On 11 September 2026, the House of Commons voted against proposals to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (the Bill) would have allowed adults with fewer than six months to live to apply to be given help to end their own life, subject to certain safeguards.
For terminally ill adults and their families, the law remains unchanged. Those who assist a loved one to travel abroad for an assisted death may still face unexpected legal consequences when it comes to administering an estate and receiving an inheritance.
In this Keynote, Private Client partner Charlotte Pollard and paralegal Samuel Allum consider what the vote means for the forfeiture rule.
Morris v Morris and the forfeiture rule
The debate surrounding assisted dying often focuses on questions of medicine, ethics, and criminal law. However, a recent High Court decision highlights another important consequence that is frequently overlooked: the potential impact on inheritance.
In Morris v Morris [2024] EWHC 2554 (Ch), Mr Morris helped his wife, who suffered from an incurable neurological condition, travel to Switzerland for an assisted death. Although he was not prosecuted, the High Court held that his involvement was enough to engage the forfeiture rule.
The forfeiture rule is an established legal principle which prevents someone who has unlawfully caused or assisted in another person’s death from benefiting from that death. For most families, it is not the kind of rule anyone would think to look for. In the middle of terminal illness, grief, and impossible decisions, who would naturally stop to ask whether helping a spouse fulfil their final wishes might also affect their will?
In Morris, the Court considered the circumstances in which Mr Morris had acted and granted him full relief under the Forfeiture Act 1982, allowing him to inherit as his wife had intended. Without that relief, his inheritance would have been at risk.
The decision serves as an important reminder that the forfeiture rule can arise even where assistance is motivated by compassion, is openly given, and does not result in criminal proceedings.
The Bill and inheritance rights
The Bill proposed a lawful framework for certain terminally ill adults in England and Wales to receive assistance to end their lives. If assistance is provided lawfully within that framework, the consequences could look very different. The safeguards within the proposed legislation included:
- the applicant having a life expectancy of six months or less;
- the applicant having long-term or full-time residency in either England or Wales to prevent so-called ‘death tourism’;
- the applicant being judged to have the mental competency to make any decisions for themselves;
- an evaluation of diagnosis and prognosis by two independent doctors;
- independent verification of lack of coercion on the part of the candidate; and
- final review by multidisciplinary panel.
What happens now?
For now, though, the question remains an uncomfortable one: would you still help if you knew that doing so could put your inheritance at risk and leave you asking a court to restore what your spouse always intended you to receive?
Assisted dying is not only a question of medicine, morality, or criminal law. It can reach quietly into wills, inheritance and estate administration too, often when a family is least equipped to deal with another legal problem.
If you have questions or concerns about wills, or any of the issues raised in this Keynote, please contact Charlotte Pollard and Samuel Allum.
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