Inheritance Question

elasticated17

Hello,

This is a little complicated so bear with me!

My grandfather recently died. He and my gran owned a house (no mortgage) which myself and my mother lived in all our lives. I now live near my work but my mum is living there with my gran as she needs to be looked after.

Under my gran and grandads instructions when they have both passed away - 5/9 of the house go to my mum and the remainer is split with my aunt and uncle. Everyone is happy with this arrangement.

However my mothers fiance is selling his house and intends to move in with my mum and gran (they are fine with this), as and when my gran dies he will buy out my uncle and aunt so he and my mum own the house (although my mums share is greater)

The problem is that he has 4 children (they are all over 20) . When he moved in should we legally make a new will for them both to ensure that my mums share only goes to me and that the whole house is not split between me and my new step dads children. My mum and her fiance are happy for me to receive my mums share when she passes away but in the event of something awful happening in the near future should we have something in place?

Thanks and sorry if any confusions!

myrnahaz

It's not confusing; if your step-dad buys out your aunt and uncles portions, then he can leave that proportion (4/9) to his children, while your Mum leaves her 5/9 to you.
They clearly need to write a will as soon as possible, ie, don't let them leave it until your Gran passes away or the importance of doing so will wane over time and they may never get round to writing it. If he and your mum marry and there's no will, then you and your step-siblings will probably be treated as equal benefactors. However, if your mum dies first, then your step dad will inherit her portion and his kids could ultimately end up with the lot..

sloughflint

elasticated17 wrote: »

Hello,

This is a little complicated so bear with me!

My grandfather recently died. He and my gran owned a house (no mortgage) which myself and my mother lived in all our lives. I now live near my work but my mum is living there with my gran as she needs to be looked after.

Under my gran and grandads instructions when they have both passed away - 5/9 of the house go to my mum and the remainer is split with my aunt and uncle. Everyone is happy with this arrangement.

However my mothers fiance is selling his house and intends to move in with my mum and gran (they are fine with this), as and when my gran dies he will buy out my uncle and aunt so he and my mum own the house (although my mums share is greater)

The problem is that he has 4 children (they are all over 20) . When he moved in should we legally make a new will for them both to ensure that my mums share only goes to me and that the whole house is not split between me and my new step dads children. My mum and her fiance are happy for me to receive my mums share when she passes away but in the event of something awful happening in the near future should we have something in place?

Thanks and sorry if any confusions!

Does the house belong to your Nan at the moment?

If so, has the family considered what might happen if your nan deteriorated to such a point that she needed to go into residential care? The value of the house might be taken into consideration in the care costs if your mother is under 60.Things may not pan out as you imagine.

You need to seek proper advice on all of this.

Pee

They do need to make a will and take proper legal advise re care home fees. It is likely the property would be disregarded for care home fees purposes if your mother is living there, depending upon her age.

elasticated17

Thanks for your help peoples. Yes my mother has power of attorney over my gran and my gran has a very large amount of saving that my grandad saved for her so that is for any care she may need in the future.

I think your right and we should get it all done legally - i know my stepdad is a nice guy but I dont want to have to fight his kids for my share of the house! Thanks

elasticated17

Also yes the house does belong to my nan but my mothers name is also on the title deeds

RAS

Wills are invalidated by a change in relationship, so wait to do everything until after they actaully get married. it can all be prepared but if they sign before the wedding the will is useless after it.

And you need to sort out exactly what your mother's status is on the exisitng deeds. If it is joint tenancy or tenants in common?

sloughflint

RAS wrote: »

Wills are invalidated by a change in relationship, ..... but if they sign before the wedding the will is useless after it.

Although apparently:

Marriage

Getting married or entering into a civil partnership invalidates any Will made before the wedding or civil partnership — unless it specifically states that it is made in contemplation of marriage or the civil partnership.
Interestingly, getting divorced does not invalidate the whole Will, only the bequest to the ex-spouse. Their share will be divided between the other beneficiaries or otherwise disposed of according to instructions in the Will as if they had died first. (Because this may make a nonsense of what you intended to do in the Will, it is a very good idea to make a new Will in the event of divorce.)

http://www.cch-solicitors.com/wills/contest.htm

Mojisola

elasticated17 wrote: »

My grandfather recently died. He and my gran owned a house (no mortgage) which myself and my mother lived in all our lives. I now live near my work but my mum is living there with my gran as she needs to be looked after.

Under my gran and grandads instructions when they have both passed away - 5/9 of the house go to my mum and the remainer is split with my aunt and uncle. Everyone is happy with this arrangement.

To be clear - are these instructions in a will or just agreed informally?

kr15snw

It completely depends on what your mum decides with her finance.

My grandad lived with my dad on their own for many years. Grandad got re married just after dad met my mum. Grandad changed his will to leave the entire property to his new wife instead of to my dad (fair enough).

He died first and so she kept the house. When she died she decided to keep it fair (as her children were demanding they should inherit it) and split it between the 9 grandchildren. I can see why she did this but for 40 years dad was set to inherit the property, and then it all changed and he recieved nothing (long story his step mums kids took all his dads personal things (pics etc) from the house and chucked them away before my dad got to them and to this day we have no photos of his parents wedding )

If your mum decides she wants her share to go to you then she can. But they may decide to leave to the other partner and then let them decide what to do with it. So if your mum left the property to her fiance, and she died first its up to him if he wants it to be split between his kids, or all the kids.

localhero

kr15snw wrote:

But they may decide to leave to the other partner and then let them decide what to do with it. So if your mum left the property to her fiance, and she died first its up to him if he wants it to be split between his kids, or all the kids.

This is what couples that remarry mistakenly do most of the time.

This forum is littered with threads on the lines of, "mum/dad/grandparent remarried and has died. We're worried as step parent/grand parent no longer talks to us. My parents would not have wanted their property to end up going to other people's kids."

By this time it's too late - other than to be very nice to step parent/grandparent. Couples need to obtain and act on decent professional advice so that things are set up to ensure their assets pass to their own children, whilst at the same time taking care of their new spouse.

OP, obtain the services of a decent professional to get some Wills written up - otherwise things could get messy.