Not got a will? Find out where your money'll go now ... its changed

Former_MSE_Wendy · 10 February 2009 at 8:12PM

What this is all about?

If you die without a will there are strict rules on where your estate (assets) go. Last week (1 Feb 09) the rules for married people or civil partnerships (ie gay marriage not just co-habiting) in England and Wales changed.

What are the new rules?

This mainly depends on whether you have children or not:

Got kids? Now the first £250,000 goes to your spouse (it was £125k), the remainder to your children.

No kids? The first £450,000 (was £200k) goes to your spouse, the remainder goes to any surviving parents, if there aren't any to siblings, if there aren't any to your spouse.

The rules for the unmarried

These haven't changed and the money is distributed in the following way:

To kids if you have them
If not, to surviving parents
If none, to brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles in that order
and finally to the state if you have no surviving relatives

This means an unmarried partner is not entitled to anything.

Don't leave it to chance

Dying without a will can make it complex for your family especially if you are not married, so the best solution is to make a will, and plan for any inheritance issues, before the worst happens.

Further details on the Directgov site.

Related articles: Inheritance Tax, Financial Advice

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ChrisCobra · 10 February 2009 at 9:53PM

Thanks for the heads up , basically make a will everyone!!

tattoed_bum · 10 February 2009 at 10:02PM

i have always meant to do a will but it always seemed a bit morbid to me ,so i should really do it now and not be scared of it

Zara33 · 10 February 2009 at 11:39PM

ChrisCobra wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up , basically make a will everyone!!

Agree! since my sister passed away and never had a will, it's been a complete nightmare trying to get things sorted out :eek: especially as Scottish law is different to England!

maryotuam · 10 February 2009 at 11:44PM

If you make a will, you can put it away and forget about it. That's not morbid. It's like home insurance....buying it doesn't mean you think your house is about to burn down or you are about to be burgled. Do a will and you can relax and forget about dying.

Shytalker · 11 February 2009 at 8:33AM

As a union member, I have discovered a way to have a will drafted for nothing. I am a member of Unison in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region and they have a free wills service. I don't know if it available outside this region but I suspect that it will be.

Unison has a leaflet called 'My Own Free Will' which explains it. Union members send off a large s.a.e. to 'Robin Thompson and Partners' (a real casanova by the sound of it) in Plymouth and they reply with a questionnaire and explanatory notes. Then they draft the will at their leisure, free of charge.

torpedo_2 · 11 February 2009 at 9:31AM

I question whether going to the expense of a Will is neccessary for those of us who live uncomplicated lives.

I am Married, our house in jointly owned out right value £250k I have 3 children all over 16. I live in England
If I or my wife die, half of the house and other assets and insurance would not exceed 250k so it would all go to the other half.

If we we both die at the same time it would be split between the kids.

I'd be interested to hear any other reasons I don't understand to explain why I should pay money to the legal profession for a Will when the Goverment seem to have it covered.

Jasper27_2 · 11 February 2009 at 10:11AM

Further to Shytalkers post I'm in the PCS and they also have a free wills service. Everyone should make one, it's not morbid just making sure the ones you love get what you intend them to. It also makes things move more quickly after someone has died so that the money becomes available quickly. Often people suffer financial hardship with day to day living whilst legal issues slow down access to assets. Finally it prevents rows over what was promised to whom, you'd be amazed how many family rows ensue after a death.

SandC · 11 February 2009 at 10:57AM

torpedo wrote: »

I question whether going to the expense of a Will is neccessary for those of us who live uncomplicated lives.

I am Married, our house in jointly owned out right value £250k I have 3 children all over 16. I live in England
If I or my wife die, half of the house and other assets and insurance would not exceed 250k so it would all go to the other half.

If we we both die at the same time it would be split between the kids.

I'd be interested to hear any other reasons I don't understand to explain why I should pay money to the legal profession for a Will when the Goverment seem to have it covered.

The one thing that keeps cropping is if, say you passed away. Your wife would inherit everything. What if she married again? Without a will everything would go to her new husband if she were to die and then if he were to die the inheritance could go to HIS children or family and your children would not receive anything. It would be quite simple to have a will drawn up which protects the children in the case of remarrying. You really never know what is going to happen so it's worth doing.

Even if you are not even married with no kids it is worth having a will as whilst it will go to parents or siblings or whoever is closest relative without the will it will take a long time for all the legal stuff to be sorted out.

Having said that, I don't have a will myself (I am in the above circumstances) as I have been putting it off, however I do know that my firm's life assurance would go to my brother and that is not dealt with as part of the estate and would mean he could cover the funeral without dipping into his own money, which is the main concern at the time of death I guess.

galvanizersbaby · 11 February 2009 at 11:19AM

Jasper27 wrote: »

Further to Shytalkers post I'm in the PCS and they also have a free wills service. Everyone should make one, it's not morbid just making sure the ones you love get what you intend them to. It also makes things move more quickly after someone has died so that the money becomes available quickly. Often people suffer financial hardship with day to day living whilst legal issues slow down access to assets. Finally it prevents rows over what was promised to whom, you'd be amazed how many family rows ensue after a death.

I'm in the PCS too Jasper and I didn't realise they offered this free service.
However I'm divorced and don't co-habit with a partner so I'm assuming my estate would go to my 2 children (though they are only 6 and 4 years currently) - do you think I need to appoint some sort of guardian?

wknigh14 · 11 February 2009 at 11:42AM

Just used the link to check the government website for further info - and it hasn't even been updated with the new rules yet. Typical!

Does anyone know if the new rules apply to an ongoing dispute over inheritance, or just for people who pass away without a will after the new rules come into effect?

Not got a will? Find out where your money'll go now ... its changed

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