Tax & estate planning guide
How often should you review your estate plan?
Estate planning is not a one-off exercise. Your family, assets, pensions, tax rules and intentions can all change, so arrangements that once made sense may no longer produce the outcome you expect.
Keeping it current
A useful estate plan should reflect your circumstances today.
There is no single statutory rule requiring everyone to review an estate plan at a particular interval. A sensible approach is to revisit it periodically and whenever something material changes.
A regular financial-planning review can identify whether asset values, beneficiaries, protection, pensions or tax exposure have moved enough to justify legal or tax advice.
It means checking whether the assumptions behind the plan are still true.
Life events
Changes in relationships can materially alter the intended outcome.
Marriage or civil partnership
Marriage can affect an existing will and changes the legal and tax context of the estate.
Divorce or dissolution
Existing wills, beneficiary arrangements and financial plans should be reviewed when a relationship ends.
Children & grandchildren
New dependants or descendants can change who you want to benefit and when.
Bereavement
If an executor, trustee, beneficiary or spouse dies, existing arrangements may no longer work as intended.
These events have specific legal consequences in England and Wales. Legal advice should be obtained where circumstances change.
Your balance sheet
Estate-planning needs can change as wealth changes.
Buying or selling property, receiving an inheritance, selling a business, building substantial investments or drawing down retirement assets can all change the value and composition of the estate.
That can affect the likely IHT exposure, the liquidity available to pay tax and whether existing life insurance or gifting plans remain appropriate.
Protection and tax planning based on an old estate valuation can therefore drift materially out of date.
Changing rules
Tax legislation can make an old strategy behave differently.
Allowances, exemptions and the tax treatment of assets can change. A current example is the legislated change from 6 April 2027 that will bring most unused pension funds and pension death benefits into estates for IHT purposes.
That means a retirement or estate strategy designed under the previous pension rules may need to be reassessed even if the family's personal circumstances have not changed.
Different instructions
Your will is only one part of the picture.
Estate planning can involve several documents and ownership arrangements that need to work together.
Will
Check executors, beneficiaries and whether the document still reflects your wishes.
Pension nominations
Review expression-of-wish or beneficiary nominations when family circumstances change.
Life insurance
Check beneficiaries, trusts, cover amount and whether the policy still serves its intended purpose.
Trusts
Trustee changes, beneficiary circumstances and tax or reporting obligations may need attention.
Lasting powers of attorney are also separate from a will and should be considered as part of wider lifetime planning with appropriate legal advice.
Review checklist
Bring the whole plan back together.
A useful review considers current assets and debts, ownership, wills, intended beneficiaries, pensions, insurance, existing trusts, lifetime gifts and the likely tax position.
Clear records of gifts, policies, pensions and professional contacts can make future estate administration considerably easier.
Where the review identifies legal drafting, trust changes or complex tax questions, those areas should be referred to an appropriately qualified solicitor or tax professional.
Estate planning review
Has your estate plan kept pace with your life?
We can review the financial side of your estate plan and identify where updated legal or specialist tax advice may be needed.
Book a conversationThis guide is for general information only and is not personal legal, tax or financial advice. Wills, trusts and estate planning have legal consequences and tax treatment depends on individual circumstances. Rules can change. Relevant current GOV.UK/HMRC guidance reviewed on 16 September 2026.