Survivor Engine Quantum Syndicate Ventures

Private pilot. Survivor Engine is not yet open for real client data.

Use cases

Four households, and three kinds of firm

These are worked examples, made up to test the engine and to show what it produces. Every one is an illustrative scenario. None is a real client, and none describes a result that any person has had.

How to read the figures on this page

The figures come from invented examples run through the engine on 15 November 2026. The same invented couple is used in all four, with the facts changed each time: a survivor aged 62, a home, savings, a pension and life insurance.

The rule packs behind the figures match their official sources, but they have not yet been adopted by a tax professional. Each sample report is stamped as a draft for that reason. Nothing here is advice, and nothing here predicts what would happen to a real person.

01 England Illustrative scenario. Not a real client.

A widow with no children

Her husband has died, leaving a will that passes everything to her. He looked after the money, and most of it was in his name alone.

The questions she is facing

  • What can I actually spend this month?
  • How long until his accounts are released?
  • Is there tax to pay, and by when?
  • Can I afford to stay in the house?

What the engine shows the adviser

  • What is reachable today, set against what is frozen until probate, item by item with an expected date.
  • A month-by-month check that the bills are covered in the meantime.
  • No inheritance tax on his death, because everything passes to a spouse, and his unused allowance carried forward.
  • A lifetime projection and a monthly spend it supports.

The dated list

  • Claim Bereavement Support Payment within three months to receive the full amount.
  • One bank will hold more than the long-term deposit protection limit once the savings are released. The date the temporary protection ends is shown.
  • Two years to vary who inherits, if that would help.
  • Make her own will and a power of attorney.

Figures from an invented example. The rule pack has not yet been adopted by a tax professional, and the sample report is stamped as a draft.

Reachable today
£15,700
Hers once everything is settled
about £1,607,800
Futures in which the money lasts at £42,000 a year
about 19 in 20
Monthly spend the projection supports
about £3,675

What is easy to miss

With no children or other direct descendants, the residence allowance for inheritance tax is not available on either death. The engine flags this and shows a projected inheritance tax bill on her own estate, part of which arises because pension funds enter the estate for deaths from 6 April 2027. That is a matter for her adviser to take up with her. The engine does not recommend what to do about it.

02 England, with trusts Illustrative scenario. Not a real client.

A blended family, two trusts and a child of twelve

Her husband had an adult son from an earlier marriage, and they have a daughter together who is still at school. His will leaves his half of the home in trust for her for life, a sum to the children, and a further sum to a family trust run by trustees.

The questions she is facing

  • Which of this is mine, and which is not?
  • Can I stay in the home?
  • Who are the trustees, and can they help me?
  • Is there enough to bring up our daughter?

What the engine shows the adviser

  • Each asset split four ways: hers outright, held for her for life, the children's, and the family trust's.
  • The inheritance tax position on his death, with the payment date and the date the account is due.
  • The higher rate of Bereavement Support Payment, because there is a dependent child.
  • A projection that carries the child's costs until she is independent.

The dated list

  • Inheritance tax payment date, and the later date for the inheritance tax account.
  • The date by which the trustees must register the trust if it still holds anything.
  • Check Child Benefit is in her name, and tell the school.
  • Make her own will, which is also where guardians are named.

Figures from an invented example. The rule pack has not yet been adopted by a tax professional, and the sample report is stamped as a draft.

Hers once everything is settled
about £1,109,175
Held in trust for her for life
£325,000
Inheritance tax on his death
about £3,865
Futures in which the money lasts at £51,000 a year
about 14 in 20

What is easy to miss

Not everything in the estate is hers. The children's money must be kept separate, the trust capital is kept for those who inherit after her, and the family trust belongs to its trustees. Because the will used his main tax-free allowance, none of that allowance carries forward to her own estate. The engine sets this out plainly so that the survivor is not left to find it out later.

03 Scotland, no will Illustrative scenario. Not a real client.

A spouse and two adult children, with no will

Her husband died without a will. They lived in Scotland, the home was in his name, and they have two grown-up children.

The questions she is facing

  • Does everything come to me?
  • Is the house mine?
  • What are the children entitled to?
  • What is confirmation, and how long does it take?

