share in favour of W with a right of occupation, the trustees could force a sale of the property against W’s wishes.