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The most obvious problem that unmarried couples face when making Wills is that spouse exemption for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes will not apply on the first death in the way that it would for a married couple or civil partners.  Instead the only allowance that will be available on first death is the individual IHT Nil Rate band (currently £325,000).  The value of any assets in excess of that amount will be chargeable to IHT at the rate of 40% subject to any reliefs that might be claimed for business or agricultural assets eg shares in a trading business or agricultural land.

When couples have young children ie teenagers and pre-teens it is always better to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to their Wills. This is because it is simply impossible to know at that age whether children are likely to be sensible with money when they get to 18, 21 or 25, the common trigger ages of inheritance. Certainly 25 is a much more sensible age for inheritance than 18 but it may still not be the right age, especially if either a lot of money is involved or the child is still pursuing the follies of youth.

Farmers are very well treated by the IHT rules and farming is the only type of business where the proprietor can claim an exemption from IHT on their home.  However, farmers are notoriously poor at keeping records and there are a number of pitfalls which need to be avoided if the farm is to be passed smoothly down to the next generation without adverse IHT or CGT consequences.