Post-death Variations and Disclaimers are both used to redistribute property following a death however Deeds of Variation offer wider possibilities. The variation must be made in writing within two years of the date of the deceased's death to be effective for inheritance tax purposes and all the beneficiaries of the Will must be in agreement.

A Deed of Variation enables beneficiaries of a deceased’s Estate to alter the distribution of that Estate, whereas a Disclaimer only allows a beneficiary to reject the benefit of a gift under a person's Will.

A Deed of Variation effectively permits redirection by the original beneficiary and therefore it is possible to introduce new beneficiaries into the terms of the deceased's Will. The Estate on death is charged to inheritance tax on the basis of the amended provisions but the beneficiary suffers no adverse tax consequences.

There are a number of reasons why a Will might be varied, but probably the most common reason would be to make an alteration to achieve a future Inheritance Tax saving. By using a Deed of Variation, the deceased's Executor could alter the way monies are allocated to either set up a Nil Rate Band trust or allocate money to another family member, individual or trust. Variations can also be used to provide charitable payments under a Will thus attracting a charity exemption from inheritance tax.

An attractive feature of such variations, is that all redirections are treated as being made by the deceased for Inheritance Tax purposes, not the original beneficiary who arranged the redirection. This means therefore, that if the original beneficiary passed away within seven years of the redirection, the gifts would not be brought back into their Estate for the purposes of taxation.

Although post-death Variations and Disclaimers are extremely useful instruments, they should not be relied upon as part of an individual person's Estate planning. It should always be remembered that their effectiveness could easily be reduced by the Government in the future. However, at present, they do offer Executors a useful and effective way of changing a Will after death.