Can I Disinherit My Child?

English and Welsh law starts from the principle that you can leave your estate to anyone you wish. You are not required to leave anything to your children, adult or minor, and there is no fixed share reserved for them as there is in some European legal systems. A will that leaves everything to a charity, a friend, or one child and not another is entirely valid on its face.

This freedom extends to explaining nothing at all if you choose not to. However, most people who intend to leave a child out do want the decision to hold up, and understanding the one significant limit on testamentary freedom, the Inheritance Act 1975, is important before finalising that decision.

The 1975 Act allows certain categories of people, including children of the deceased of any age, to apply to court if they believe the will, or the intestacy rules, fail to make reasonable financial provision for them. This does not guarantee an adult child will succeed, but it does mean a will excluding a child is not automatically the final word.

The court considers a range of factors, including the size of the estate, the applicant's financial needs and resources, their relationship with the deceased, any obligations the deceased owed them, and their health and earning capacity. Adult children who are financially independent and had a distant relationship with the deceased have historically found it harder to succeed than those who were dependent or vulnerable.

A letter of wishes is a separate, non-binding document kept alongside your will that explains your reasoning. It is not legally binding and cannot override the 1975 Act, but it can be persuasive evidence if a claim is brought, showing the exclusion was a considered decision rather than an oversight, mistake, or the product of undue pressure from someone else.

A clear, calm letter setting out your reasons, written at the same time as the will and kept with it, is generally far more useful than an angry or accusatory one. Courts are also interested in evidence that you had testamentary capacity and were acting freely when you made the decision, so clear evidence of capacity around the time of signing is valuable too.

Some people ask about including a clause stating that any beneficiary who challenges the will loses their gift, sometimes called a no contest or forfeiture clause. These have limited effect in England and Wales, particularly against a child who is left nothing in the first place, since there is no gift for them to lose, and such a clause cannot prevent a genuine Inheritance Act claim being brought.

These clauses can occasionally discourage a beneficiary who has been left something from risking it by challenging the will, but they are not a substitute for careful drafting, clear evidence and a well-reasoned letter of wishes when the real concern is a child being excluded altogether.

If, after reflection, you still want to leave a child out, there are practical steps that reduce the likelihood of a successful challenge later. These include making sure the will is properly executed, keeping evidence of your mental capacity at the time, considering a modest legacy rather than a complete exclusion where a claim seems likely, and reviewing the decision periodically as circumstances change.

It is also worth thinking honestly about whether the child has a financial need or dependency on you, since this is the factor the court weighs most heavily. A financially secure adult child with their own household is in a very different position from a child who is disabled, a minor, or still being supported by you.