Free tool · England & Wales
Could a deed of variation work for your family?
Four quick questions — when the person died, who is affected, what you want to change — and an honest read on whether a variation is open to you. No sign-up, no obligation.
Your situation
When did the person die?
Anyone whose share would reduce. Minors — and anyone lacking capacity — can’t simply consent to giving up an inheritance.
A variation can only redirect what its signatories give up — nobody else’s share can be touched.
What would you want to change?
How a deed of variation works mechanically+
The machinery is simple, but every piece is required:
- It must be in writing and signed — a deed, made within two years of the death.
- To be read back for tax it must contain statements that s.142 IHTA 1984 (inheritance tax) and/or s.62(6) TCGA 1992 (capital gains tax) are to apply. Without them, it's just a gift by the beneficiary.
- No consideration — nobody can be paid or compensated from outside the estate for agreeing, or the reading-back fails.
- Who must sign: every beneficiary whose share is reduced. If the variation means more inheritance tax is payable, the personal representatives sign too — and HMRC must be notified within six months.
- It works whether or not there was a will — beneficiaries under the intestacy rules can vary their entitlement the same way.
Where you stand
Answer when the person died and what you’d want to change, and this panel shows whether a deed of variation is open to your family — and what it could honestly do.
Guidance, not advice — and England & Wales only. Whether a variation can be made, and whether it would actually help, depends on the whole estate and everyone affected, which our team would confirm with you. No tax outcome is promised. Deeds of variation, wills and trusts are not regulated by the FCA.
What a deed of variation actually is
After a death, a beneficiary can give up some or all of what they inherit and redirect it — to another person, a charity or a trust — using a deed of variation. Made within two years of the death, with the right statements, the change is “read back” into the will for inheritance tax and capital gains tax, as if the will had always said so. And it works without a will too: where the intestacy rules decide who inherits, the entitled beneficiaries can vary the result in exactly the same way. That makes it the main route for fixing an outcome nobody intended — an unmarried partner the rules left with nothing, or a charity the family knows the person meant to remember.
The 2-year rule — honest uses, honest limits
The two-year window is a hard statutory gate. It runs from the date of death, HMRC does not extend it, and outside it a redirect is simply a lifetime gift from the beneficiary, with the usual seven-year rule attached. Inside the window, the honest uses are well established: evening out shares between family, providing for someone the will missed, or redirecting a share to charity, which is exempt from inheritance tax and can bring the reduced 36% rate into play. The limits are just as real: everyone whose share reduces must sign, minors cannot consent at all, and a variation re-reads the will for tax — it does not make tax disappear. Whether one changes the inheritance tax position depends on the whole estate, not on the deed itself.
Whatever the checker shows, the next step is the same conversation. Our estate planning service looks at the whole estate first — and tells you plainly if a variation is not worth doing.
Deed of variation: common questions
What is a deed of variation?+
A legal document by which a beneficiary gives up some or all of what they inherit and redirects it — to another person, a charity or a trust. Signed within two years of the death and containing the right statements, it is treated for inheritance tax and capital gains tax as if the person who died had made the gift themselves. It works whether or not there was a will: beneficiaries under the intestacy rules can vary their entitlement in exactly the same way.
What is the 2-year deadline for a deed of variation?+
For the variation to be 'read back' into the estate for tax — under s.142 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 and s.62 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 — it must be signed within two years of the date of death. HMRC does not extend the deadline. After two years a beneficiary can still give their inheritance away, but it is then simply a lifetime gift from them, with the usual seven-year rule, not a re-reading of the estate.
Do all beneficiaries have to agree to a deed of variation?+
All the affected ones, yes. Every beneficiary whose share would be reduced must sign — you can vary your own entitlement without touching anyone else's, but nobody's share can be redirected without their agreement. Beneficiaries under 18, or anyone lacking mental capacity, cannot simply consent: varying their share generally needs court approval, which adds cost, time and no guarantee.
Can a deed of variation reduce inheritance tax?+
It can change who is treated as having inherited, and that can change the inheritance tax position — for example, a share redirected to an exempt beneficiary such as a charity or a spouse is taxed differently from one kept. Whether it actually reduces the bill depends entirely on the shape of the estate and who the variation moves things between. It is case-dependent, and no outcome can be promised before the whole estate has been looked at.
Does HMRC allow deeds of variation?+
Yes — they are recognised in statute, not a grey area. Provided the deed is made within two years, contains the statements applying s.142 IHTA 1984 and/or s.62 TCGA 1992, and nobody is paid from outside the estate for agreeing, HMRC accepts the variation as re-reading the will for tax. If the variation means more inheritance tax is payable, the personal representatives must sign too and HMRC must be notified. Recognised is not the same as unlimited: aggressive use attracts scrutiny.
How much does a deed of variation cost?+
It depends on how complex the estate and the change are — redirecting one cash legacy is very different from moving a share of a house into a trust. We agree a fixed fee with you up front, before any work begins, so you know exactly where you stand.
Free · no obligation