MyIntent Wills include a provision as standard that if a beneficiary dies within 30 days of your death, that person will be treated for the purposes of your Will as dying before you.
Advantages
There are two main reasons why this is the default provision.
Firstly to avoid the first estate passing through the probate process twice in quick succession, which would result in increased administration costs.
Secondly, to impose some control over the eventual destination of assets. This control is only minimal as the named beneficiary only needs to survive you for 30 days to benefit.
Disadvantages
Including the survivorship provision can have inheritance tax disadvantages.
If the survivorship clause is included in the Will of a couple who are married or in a civil partnership and the second spouse dies within 30 days of the first spouse, then spousal exemption for inheritance tax purposes will not apply.
Therefore, in Wills with a married couple/ couple in a civil partnership are wishing to leave their whole estate to each other in the first instance, the survivorship clause should be removed to ensure that the inheritance tax allowance can be transferred to the survivor, spousal exemption will apply and the tax free band is not wasted.
Tax and the impact of a survivorship clause within a Will and when it should be used and not is rather complex. Legal advise should always be obtained.