question about wills and guardianship

busiscoming2

Hello, I've been thinking about making a will and have thought of a couple of questions, I will see a solicitor but was interested in anyone's view or experience:
I have three children, 2 from ex. and 1 with my husband. Eldest is 21 and lives away, next is 18 and child with hubby is 11. Our wills will mirror each other, on each death spouse gets all. my query is this: In the event of both of us dying together, we would want kids to get third each, but obviously 11 yo would have to be looked after, how can you make financial provision for this as you don't know the cost? Iwouldn't want the other 2 to have to wait until he is 18 to get their share. That bring me onto the 2nd part, how do you make financial provision to the guardian for his care? and do guardians get extra state help?
Sorry for the lengthy post!

localhero

Hi busiscoming2,

You will need to decide upon 2 trustees to look after the share of your youngest child until they reach at least 18. (Or older if you specify that in the Will.)

The law says that the guardians are entitled to money for 'education, maintenance and benefit' from the amount held by trustees. The most practical way of doing this is to write a separate letter of wishes to your trustees giving them some guidance as to what they should be paying for (ie piano/horse riding lessons or private education etc).

It is also usual to make the guardian one of the trustees - though of course you don't have to.

Aside from the guardian issue, have you considered the fact that if you died first though, that there is no guarantee that your children from a previous relationship will inherit? They would be at the mercy of your husband not remarrying/making a new Will later on excluding them. I'm not saying he would of course, but this is a very common occurrence that with a little forward planning could be prevented.

You do not necessarily need a solicitor to draw up your Will, visit www.ipw.org.uk to find qualified, regulated and insured willwriting professionals in your area.

MiasMommy

Sorry im not going to be of any help, but Iwanted to add, with my ex him and his sister are in the same situation yet their step dad, who their mum has another child with who is now 13. The stepdad refuses to put the older 2 on the will saying that should only get a quarter each and that his child should get half, as they will be cared for by their real dad, which is not the case as he has not seen them in years.

So its a really difficult for the mum, I just wanted to say good luck with whatever you write.

busiscoming2

Thanks, I think my real dilemma is it doesn't seem fair (upon both our deaths) that the estate is split three ways, the elder two would then have some money to do what they wished with, but the youngers, although in trust, would also be used for his upbringing. I just feel this is unfair to him.

woofwoofwoof

Have you thought about what will happen to your children if something happened to you and your husband remarried? If you have left all your estate to your husband your children will not be entitled to anything if he then leaves a will leaving everything to his next wife.

Our solicitor suggested to us that we leave a percentage to each other and a percentage of the value of our house to our son in each of our wills (although the house can't be sold until the surviving spouse says so or our son turns 18) this means that if either of us remarry our son would be provided for.

I do realise that this isn't what you asked but it it worthwhile thinking about because as I'm sure you know 'people can be funny when it comes to money'!




Sorry, just realised localhero said the same thing.

localhero

It is quite common in this situation for both parties to change the ownership of the house to tenants in common, and for each party to divide their own estate between their own children.

Therefore assuming everything is equal asset wise, the partner with only 1 child is likely (but not in every case) to want to leave their share to their 1 child, but the other parent may want their share of the estate split 3 ways.

This is perfectly fair and logical and this need not be to the detriment of the surviving spouse, as the gifts made in the Will of the first spouse to die can be postponed until the second of them dies.

zekepes

Something else to consider is inheritance tax. You may want to consider setting up a trust on the event of you both dieing at the same time, so you children don't get stung with a big tax bill. Your solicitor will be able to guide you through this though, and it sounds like it will actually be a bit complex.

Certainly your youngest child should not have to 'pay' for her upbringing out of a third share. Maybe you can get something written in about an over-estimation of the amount it would cost to bring her up being kept back and the remainder shared equally, with any surplus further shared when she reaches 18/21. Likewise for the 18 yr old - if you paid for the university education for the oldest then they should get that, too.

I would also discuss about the possibility, like the other poster stated, of you dying and your husand re-marrying.

Any good solicitor will bring up these issues with you though, and give suggestions as to the fairest way to accomodate everyone you want to, and a good will is definately money well spent.