October 11, 2026

The Estate Registry says Assisted Dying Bill will have a profound effect on law and outlines what it means for estate planning

admin September 2, 2025
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The Assisted Dying Bill completed its passage through the House of Commons on June 20th 2025. It proposes to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults who are expected to die within six months. The Bill, which has now passed to the House of Lords for detailed consideration, potentially raises important questions for a range of legal disciplines — not least, estate planning.

The Estate Registry (TER), which offers a range of end-of-life admin products including NotifyNOW, InheritNOW and LegacyNOW, as well as award-winning bereavement notification service Settld, has based this analysis on practical and legal considerations and does not take a moral position on the Bill.

Chief Operating Officer Howard Enders says: “In our professional capacity we think it would be helpful to set out how the introduction of legalised assisted dying might impact estate planning and to consider the procedural ramifications that estate planners, solicitors, and families should anticipate.”

Under existing law, assisting another person to die is a criminal offence under Section 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961, carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment. While suicide itself is not a crime, any person who aids, abets, counsels, or procures the suicide of another can be prosecuted.

Despite calls for reform and the sympathetic approach sometimes taken by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in choosing whether or not to prosecute, the law remains unchanged.

The Assisted Dying Bill would permit adults with fewer than six months to live and who, crucially, have mental capacity, to request and receive life-ending medication. Safeguards such as independent medical assessments, judicial oversight, and a reflection period are built into the Bill. If passed, it would significantly alter the legal landscape.

Estate planning involves the organisation of an individual’s assets during their lifetime to ensure they are distributed according to their wishes after death. It typically includes drafting wills, creating trusts, making gifts, and considering inheritance tax liabilities. Legalisation of assisted dying would introduce a new dimension to this process.

One of the primary implications for estate planning would be the increased predictability of the timing of death. Of its nature, death is uncertain both in timing and circumstance. With the introduction of assisted dying, individuals may be able to plan their deaths with precision. This has implications for:

  • The execution of wills: clients may wish to update their wills shortly before an assisted death to reflect final wishes.

  • As it stands, if a friend or relative assists a terminally ill person to die, the principle of forfeiture applies to inheritance.

  • Lifetime gifts and trusts: More strategic planning may occur in the days or weeks before death, affecting inheritance tax exposure

  • Pensions and death-in-service benefits: Some benefits are contingent upon death in certain circumstances, and insurers or employers might have to adapt policies to account for assisted deaths.

This control over timing could also lead to disputes over capacity. While the Assisted Dying Bill mandates the presence of mental capacity, family members who stand to benefit (or lose out) might challenge wills made or amended shortly before death, alleging coercion or a failure of cognitive ability.

UK law imposes Inheritance Tax (IHT) at a rate of 40% on estates above the nil-rate band (currently £325,000), with various exemptions and reliefs. Assisted dying could create strategic opportunities for clients to reduce tax liability, for example:

  • Gifts made within seven years of death taper in terms of IHT liability. If clients can predict their time of death, they may avoid giving gifts that fall outside of this rule.

  • Potentially, there could be abuse of lifetime gifting strategies or last-minute trust arrangements, making regulation and scrutiny of estate planning advice more critical.

  • Because of the tax implications, HMRC may in future revise rules in the event of assisted dying.

 

For estate planners and solicitors, assisted dying introduces significant ethical considerations. Practitioners must be vigilant about the possibility of undue influence, especially where large estates are involved and family dynamics are complex.

A solicitor assisting a client who is considering an assisted death must tread carefully. The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) guidelines may need to evolve to ensure:

  • Clients are not being coerced or manipulated by family members with financial motives.

  • There is a clear record of mental capacity assessments, not just for the purposes of assisted dying, but also for executing or amending wills.

Documentation, independent witnesses, and professional counselling may all become more integral to estate planning practice if assisted dying is legalised.

At The Estate Registry, we anticipate that the legalisation of assisted dying could lead to a rise in contentious probate cases, particularly in these areas:

Enders concludes: “The emotional and financial stakes are likely to be higher when death is intentional and scheduled. Courts may be called upon more frequently to assess whether a will or estate plan truly reflects the testator’s free will.

“The Assisted Dying Bill, if enacted, would mark a profound shift in English law. While intended primarily as a compassionate response to the suffering of terminally ill individuals, its implications for estate planning are complex and far-reaching.

“Clients, too, must be made aware of the risks and responsibilities that come with this autonomy. Estate planning in an era of assisted dying demands a delicate approach, involving not only legal expertise but also medical, ethical, and psychological sensitivity.”