A will has more work to do when your family has more than one shape. Second marriages, children from earlier relationships, stepchildren you have raised and a family business can all pull in different directions. Without a clear will the law decides who inherits, and its answer may not match your wishes.

Second marriages and stepchildren

Marriage cancels any will you made before it, unless the will was written in contemplation of that marriage. Many people remarry and assume their old will still stands. It does not.

If you die without a valid will, the intestacy rules leave the first part of your estate, and in smaller estates all of it, to your spouse or civil partner. Your children from an earlier relationship may receive less than you intended. Stepchildren you have not adopted receive nothing under the intestacy rules, however close you are.

A life interest trust can help. Your spouse lives in the home, or receives the income from your investments, for the rest of their life. On their death the capital passes to the children you have chosen. Everyone knows where they stand, and your spouse is provided for without the children losing their inheritance.

A family business or farm

A business can make up most of what a family owns. Decide who should run it, who should own it and whether those are the same people. Equal shares for children who work in the business and children who do not can lead to deadlock.

Check the business's own documents as well. A shareholders' agreement or partnership deed may say what happens to your share when you die, and your will must fit with it. Business property relief can reduce inheritance tax on qualifying business assets, but the relief has conditions, and the structure of the gift matters.

Leaving less room for a dispute

Some people can ask a court for reasonable provision from your estate even if your will leaves them out, under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. A spouse, a former spouse who has not remarried, a child, a cohabitant of two years and anyone you were maintaining can all bring a claim.

You reduce that risk with a will that explains itself. A signed letter of wishes, kept with the will, can record why you divided your estate as you did. Choose executors who can work together, and consider a professional executor where family members cannot.

Review your will after each marriage, divorce, birth, death or change in the business. A short telephone call can tell you whether it still does what you need.

This briefing is general information, not legal advice.