Deed of Variation

Crownlyn

Hello, I'm after a bit of advice please.
My mum passed away recently and I am currently dealing with probate and all the admin that comes with it.
Some time ago my mum expressed that she wanted her only grandchild (my son) to receive a lump sum but the will never got changed and I promised her I would follow her wishes.
I am an only child and the sole beneficiary.
When I inherit her estate, do I transfer the funds to my son then or would it be better to have a deed of variation to mums will so it gets paid directly from her estate?
Thank you.

p00hsticks

A deed of variation is generally better as it means it avoids your estate completely - if you inherited and then gave it to him as a gift and died within 7 years then it would fall back into your estate.

This is only an issue though if the size of both the gift and your estate is likely to leave you liable to inheritance tax. 

Keep_pedalling

Really depends on the total value of your estate. If you are a long way from IHT territory including your inheritance then it really does not matter whether you gift it or do a DoV.

Crownlyn

Thank you for your replies, I think a DoV is the correct way to go which was my initial thought.