Wills ‘are no longer only focused on sons’

Posted 07/04/2011

British Wills are no longer favouring sons over daughters when it comes to land inheritance, a study has shown.

The poll, carried out for Country Life magazine by Saffery Champness, discovered that only 16 per cent of landowning families now implement primogeniture.

Some 60 per cent said they would be prepared to leave their estate to their daughters, while 42 per cent intended to put in place a legal mechanism to allow their female heirs to benefit.

Primogeniture was first brought in after the Norman conquest, but has survived ever since.

However, the study shows landowners are increasingly willing to leave the running of an estate to the person most capable of doing it, regardless of sex.

Country Life editor Mark Hedges said it showed a “profound change in thinking” about inheritance.

Saffery Champness spokesperson Mike Harrison added that it could be due to agricultural land increasing in value, people living longer and higher incidences of divorce.

The Daily Mail recently reported that many people are now gifting money to their children while they are still alive instead of in a Will to avoid inheritance tax.