Will Advice

smartpicture

I separated from my husband 12 years ago, but neither of us ever bothered getting divorced. I have a will written when the kids were younger (they're both >18 now) which left 10% of my estate to him and the rest to the kids. The will was drawn up by an IFA as an incentive for doing some financial business with him and I'm not 100% certain he knew what he was doing. If I die while still officially married, would my ex just get the 10% I planned, or would he be entitled to claim more as he would still be my legal husband, anyone know?

Alternatively, if I went through the palaver of having a new will drawn up by a solicitor, any clues on how much that might cost? Thanks.

localhero

Your husband will receive what the Will says.

If he felt that your Will made insufficient provision for him then he would be entitled to make a claim under the Inheritance Act (ie the marital finances had not been resolved).

You don't necessarily need a solicitor to draw up a Will - a professional willwriter would charge you around £75-£95.

flossy_splodge

smartpicture wrote: »

I separated from my husband 12 years ago, but neither of us ever bothered getting divorced. I have a will written when the kids were younger (they're both >18 now) which left 10% of my estate to him and the rest to the kids. The will was drawn up by an IFA as an incentive for doing some financial business with him and I'm not 100% certain he knew what he was doing. If I die while still officially married, would my ex just get the 10% I planned, or would he be entitled to claim more as he would still be my legal husband, anyone know?

Alternatively, if I went through the palaver of having a new will drawn up by a solicitor, any clues on how much that might cost? Thanks.

Ever thought about getting divorced?
A quickie or do it yourself divorce costs (or did) around £16.50!
Seriously.
Not a good idea with small children but now yours are grown up....
Then your former 'will', will automatically cease.
Wait for 'wills week' which I think is in Nov and get a new one done for the price of a donation to a charity.
Good Luck:o

dzug1

flossy_splodge wrote: »

Then your former 'will', will automatically cease.

Not as simple as that.

Marriage revokes a will - unless it specifically says it is made in contemplation of marriage.

Divorce only partly revokes a will - specifically only bequests to the former partner who is treated as if they died on the day of the decree.

smartpicture

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

We didn't divorce because he's from a strong catholic family and didn't want to upset them, and as I never met anyone else I wanted to marry it wasn't a problem. We still get on well. Hopefully there are no other implications to us staying married, maybe I should look into that.

Having read the will again I think it probably does require updating, so I ought to do something about that. Really, the 10% idea was when the kids were younger and I knew he would have them if I died, so that he had some money of his own to help with that. I knew he would be reluctant to spend money he saw as belonging to the kids. Also, 10% now is considerably more than when I wrote the will!

Is there a minimum age for an executor? I think my daughter would be very efficient at it, or is it best not to have someone who's also a main beneficiary?

localhero

The minimum age to be an executor is 18 and it is common for a beneficiary to be one of the executors. The important criteria for an executor is that they are fairly sensible and trustworthy.

The role can be a little time consuming but is generally straightforward - and the probate registries are extremely helpful.

Torby

use a solicitor...there are a few "will writing" companies mentioned on MSE and they have been highlighted on TV as well.....they can be really bad news....if you write a will at a solicitors, you don't pay for it now anyway, it comes out of your estate and you'll be long gone....

I wouldn't worry about divorcing him...catholic Church or not....he doesn't seem too concerned about the sanctity of his vows anyway or you would still be together..."till death " etc.......make a clean break....you could meet Mr Right tomorrow...or Mr Jones or Mr Smith...all are adults now

daughter will make a good executor, we've named ours....

localhero

Torby wrote:

use a solicitor...there are a few "will writing" companies mentioned on MSE and they have been highlighted on TV as well

...And plenty of horror stories on this forum involving solicitors as well. To find someone properly qualified, regulated and insured and working to a code of conduct that has the backing of the Office of Fair Trading, visit https://www.ipw.org.uk.

The OFT press release can be found here: http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2008/58-08