Making a Will

localhero

tanith wrote: »

This hypothetical example is exactly what could happen in my case, so any inheritance could completely bypass my children and go to OH's siblings as he has no children... so if I explained this to a solicitor they would advise me how to avoid that happening?

They should be able to provide certainty, yes. To ensure that your estate ultimately passes to whom you desire, it will be necessary to change the ownership of your home from joint tenants to tenants in common so that it doesn't automatically pass to your spouse.

What you intend is straightforward enough, but you would be wise to ask for a clear indication of the cost involved, because as soon as a trust is involved most solicitors will charge x amount plus an hourly rate, and therefore your Wills can end up becoming quite expensive.

dzug1

margaretclare wrote: »

Originally Posted by bashful
Taking a simple view, our wills would be as someone else said "each to each other and then to offspring".





I don't see this.

We are in a similar position, both in second marriages with offspring and descendants from the first. We have made 'mirror wills' leaving everything to each other. When the second one pops his/her clogs, whatever (if anything) is left is meant to be divided equally among 5 grandchildren, 3 of mine and 2 of his. We had no intention of setting up any kind of a trust. Nor is there any plan that anyone should have an 'inheritance' - if there's something left they'll get it. If there isn't i.e. if we need it while alive, that's the luck of the draw.

If your will specifies what is to happen to your, first death, assets after the second death then you ARE setting up a trust whether you intend to or not. You are limiting the second death's options. OK with the right wording you can give them a great deal of freedom, but at very least you are preventing them leaving it a different way should their circumstances warrant it.

MrMicawber_2

localhero - is there a typical price for a will in the following circumstances. Married couple two children - one teenager one an adult.

On death of first spouse everything goes to second spouse. On death of second spouse everything divided equally between children.

Say a trust is needed to avoid some potential IHT.

Any ideas?

margaretclare

dzug1 wrote: »

margaretclare wrote: »

If your will specifies what is to happen to your, first death, assets after the second death then you ARE setting up a trust whether you intend to or not. You are limiting the second death's options. OK with the right wording you can give them a great deal of freedom, but at very least you are preventing them leaving it a different way should their circumstances warrant it.

We have done this with solicitor's advice because we wanted to include the option of 'if he/she should not survive me by 28 days'. The full wording is: 'I leave everything to (named spouse) provided he/she shall survive me by 28 days, but if he/she does not so survive me, then....'

If you leave everything to each other then you should/must include an option for your spouse either dying first or not surviving you by 28 days.

If the second survivor remarries then it is understood that a new will is required on marriage.

It nearly came to pass a few short weeks ago. The middle week in October to be exact, DH's life hung by a thread - septicaemia and respiratory failure. He is extremely lucky to be here at all, and a second widowhood would have been my worst nightmare.

dgbshifnal

My wife and I have just completed having "Mirror" wills drawn up. Despite the name, they are not identical, as each of us have some specific bequests. We have had several iterations of reviewing them along the way, so as to be content that they do accurately reflect what we want.
Done by solicitors £200 + VAT (should have waited until Monday!) for both.
good service and peace of mind.

meech_2

dgbshifnal - seems a rather fair price - obviously the solicitor wanted your work!

I think some people are tied up in the instruments of law used when making a will. What tends to make a will complicated is many and varied bequests and potentially high value estates. apart from that, so many precedents exist it is generally easy to draft a will quite quickly.

Also, trusts are not always necessary for IHT purposes, in fact we have removed ours from our will recently due to the changes in exemption.

localhero

Hi MrMicawber,

Prices will vary widely depending whether you instruct a solicitor or a professional Willwriter. Therefore it would be wise to shop around and choose carefully.

A reasonable range would be £120 - £150.

Since married couples are now entitled to double up on the IHT allowances and leave a combined estate of £624,000 tax free, you may find that a trust is no longer necessary.