A fresh start for your paperwork
After the wedding, most couples are busy with thank-you cards and name changes. It is also a natural time to look at the money side of your shared life: the home you live in or plan to buy, the children you might have and how you would look after each other.
If one of you already holds life insurance from before you met, it may be set up for a parent or a sibling. Now is the moment to check who it would pay. You may want to keep it as it is, add your spouse to a trust or take out new cover that sits alongside it.
Your will and your existing policies
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, getting married normally cancels any will you made before, unless it was written in expectation of the marriage. Scotland has different rules. If you die without a valid will, your estate is shared under the intestacy rules, which may not match what you want.
A life policy not in trust is paid into your estate, so your will decides where it goes. A policy in trust pays the beneficiaries or trustees named in the trust. If your trust still names someone from before the marriage, you may want to change it.
- Make or update your wills together
- Check any trust on an existing policy and who it names
- Update workplace death-in-service nomination forms
- Tell your insurer about a change of name
Choosing new cover as a married couple
Newlyweds often choose between a joint life policy and two single policies. Joint cover pays once and is usually cheaper. Single policies can each pay out and stay with each person if life takes an unexpected turn. Neither option is wrong. It comes down to budget and how you would want the money to work if one of you died.
Think about where you will be in five or ten years. If you plan to buy a home or start a family, you might set the term and amount with those plans in mind, or choose a policy that lets you increase cover later.
Inheritance tax and married couples
Spouses and civil partners can generally leave assets to each other free of inheritance tax. That means a payout to your husband or wife is often less of a concern than one to children or others. Unmarried couples do not get the same exemption, which is one practical difference marriage makes.
Writing a policy in trust can still help, because the money can be paid quickly without waiting for probate. For larger estates, a trust may also keep the payout outside your estate on the second death. Your solicitor or a tax adviser can help with the detail.
Thinking about the years ahead
Many couples marry with plans already sketched out: a house, children, a career move. Your cover does not have to match every plan from day one. A policy with options to increase after buying a home or having a child lets you add cover later without fresh medical questions, within the insurer's limits.
Look at what your employers provide as well. Death-in-service benefit through work is useful, but it usually ends when you leave the job. Personal cover stays with you wherever you work, which matters if one of you plans a career break or a move into self-employment.
If either of you changes surname, update your policy records, bank details and any trust paperwork at the same time. Matching names make life simpler for the insurer and for your family if a claim is ever made. It only takes a few minutes and saves questions later.
How Hi Tomorrow helps newlyweds
We review what each of you already holds, including cover through work, and look at your plans for the next few years. Then we compare joint and single options from the insurers on our panel and recommend cover that fits your budget.
We help with the application and trust forms, and we will remind you to sort out your wills. As your family grows, we can come back and update your cover with you. We do not charge a fee for advice on personal protection, so a review costs you nothing but a little time.