…no not a recipe for a fine English stew or the name of the witches’ cauldron in Macbeth.  The word hotchpot was used as early as 1292 as a legal term.

Executors of a will asked to divide an estate equally among the deceased’s children are not required to bring into account (hotchpot) sums received by the children during the deceased’s lifetime. 

If the deceased wishes allowance to be made for lifetime gifts before dividing the estate equally among his children then he should either include a specific “hotchpot clause” in his will or he should leave a specific sum of money to his other children to compensate for the lifetime gift.

Fred has 3 children.  During Fred’s lifetime he gives his youngest son David £9,000 to repay his debts.  Fred wants to treat his children equally.  He should either make a will leaving £9,000 to each of his other 2 children before his remaining estate is divided or he should state in his will that his executors must bring into account and charge against the share of David the gift made to David during his lifetime (a “hotchpot clause”).     In this way if Fred’s estate is worth £180,000 on Fred’s death then David will receive £54,000 (as he has already received £9,000 during Fred’s lifetime) and his siblings will each receive £63,000.   By including the hotchpot clause Fred has made sure that his children are treated equally

On the other hand if making lifetime gifts of a substantial amount to a child then be aware of the presumption against “double portions”.  This presumption states that where certain criteria are met a lifetime gift by a parent will be treated as an advance of a child’s inheritance under a will unless it can be proved to the contrary.

The criteria for the presumption against double portions are:

• The gift is a lifetime gift
• The gift is of a substantial amount
• The gift is made by a parent (or a person who has assumed the role of a parent)
• The gift is made with the intention of establishing a child in life or making substantial provision for them

The presumption is rebuttable if contrary evidence can be produced.

In Re Frost (2013) Richard’s will left a 1/3^rd of his estate to each of his two daughters and 1/6^th to his estranged son.  Richard sold his home shortly after making the will and gave his daughters £100,000 each.  When Richard died his son said the lifetime gift to the daughters was a portion of their inheritance and that it should be brought into account.  The Court decided that the payments were not a portion.    Both of the daughters had already invested considerable time and money in looking after their father before he sold his home and the payments had been made to the daughters as recompense for the care they had provided. The daughters did not have to bring the payments into account and they were entitled to their full share from their father’s estate.  In this instance the presumption against “double portions” was rebutted.

Always make a note of your intentions when making lifetime gifts so that there can be no doubt about your intentions.  Always review your will when making lifetime gifts to ensure that your will still carries out your wishes.