The Will (Single & Mirror)

This is the complete reference for building a will in InLeef - everything you can set on the form, for both single and mirror wills, and what each option does. It covers the will itself in full and gives an overview of the trusts that slot into it; each trust's own settings live in the trusts guide. Deciding between a mirror pair and two independent wills for a couple? See two single wills vs mirror wills.

You can build two kinds of will:

• Single will - one person (one testator).
• Mirror wills - a couple, filling in one form that produces two matching wills.

The sections are the same for both; a handful behave differently on mirror wills, flagged below and summarised in the single-vs-mirror table.

Jurisdiction. England & Wales by default; Northern Ireland wills work the same way, with only the legal wording and statute references changing.

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The people on the will#

Before you can name anyone, they need to be added to the order as a person or organisation. Everything on the will is chosen from that list:

• People - the testator, executors, trustees, guardians, beneficiaries, life tenants, excluded persons.
• Charities - as beneficiaries.
• A trust corporation - as an executor or trustee.
• Properties, businesses, accounts - for gifts and for the relief trusts.
• Groups (classes) - a named group such as "my children" or "my issue".

Different roles accept different kinds: a beneficiary can be a person, charity or group; an executor or trustee can be a person or a trust corporation; a guardian must be a person.

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Profile - the testator(s)#

Captured once and used throughout the will (name, signing, and so on).

You'll enter: title, first name, other names, last name, address, date of birth, email, phone. First name, last name, address and date of birth are required. A single will has one profile; mirror wills have two (Testator A and Testator B).

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Revocation#

Cancels earlier wills.

Setting	Choices	Default	What it does
Revocation scope	Worldwide · UK only	Worldwide	Worldwide cancels all earlier wills wherever made. UK only cancels just those dealing with UK assets - use where the client keeps a separate foreign will.
Also revoke earlier guardian appointments	On / off	On	Also cancels any guardian of the client's minor children named in an earlier will.

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Anticipation of marriage#

A will made ahead of a marriage or civil partnership can be set to survive that wedding (otherwise marriage cancels a will).

Setting	Default	What it does
Made in contemplation of marriage / civil partnership	Off	Turn on if the will is made ahead of a specific wedding.
Intended spouse / civil partner	-	Name the intended spouse. Required once the setting above is on.

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Appointment of Executors#

Who administers the estate.

Setting	Default	What it does
Executors	-	At least one required.
Replacement executors	none	Step in if a first choice can't act.

Mirror wills add: Appoint different executors in each will? (off by default). Off, both wills use the same executors. On, each will names its own - and you'll complete the second spouse's set.

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Appointment of Trustees#

Only shown when the will has at least one trust. These trustees run every trust in the will by default; each trust can override them on its own page (see trustees in the trusts guide).

Setting	Default	What it does
Default trustees	-	Between two and four. Run every trust unless a trust names its own.
Default replacement trustees	none	Up to four reserves.

Mirror wills add: Appoint different trustees in each will? (off by default). On, each will names its own trustees, and this also unlocks per-will trustees on any trust that uses its own set.

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Appointment of Guardians#

Shown when the client has minor children. Guardians must be people (not a company).

Setting	Default	What it does
Guardians	none	Who cares for the client's minor children.
Replacement guardians	none	Step in if a first choice can't act.

If a minor is named as a beneficiary anywhere in the will, the form requires at least one guardian.

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Gifts#

Specific gifts to named people or charities, with a fallback if the recipient dies first.

For each gift you set:

• What you're giving - a property, a personal item (described in your own words), money, business shares (with the percentage of the client's holding), or a digital asset. (Money gifts cover what used to be called pecuniary legacies.)
• Who receives it - a person or charity, a group, or a people-group inside the will.
• Condition (optional) - for example "she attains the age of 25".
• If the recipient dies before the client - pass it to their children (the default), to someone else you name, or into the residue.

On a single will there's one Gifts section. On mirror wills there are three: gifts on the first death for each spouse, and gifts on the second death (from the survivor's estate).

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Gift of Personal Chattels#

The gift of personal possessions (furniture, jewellery, cars, and the like). On by default; turn it off and the possessions simply form part of the residue.

Single will:

Setting	Choices	Default	What it does
Include a gift of personal chattels	On / off	On	The master switch.
How to give your chattels	Outright to named beneficiaries · To my Trustees with a request to follow my wishes	Outright to named beneficiaries	Straight to named people/charities/groups sharing equally, or to the trustees with a non-binding request to follow a memorandum of wishes.
Beneficiaries	-	-	Who shares the chattels (outright option). Leave empty to pass them to the trustees.
Distribution period (months)	1–60	-	How long the trustees have to carry out the client's wishes before leftover items fall into residue (the "to my Trustees" option).
Include chattels used for business	On / off	Off	Widens the gift to include items used mainly for business.

Mirror wills: the chattels always pass to the surviving spouse on the first death, so you only choose whether to include the gift and whether to include business chattels.

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Residuary Estate#

Who inherits everything left after debts, expenses and specific gifts. You build a recipients list (person/charity/group), each with per stirpes and pass to their issue toggles (both on by default) and an optional share (%). Shares must total 100%.

• This section is hidden when a trust already holds the residue - a single will's main trust, or a mirror's second-death trust. In that case the trust handles the distribution.
• Leaving 10% or more to charity applies the reduced inheritance-tax rate.
• Unlike the trust remainders, a plain residue does fix the percentage split in the will.

