Briefings 16 June 2025

Take PRIDE in your estate planning: three considerations for the LGBTQIA+ community

Jessica Rhodes

3 min Read

Pride Month is celebrated in June annually to commemorate the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 and involves people of all backgrounds joining forces to celebrate acceptance and equality.

Pride Month also serves to educate and raise awareness of issues that continue to affect the LGBTQIA+ community. To that end, associate Jessica Rhodes highlights three key considerations for those in the LGBTQIA+ community who are looking to make wills and get their affairs in order.

1. Marital status

Even if they are living together, LGBTQIA+ couples who do not enter a civil partnership or marriage and die without making a Will, do not have an automatic right to inherit from their partner’s estate. Instead, the deceased partner’s assets will pass by the Intestacy Rules which regulate inheritance where an individual dies without a Will. For this reason, it is important that couples who are not married or in a civil partnership have a valid Will in place on their death to avoid a costly situation where the surviving partner must make a claim against the estate for reasonable financial provision, which is not guaranteed to be successful.

For Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes, couples who are not married or in a civil partnership, also miss out on inheritance tax-saving exemptions in their lifetime and on death.

For married couples or those in a civil partnership, they have an automatic right to inherit from their deceased’s spouse or civil partner’s estate under the Intestacy Rules (if their spouse or civil partner dies without making a Will). They also benefit from the possibility of making gifts to their spouse or civil partner without any inheritance tax consequences during their lifetime and on their death.

It is important to note that, if a couple is considering getting married or entering a civil partnership, their Wills must reflect this, otherwise any Will made before any marriage or civil partnership will be automatically revoked by that marriage or civil partnership. This could lead to a situation where a couple have no valid Wills on their death.

2. Guardianship

Statistically LGBTQIA+ couples often have more complex family situations such as children from previous relationships, children born via surrogacy and assisted reproduction, as well as children who have been adopted.

When making a Will, LGBTQIA+ couples with children should consider appointing a guardian to look after any children they might have who are under the age of 18 after their death. It is important to note that an individual must have parental responsibility to legally appoint a guardian for their minor child in their Will and not all legal parents will have parental responsibility. Determining parental responsibility can be complex and is subject to certain factors such as the conception of the child and whether the parents are cohabitees or married etc. Professional advice should therefore be sought to help with the complexities involved and ensure any guardianship clause will be effective on death.

3. Gender

Under the Gender Recognition Act 2004, some individuals can apply for a gender recognition certificate, and if granted “the person’s gender becomes for all purposes the acquired gender”. Complexities for inheritance purposes can arise where an individual has transitioned, but has not yet obtained a gender recognition certificate.

If there is a beneficiary of a Will who has transitioned and acquired a new gender or may transition and acquire a new gender, it is important that a Will is clearly drafted to ensure that any gifts still pass to that individual. For example, an expertly-drafted Will would use gender-neutral language such as 'my siblings', rather than 'my brothers' or 'my sisters'.

If a beneficiary is specifically named in a Will and they legally change their name before the death of the testator, the gift to that beneficiary under the deceased’s Will will still be valid so long as the beneficiary is able to confirm that they are the same person referred to in the Will.

For these reasons, it is important that professional advice is sought to ensure that beneficiaries intended to benefit under a Will will definitely inherit.

How can we help?

Russell-Cooke has a wealth of in-depth experience and knowledge to assist you with your estate planning and more specifically, with any concerns you may have in connection with the points highlighted above.

Please do not hesitate to contact a member of the private client team will be more than happy to discuss your circumstances with a view to getting your affairs in order.

Jessica Rhodes is in the private client team, advising a range of clients on wills, trusts, probate, tax, estate planning and powers of attorney.

Get in touch

If you would like to speak with a member of the team you can contact our private client solicitors; Holborn office +44 (0)20 3826 7522; Kingston office +44 (0)20 3826 7529 or Putney office +44 (0)20 3826 7515 or complete our form.

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