Why this policy exists
Estate planning is high-stakes content. Bad information about who can witness a will, how intestacy applies to an unmarried partner, or what the residence nil-rate band actually covers can cost a family tens of thousands of pounds — sometimes their home. We publish this policy so readers can see exactly how our content is produced, where it comes from, and how we handle corrections.
Who writes and reviews
All ClearLegacy guides, comparison pages, and policy documents are written or reviewed by SL, the founder of ClearLegacy. SL's background spans digital product, estate-planning research, and the operational design of a fully automated will-writing service in England and Wales.
ClearLegacy is a self-service platform. We do not employ advisors, and we do not provide individual legal advice through this site. SL's role is to make sure every published page is accurate against current UK law and useful to ordinary households — not to replace a solicitor where a solicitor is genuinely needed.
What we cite
We cite primary sources wherever possible. Secondary commentary and news articles are used only to provide context — never as the legal authority for a statement. The sources we cite include:
- Statute. Wills Act 1837, Administration of Estates Act 1925 (as amended), Inheritance Tax Act 1984, Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, Mental Capacity Act 2005, and the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, retrieved from legislation.gov.uk.
- Government guidance. GOV.UK for everything from "Make a will" public guidance to probate fee schedules and intestacy explainers.
- HMRC. The HMRC Inheritance Tax Manual and IHT400 series for thresholds, allowances, gifts-with-reservation-of-benefit rules, business property relief, and the taper.
- Citizens Advice. Death and wills public-information set for the consumer-facing position on probate, intestacy, and family disputes.
- Office of the Public Guardian. Statutory guidance on Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) — both Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare.
- Office for National Statistics. Demographic data on cohabitation, marriage rates, and household composition that underpins the partner-inheritance content cluster.
- HM Land Registry. For property-ownership rules (joint tenants vs tenants in common) and severance of joint tenancies.
Our writing standards
- Plain English. We avoid Latin tags ("per stirpes", "bona vacantia") unless we immediately translate them. The audience is the household making a will, not lawyers reviewing a contract.
- One answer, then the nuance. Every page opens with a Quick Answer block that gives a direct response in 60–90 words. The body adds the nuance after — caveats, edge cases, and the situations where a solicitor is the right call.
- Concrete figures. Where we state a threshold (£325,000 nil-rate band, £175,000 residence nil-rate band, £322,000 statutory legacy), we link to the statutory instrument or HMRC page it comes from.
- England & Wales by default. Most ClearLegacy content applies to England and Wales. Where Scotland or Northern Ireland have materially different rules, we say so on the page.
- No misleading certainty. Where the law genuinely leaves an outcome to a court (1975 Act claims, contested probate, certain trust constructions), we say "depends on the court" rather than giving false certainty.
Review cycle
Every published page carries a "Last updated" date. Pages are re-checked:
- At least annually. Every page is reviewed end-to-end at least once in any 12-month period.
- Whenever the underlying law changes. Budget announcements affecting IHT thresholds or reliefs, Statutory Instruments updating the statutory legacy, primary legislation amending the Wills Act, and Court of Appeal or Supreme Court decisions on intestacy or 1975 Act claims trigger an immediate review of the affected pages.
- Whenever a reader reports an error. Reader-reported factual errors are checked and, if confirmed, corrected within five working days.
Use of AI tools
AI writing tools may be used during drafting, structuring, and research. They are not used to publish content unsupervised. Every page is reviewed line-by-line against primary sources by SL before publication. The "Last updated" date on each page reflects when that human review was completed — not when an AI generated a draft.
Corrections and complaints
If you spot a factual error — a wrong threshold, an outdated SI reference, a misstated rule — please email hello@clearlegacy.co.uk with the page URL and the correction. We respond to all corrections requests within five working days. Substantive corrections are noted in the page footer with a refreshed "Last reviewed" date.
For complaints about ClearLegacy as a service (not about content), see our separate Complaints Policy. For the operational review every customer's will goes through before delivery, see our Will Review Process.
Independence
ClearLegacy is a will-writing service — we have a commercial interest in customers buying our wills. We try to be honest about it. Our comparison pages list Farewill, Co-op Legal Services, high-street solicitors and DIY kits alongside ClearLegacy, with their prices and trade-offs. Where the right answer for a particular reader is "use a solicitor", we say so. The point of the editorial standard is not to disguise our position — it's to make sure the facts on this site are right whether they help us close a sale or not.
Scope and limits
Nothing on ClearLegacy is individual legal advice. Will writing in England and Wales is not a reserved legal activity, and ClearLegacy is not a regulated law firm. For estates involving discretionary trusts, foreign assets, business succession, contested family circumstances, or significant Inheritance Tax exposure, the right professional is a solicitor — and our content tells you when to use one.