What is a Mirror Will?

A mirror Will is a legal document that effectively ‘mirrors’ the Will of your spouse or partner. They are a popular option for both unmarried and married couples, as well as those in civil partnerships, because they ensure that both partners’ wishes are respected, no matter who dies first.

A typical setup for a mirror Will is for the estate to pass to the surviving spouse or partner upon the first person’s death, after which a share in the estate is left to each of the couple’s children and/or grandchildren when the second person passes away.

If your Wills are not mirrored, then any money, property and possessions left to the surviving spouse or partner will only be passed on according to their wishes when they die.

Mirror wills – the pros and cons

Whether a mirror Will is suitable for you and your spouse or partner will depend entirely on your estate planning goals and your particular family set up. Below, we will lay out the pros and cons of using a mirror Will to help you decide whether this type of Will is going to be suitable for you.

Pros

Mirror Wills help protect the interests not only of the surviving partner, but that of the family of the first person to die. This can be incredibly useful if you have a blended family, with children from previous marriages.

If you make separate Wills and leave everything to each other, but your partner’s Will only provides for their own biological children, then your own children would miss out on their inheritance if you were to die first. If you make a mirror Will, however, you can ensure that both families are provided for, giving you the peace of mind that your children will receive the inheritance to which they are entitled.

Mirror Wills can help minimise the Inheritance Tax payable on your estate. This is because anything spouses or civil partners pass on to each other in their Will is exempt from Inheritance Tax. By leaving your entire estate to your spouse or civil partner, you can avoid Inheritance Tax in addition to passing on your Inheritance Tax allowance to them.

This means that when your children inherit the estate upon your death, there will be no Inheritance Tax to pay unless the estate is more than double the current nil-rate band (£325,000). If you leave your property to children (including stepchildren or adoptees) or grandchildren, you may also be eligible for the residence nil-rate band (RNRB), which can bring the second spouse’s total Inheritance Tax allowance to £1 million.

Mirror Wills can be unilaterally revoked, giving each party the peace of mind that they can change their Will in the future should they want to. Common reasons for revoking a mirror Will include relationship breakdown or simply having a change of heart. In this case, it is advisable to consult a reputable probate solicitor to ensure that the new Wills are properly drafted and valid.

Cons

By their very nature, mirror Wills must be identical. If the spouses or partners have different wishes or would like to do anything else with their estate aside from leaving it to one another, they must make separate Wills which will give them the flexibility to dictate their own wishes.

As we said in the pros section, a mirror Will can be revoked unilaterally – however, is also a major con because a person can revoke a mirror Will without agreement or consent. Nor does either party have to inform their spouse or partner that they have done so.

There is also no obligation for a surviving spouse or partner to abide by the terms of the mirror Will after their partner’s death, meaning they could easily change it to favour their own biological children and disinherit their stepchildren. If the surviving spouse or partner remarries after your death and revokes the mirror Will, it could equally mean that some or all of the estate ends up going to people whom you have never met.

To avoid this issue, it may be better for a couple to make a mutual Will instead – we’ll explain more about mutual Wills later in this article.

Mirror Wills and stepchildren

As we have made clear, mirror Wills can be particularly dangerous where the testators have remarried and are part of a blended family.

Stepchildren are particularly vulnerable to the shortcomings of mirror Wills because they can so easily be changed. Where relations between stepchildren and their stepparent are strained, there is nothing stopping the surviving spouse or partner from changing their Will to exclude their stepchildren once the first partner has died. Given that mirror Wills ensure that the entirety of the estate is passed on to the surviving spouse or partner, this means that any disinherited stepchildren will receive nothing at all.

Mirror Wills – frequently asked questions

Can a surviving spouse change a mirror Will?

Yes. As mentioned above, either party can revoke a mirror Will at any point without the agreement or consent of their partner, even after their partner dies.

Can mirror Wills be contested?

If you were expecting an inheritance under a mirror Will and have not, or were set to inherit but the surviving partner has subsequently changed their Will, you may be able to contest it.

As with any Will, you can challenge a mirror Will if any of the following conditions are present:

• You believe that the person who made the Will lacked the mental capacity to understand what they were doing
• You believe they were coerced by another party into changing their Will
• You believe that they weren’t aware of the full extent of the Will’s contents
• You believe that the Will wasn’t executed properly and is therefore invalid
• The Will was forged or the person who prepared it on the testator’s behalf acted fraudulently.

If you have been told by the testator that you will inherit under their Will, and you do not receive the promised inheritance, you may also be able to contest the Will using the legal principle of proprietary estoppel. This is a legal route that can be used where a landowner has pledged to leave land or property to their child, only to state something different in their Will. This is common in farming families, where children put years of work into the family farm with the expectation that they will inherit it. For example, two brothers who were expecting to receive a share in their father’s strawberry farm recently won their proprietary estoppel claim following a bitter court battle.

How do mirror Wills differ from mutual Wills?

A mutual Will, although similar to a mirror Will, differs in one key respect: both parties make a legally binding agreement not to change their Will at a later date unless it is with the express consent of their spouse or partner. This prevents the risk that stepchildren will be disinherited at a later date because a mutual Will cannot be changed even after the first partner’s death.

However, mutual Wills take away a person’s testamentary right to change their Will at any point and do not take into account life’s inevitable changes, which is why many people choose not to make one.

Unsure whether a mirror Will is right for you?

If you would like to speak to a professional lawyer about the suitability of a mirror Will for your circumstances, then please do call our expert Wills and Probate team on 034496702505 or email  to set up an appointment.