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Trusts that slot into the will#

You can build trusts into the will. Where a trust sits decides how many you can have - each trust's own settings live in the trusts guide; this is the overview of what fits where.

Where it sits	What you can put there	How many
Main trust (single will)	Discretionary Trust, IIP, or FLIT	One
First-death trust (mirror)	IIP or FLIT	One
Second-death trust (mirror)	Discretionary Trust	One
Carve-out (any will)	First-Death Capped Trust	Any number
Addition (any will)	Business Relief, Agricultural Relief, or Disabled Person's trust	Any number

The trusts you can order:

• Discretionary Trust of Residue - trustees decide who benefits, when and how much.
• First-Death Capped Trust - ringfences a fixed tax-free sum off the top before the rest passes on.
• Interest in Possession (IIP) - the survivor takes income for life, then the trust passes on.
• Flexible Life Interest Trust (FLIT) - a life interest plus wide trustee powers; common in blended families.
• Business Property Relief Trust - ringfences business assets for the relief.
• Agricultural Property Relief Trust - ringfences farmland for the relief.
• Disabled Person's Trust - provides for a disabled person while protecting their benefits.

On mirror wills each carve-out and addition applies to one spouse or both, and the same addition can appear more than once (e.g. a Business Relief trust for each spouse). On a single will, an IIP or FLIT used as the main trust needs the life tenant named. For the general law behind each, see Understanding trusts.

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Default Beneficiaries (Long-Stop)#

The final fallback if every other gift fails. Always present. Add one or more people or groups (who take in equal shares), or a charity (taken at the trustees' discretion). Leave it empty to fall back to a charity backstop.

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Excluded Persons#

Anyone the client wants to deliberately exclude, each with an optional reason for the file. This feeds both the will's exclusion clause and the Letter of Wishes. People only.

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Will Provisions#

Optional clauses and declarations.

Setting	Default	What it does
Professional charging clause	On	Lets a professional executor or trustee charge for their work.
Foreign-domicile provisions	Off	Adds wording for a client domiciled outside England & Wales.
Country of domicile	England and Wales	Declared in the will; only used when foreign-domicile provisions are on.

Whether mirror wills are legally "mutual" is not a form question: mirror wills always include the mutual-wills declaration and default to stating they are not mutual.

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Wishes (Letter of Wishes)#

These build a standalone Letter of Wishes; funeral wishes also appear as a clause in the will itself. On mirror wills each spouse records their own funeral and personal wishes, while the guidance letter and the trust memorandum are shared.

Section	Purpose	What you set
Funeral preferences	How the funeral is handled (non-binding).	Turn on (off by default), then a guided builder (burial/cremation, service type, attendees, pre-paid plan, notes) or a free-text box.
Guidance to trustees	Free-form guidance to trustees and executors.	Turn on (off by default) and write your guidance.
Personal effects & digital assets	Specific items and who should have them, plus where the digital accounts are.	Two independent switches (both off by default), each with a free-text box.
Letter of wishes - trust	Structured guidance to the trustees. Only shown when the will has a trust.	Your overall aim (provide for family / protect the assets / tax efficiency / other); how income and capital should be paid out; flags for any beneficiary who is a minor, has addiction issues, has a disability or illness, or is financially unstable; and free-text notes.

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Single vs mirror at a glance#

Aspect	Single	Mirror
Profiles	1	2 (A and B)
Main trust	one trust over the residue	uses a first-death trust and/or a second-death trust instead
Executors	one set	one set, or different per will
Default trustees	one set	one set, or different per will
Gifts	one section	first death (each spouse) + second death
Chattels	you pick who receives them	always to the surviving spouse on the first death
Residue (no trust)	to the named recipients	to the surviving spouse outright on the first death; to the named recipients on the second
Wishes	one set	funeral and personal wishes per spouse; guidance and trust memo shared
Mutual-wills declaration	not applicable	always included (states "not mutual" by default)

What you can't change#

Most of the will is configurable, but a few things are set automatically - worth knowing when you decide whether a will type fits, especially on a mirror will.

On a mirror will (fixed):

• A first-death life interest (IIP / FLIT) always benefits the surviving spouse - you can't name a different life tenant.
• Personal chattels always pass to the surviving spouse on the first death.
• With no first-death trust, the residue always passes to the surviving spouse outright on the first death.
• The mutual-wills declaration always appears, stating the wills are not mutually binding.
• Both wills come from one shared plan - you can't give the two partners structurally unrelated wills. If they need that, use two single wills instead (why and when).

On any will:

• Trust remainder splits are always equal shares in the will itself; a specific percentage split is recorded in the Letter of Wishes, not fixed in the will. (A plain residue with no trust does fix the percentage split.)
• Clause numbering, definitions, the administrative schedule and signing/attestation wording are generated for you.

On a single will:

• An IIP or FLIT used as the main trust needs the life tenant named - there's no spouse to fill the role automatically.

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What the form checks for you#

The form won't let a will through if:

• The same property or business is given away twice.
• A single-will IIP or FLIT has no life tenant named.
• A minor is named as a beneficiary but no guardian is appointed.
• A will is marked as made in contemplation of marriage but no intended spouse is named.
• Mirror wills use different executors or trustees per will but the second spouse's set hasn't been completed.