Mirror Wills for couples: what they do and don't do

In England and Wales, each person makes their own Will. "Mirror Wills" just means two documents that reflect each other. Because the drafting overlaps, they're charged at a reduced pair rate: £199 for standard mirror Wills and £350 for complex or trust mirror Wills. If the two Wills say genuinely different things, they're two separate pieces of work and priced that way.

• Everything to each other.
• If one of you has already died, to the children in equal shares.
• Guardians for any children under 18.
• Executors, usually each other plus a backup.
• Any specific gifts, funeral wishes, and the rest of the estate.

A mirror Will doesn't bind either of you. After the first death, the survivor is free to make a new Will leaving everything somewhere else entirely, and a later marriage cancels an existing Will automatically, so the change can even happen by accident. For a first-marriage couple with shared children, this rarely matters. For a blended family, it matters a great deal.

There are three usual ways to go about it:

1. Keep things simple. Often the sensible answer where both partners have the same children and the same wishes.
2. A property protection trust. Rings your share of the home for the people you've chosen, while the survivor lives there for life. Read the guide.
3. Mutual Wills. These involve a binding agreement not to change the Wills. They're rarely recommended: family life changes, and the agreement can cause arguments many years down the line.

Marriage, divorce, a new child or grandchild, a death among your beneficiaries or executors, buying a property, receiving an inheritance, or a move abroad. Otherwise, a read-through every five years is plenty.