Deed of Variation UK: Change a Will or Intestacy After Death (Template)

A deed of variation (HMRC calls it an instrument of variation) is a written document by which a beneficiary changes the destination of property they received, or were entitled to receive, on a death. The person who gives something up is the original beneficiary; the person who receives it is the new beneficiary. The deed does not rewrite the will. It changes the effect of the will, or of the intestacy rules, and the personal representatives then administer the estate as varied.

Three documents are often confused. A codicil to a will changes a will while its maker is alive and must be signed with the formality of the Wills Act 1837. A disclaimer simply refuses a gift: the beneficiary cannot choose who takes instead, and the right is lost once any benefit has been accepted. A deed of variation is made after the death, lets the original beneficiary decide where the property goes, and remains possible even after the estate has been distributed. Section 142 applies across the UK, but this template is drafted for estates administered under the law of England and Wales; Scottish estates need different wording. If you are still planning your own affairs, a last will for England and Wales is the better tool.

The tax rules sit in section 142 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984. A variation made in writing within two years after the death, by the persons who benefit or would benefit, is treated for inheritance tax as if the deceased had made it, provided the instrument contains a statement by the relevant persons that they intend the section to apply. HMRC's manual adds that the period includes the anniversary of the death. The personal representatives must join in the statement only where the variation results in additional tax, and may refuse only if they hold too few estate assets to pay it. Where the variation does increase the tax, section 218A requires a copy of the deed to reach HMRC within six months after the date of the deed, with the amount of extra tax. HMRC publishes an optional instrument of variation checklist (form IOV2) that can travel with the copy.

Several limits apply. No consideration in money or money's worth may be given, other than another variation or disclaimer of the same estate (section 142(3)). Property in a trust in which the deceased had an interest in possession, and gifts the deceased made while keeping a benefit, fall outside the section. A redirection to a charity is read back only if the charity was notified of the deed (section 142(3A), reworded by section 78 of the Finance Act 2026 for deaths on or after 6 April 2026). Capital gains tax follows a parallel rule in section 62(6) to (8) of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, with its own statement, while income tax is never read back. Section 142 itself only asks for writing, but the template is executed as a deed under section 1 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, with each signature attested by a witness.

The classic case is a parent who inherits from their own parent and does not need the money. Redirecting it to their children keeps it out of their own estate without starting the seven-year clock of an ordinary lifetime gift, and a home passed to children or grandchildren can still count towards the residence nil rate band under sections 8J and 8K of the 1984 Act. A surviving spouse who was left little under an old will sees the opposite pattern: adult children redirect part of their share to the survivor, and that share then qualifies for the spouse exemption.

Charitable giving is the third common reason. Where gifts to charity reach at least 10% of the baseline amount of a component of the estate, Schedule 1A charges that component at 36% instead of 40%, and a modest variation can tip an estate over the line. Charity trustees on the receiving end will find matching paperwork among our templates for charities and nonprofits.

Joint property and a second death are the two traps. A home owned as joint tenants passes automatically to the survivor outside the will, yet HMRC accepts that the deceased's share can be redirected if the deed says so expressly. And where a beneficiary has died since the first death, their own personal representatives can vary the earlier inheritance, although that needs bespoke wording.

The template follows the order a solicitor reviewing the estate file expects. The parts that do the legal work are these:

• A recital of the original gift with its clause number or intestacy entitlement, because HMRC rejects a deed that does not identify the disposition being varied.
• Where the redirected property includes a jointly owned asset, the deed recites that it passed by survivorship. Without that recital the share may be treated as a lifetime gift.
• Tax incidence is settled once: any additional inheritance tax is borne by the redirected property alone, so the extra tax does not fall on beneficiaries who are not parties.
• Separate inheritance tax and capital gains tax statements, each optional, sit beside the stamp duty category M certificate and a confirmation that no outside consideration was given.
• If a new beneficiary is under 18, the personal representatives hold the property on a bare trust until that child turns 18, with the powers in sections 31 and 32 of the Trustee Act 1925.

Further clauses cover land (assent or transfer at HM Land Registry, the exemption from stamp duty land tax or Welsh land transaction tax, any mortgage), notice to a charity, the six-month reporting duty, the original beneficiary's confirmations of age, capacity and solvency, and signature blocks for every party and witness. Related succession paperwork sits in our personal legal documents for England and Wales.

You start with the person who has died: full name, last address and date of death, written in words. The questionnaire then asks whether there was a will, a will with codicils or no will at all, and the recitals switch between the language of a will and that of the intestacy rules. The personal representatives and the people giving something up follow.

The central step describes the original gift and what is being redirected: the whole gift, a fixed sum, a specific asset or a fraction. You then choose one person, two people in equal shares, or a charity with its registered number. Questions on minors, land and income since the death adjust the operative clauses, and the last screen asks whether to include each tax statement. The preview updates as you type, so the deed of variation UK template on screen is the one that will be signed.

Each original beneficiary and each personal representative then signs in the physical presence of an independent adult witness, and the personal representatives date the deed once the last party has signed. The full catalogue of UK legal templates covers other estate paperwork.

Whatever the estate, the costliest error on a deed of variation UK form is timing. A deed that one beneficiary signs the day after the second anniversary of the death falls outside section 142 and is taxed as the original beneficiary's own gift, and HMRC has no discretion to extend the period. Another frequent problem is a missing or garbled statement of intent: the wording must refer to section 142(1) and, for capital gains, section 62(6), and a deed that says the family simply "agree to change the will" is a gift by the original beneficiary. Families also forget that the personal representatives must sign when the variation increases the tax.

People cause the other set of problems. A parent cannot sign away a benefit on behalf of a child, and an attorney acting under a lasting power of attorney for property and financial affairs, like a deputy, needs the authority of the Court of Protection to give away the inheritance of someone who lacks capacity; where a minor or unborn beneficiary loses out, court approval under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958 is the usual route. A second variation of the same property cannot be read back, as Russell v IRC confirmed. Check means-tested benefits and care funding before signing, because a local authority may treat a redirected inheritance as deliberate deprivation of capital.