What the engine shows the adviser

  • The estate allocated asset by asset under Scots law: her prior rights first, then legal rights, then the rest.
  • What is frozen until confirmation is granted, including the home.
  • No inheritance tax on his death, with only part of his allowance left to carry forward.
  • A projection on the smaller sum that reaches her.

The dated list

  • Apply for confirmation, the Scottish equivalent of probate.
  • Claim Bereavement Support Payment within three months to receive the full amount.
  • Two years to vary who inherits, which needs everyone affected to agree.
  • Make her own will.

Figures from an invented example. The rule pack has not yet been adopted by a tax professional, and the sample report is stamped as a draft.

Passing under the intestacy rules
£832,100
Of that, to her
£527,367
Of that, to the children
£304,733
Futures in which the money lasts at £42,000 a year
about 13 in 20

What is easy to miss

In Scotland a surviving spouse does not simply inherit everything where there is no will. After her prior rights to the home up to a limit, the furnishings and a cash sum, she has legal rights to a share of the money and investments, and the rest goes to the children. Many families expect otherwise. The same facts in England give a different answer, which is why the engine keeps each jurisdiction's rules apart.

04 Northern Ireland, no will Illustrative scenario. Not a real client.

An unmarried partner, with no will

They lived together in Northern Ireland and were not married or in a civil partnership. He died without a will, and they owned the home in equal shares.

The questions she is facing

  • What am I entitled to?
  • Can I stay in our home?
  • Who do I need to see, and how soon?
  • What do I have to live on?

What the engine shows the adviser

  • That nothing passes to her under the intestacy rules. His estate goes to his relatives.
  • What is already hers: her half of the home, the joint account, her own savings and pension, and whatever his pension scheme decides.
  • That the spouse exemption from inheritance tax does not apply, so his estate has a bill to pay.
  • That she is not eligible for Bereavement Support Payment in this example.

The dated list

  • See a solicitor this month about her rights to the home and the estate.
  • The last date to ask the court for reasonable provision, which is six months from the grant.
  • Inheritance tax payment date on his estate.
  • Make her own will and a power of attorney.

Figures from an invented example. The rule pack has not yet been adopted by a tax professional, and the sample report is stamped as a draft.

Passing to her under the intestacy rules
£0
Passing to his relatives
£832,100
Inheritance tax on his estate
about £195,680
Futures in which the money lasts at £42,000 a year
about 2 in 20

What is easy to miss

The law does not treat an unmarried partner as a spouse. With no will she inherits nothing automatically, however long they were together. She may be able to make a claim through the court, and the time limit is short. The engine puts "see a solicitor" at the top of the first month's list and shows the estimated last date. It does not judge whether a claim would succeed.

Three kinds of firm

How a firm might use it

These are also illustrations. The service is in private pilot, and these describe intended use, not the experience of any customer.

  • Illustrative scenario. Not a real client.

    A financial planning firm

    A long-standing client is widowed

    The firm advised the couple for years. The paraplanner enters the estate from the file and the statements. The adviser reviews the appraisal, the cash bridge and the projection, checks each figure against its source, and signs before the first meeting.

    The client leaves with a one-page staged list. The firm keeps a record of what she was told and on what basis.

  • Illustrative scenario. Not a real client.

    A probate solicitor

    The estate is nearly distributed

    The firm already holds the estate data from the probate work. Before closing the file it prepares a case, so that the survivor is handed on to an authorised adviser with the position set out, not with a folder of statements.

    If the firm has an in-house planner, the relationship can stay with the firm.

  • Illustrative scenario. Not a real client.

    A bereavement service

    Someone asks for help with the paperwork

    A support worker helps the person gather what they have. A partner firm's authorised adviser runs the case, reviews it and signs it, and the person receives the staged list with the support worker beside them.

    The service itself gives no advice. The adviser is responsible for what reaches the person.

Survivor Engine is not offered to individuals. More for advisers, including indicative pricing.

Private pilot

See a sample report in full

We can walk you through any of these four examples, from the facts entered to the appendix, and show how each figure was reached.

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