Leaving a Holiday Home in a Will

Before deciding what to say in your will, confirm exactly how the holiday home is owned. If you own it outright in your sole name, you have complete freedom to leave it as you choose. If you own it jointly with a spouse, partner or other family member, the type of joint ownership matters enormously.

As joint tenants, your share passes automatically to the surviving joint owner regardless of what your will says, a rule called survivorship. As tenants in common, your specific share is yours to leave in your will to whoever you choose. See our guides on joint tenants and tenants in common if you are unsure which applies to you; it is worth checking the Land Registry title if in doubt, since assumptions are often wrong.

For a wholly UK-based holiday home that you own outright or as tenants in common, your will can leave your share to a named beneficiary, or to several beneficiaries jointly, in the same way as any other property. Be specific about the address and consider stating clearly whether it should be sold and proceeds divided, or kept and shared, since these lead to very different outcomes for beneficiaries.

A UK holiday home forms part of your estate for probate and inheritance tax purposes at its market value at death, and unless it qualifies as your main residence for residence nil rate band purposes (which is unlikely for a genuine second home), the residence nil rate band typically will not apply to it.

If your holiday home is abroad, the position becomes more complicated because many countries apply their own succession law to property located within their borders, regardless of what your English will says. Some countries also have forced heirship rules that require a fixed share of an estate to go to certain family members, which can override the wishes expressed in your will.

The EU Succession Regulation (Brussels IV) allows some nationals, including in many cases UK nationals owning property in participating EU countries, to elect for the law of their home country to apply instead, but this needs to be done correctly and is a genuinely specialist area. If you own property abroad, take advice from a lawyer qualified in that country, ideally alongside your UK solicitor, rather than relying on your English will alone.

A holiday home that has been a source of happy family memories does not always translate into something several beneficiaries will want, or be able, to keep jointly. Ongoing costs such as maintenance, insurance, any mortgage, and simply agreeing how to share usage between siblings or other family members can turn a well-intentioned gift into a source of conflict.

It is worth having an honest conversation with likely beneficiaries while you are able to, about whether they would want to keep the property jointly, whether one person might buy out the others, or whether a straightforward sale and division of proceeds might actually suit everyone better. Recording your preference, alongside flexibility for beneficiaries to agree otherwise, is often more realistic than assuming everyone will want the same thing forever.

If there is a mortgage on the holiday home, check your will's wording on how debts are paid, since a mortgage does not automatically disappear on death and, unless you state otherwise, it may be paid off from the general estate rather than deducted from that specific beneficiary's inheritance. See our guide on a mortgaged house in a will for how this works.

Beneficiaries who inherit a shared holiday home will also need to agree how ongoing running costs, insurance, utilities and repairs are split. This is a practical matter for them to sort out after your death, but flagging it, or even setting out a suggested approach in a letter of wishes, can help avoid disputes.