Wills: guidance on distributing your residuary estate

When you pass away, your cash, investments, property, life insurance policies, and other assets collectively make up your ‘estate’.

Your Executor oversees the management of this estate. Once debts, funeral expenses, inheritance taxes are settled, and any gifts or bequests are distributed, the remaining estate is distributed to the beneficiaries as outlined in your Will.

The residuary estate refers to what remains of your estate after all specified gifts and/or bequests have been distributed and debts, funeral expenses, and inheritance and other taxes have been paid.

Joint assets (such as a property held as Joint Tenants) or assets held in trust are excluded from your residuary estate. These will be dealt with by the Executor based on survivorship and trust rules.

Your residuary estate will be distributed according to your wishes to your partner, your children, others (for example a friend), or to an organisation such as a charity. You can allocate specific percentages to be distributed to each, with individual tabs in th residuary estate section available to record the specific details.

Note: It is important to ensure that the total adds to 100%, you will not be able to save and move on with your Will until the allocation is complete.