Making a Will in Your 60s

Many people in their 60s choose to sell a larger family home and move to somewhere smaller, releasing some of the value tied up in property. This can be a very sensible financial move, but it changes the shape of your estate, and it is worth checking your will still divides things fairly once cash has replaced property as a larger part of what you own.

If part of the reason for downsizing is to help children onto the property ladder or fund a grandchild's education, it is worth thinking about whether that help should count against what they eventually inherit, or be treated as separate. Recording your intentions clearly, either in your will or in an accompanying letter of wishes, helps avoid the sense among family members that some have been treated more generously than others without explanation.

Grandparents often want to help with school fees, university costs, a first car or a deposit for a first home, and your 60s are frequently when the means to do this line up with the desire to see grandchildren benefit while you are still around to enjoy it. These lifetime gifts sit alongside, rather than replace, whatever you leave to grandchildren in your will.

It is worth keeping a simple record of significant gifts you make, including the date and amount, both to keep things fair between grandchildren over time and because this information is needed by your executors when they deal with inheritance tax after your death.

For inheritance tax purposes, gifts you make during your lifetime to individuals are generally known as potentially exempt transfers. If you survive seven years from the date of the gift, it usually falls outside your estate entirely for inheritance tax purposes. If you die within seven years, the gift may still be counted, with the tax payable on a reducing scale known as taper relief, depending on how long before death it was made.

This makes your 60s a sensible decade to think seriously about gifting sooner rather than later, since the seven-year clock only starts running once a gift is actually made. It is not a reason to give away more than you are comfortable with, but understanding the rule helps you plan gifts in a way that is both generous now and sensible for inheritance tax later.

If your will was written some years ago, it is worth checking that the executors you named are still willing, able and, frankly, still alive. It is not uncommon for an executor named decades earlier to have since died, moved abroad, or simply lost touch, none of which is picked up automatically and all of which can cause delay if not addressed while you are able to update your will.

Retirement is also a natural moment to reconsider who should benefit from your estate, particularly if family circumstances have changed, a beneficiary has passed away, or new grandchildren have arrived since your will was last updated.

Your 60s are a good decade to step back and look at your will, your lifetime gifting and your wider retirement plans as one picture rather than separate exercises. A will that reflects downsizing, records your intentions around gifts to grandchildren, and names executors who are actually able to act gives your family a much clearer path to follow.

Updating a will at this stage is straightforward and, at £69, inexpensive relative to the peace of mind it brings, particularly once gifting and inheritance tax planning start to matter more than they did a decade earlier.