Is it worth us writing a will?

perhaps_2

Here is our situation:

• Married couple
• Each have two living parents and one sibling each
• Both full-time employed standard rate tax payers
• No major assets other than house and approx 5% in mortgaged house
• Equal joint owners of all assets except e.g. pensions and life insurance policies

As far as I understand it by default/law:

• If one of us died the other would inherit our estate and pay no inheritance tax
• If we both died our relevant share of the estate would go to our respective parents (who we would then ask/expect to give some to our siblings)
• If we both died and our parents were dead it would go to our respective siblings

If we're happy with the above is there any need to write a will just yet? What about inheritance tax implications if e.g. we both died and both our parents died shortly after - could we save our siblings some tax if this unlikely situation occured?

Thanks in advance. :eek:

dzug1

If nothing else, the default situation can be achieved more quickly and easily if there is a will saying it than leaving some poor soul to sort out the intestacy.

And your request to / expectation of your parents to give some to your siblings is totally unenforceable. You really need to think more carefully what you actually want and put that in a will

Pennywise

Also, if one of you dies and the other doesn't make a will and then dies shortly after, the first person's estate may well end up going to the second person's next of kin, meaning nothing stays within the first person's family at all.

Also, it is harder for the people left behind to deal with an intestate estate meaning that solicitors are more likely to be needed - adding more cost. If you leave a simple will, your estate can usually be dealt with without the need for a solicitor and you can choose who will look after your estate (i.e. your executors).

Considering how cheap a simple will can be, I can't understand why anyone dies intestate at all.

theGrinch

if memory serves, I think in november some solicitors will write a will for a donation. search the boards here.

perhaps_2

I think you've convinced me. We were considering leaving it until next November's Will Aid as we're currently moving house so our address and the value of our estate will change and we thought it might be simpler to wait until then. Maybe we should do it this year though after all - but would the change of address require it to be updated or is this information not put on the Will?

RayWolfe

Your address at the time of writing the will is not significant.

p00hsticks

perhaps wrote: »

As far as I understand it by default/law:

• If one of us died the other would inherit our estate and pay no inheritance tax

Note that the above statement is only true if the estate is worth less than £450,000 (assuming you live in England or Wales)

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto/customerguide/page14-1.htm

dzug1

p00hsticks wrote: »

Note that the above statement is only true if the estate is worth less than £450,000 (assuming you live in England or Wales)

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto/customerguide/page14-1.htm

That link is about who inherits - IHT is a separate issue.

p00hsticks

dzug1 wrote: »

That link is about who inherits - IHT is a separate issue.

Yes -I posted the link to point out to the OP that they are incorrect in assuming that their entire estate will go to their spouse under the intestacy laws. That is only true if the estate is is valued at under £450,000 (I believe that until recently that figure was a lot less).

thorsoak

One point - if not at the moment, you should both be registered as TENANTS IN COMMON on your property not JOINT TENANTS - this way each of you owns HALF of the property and therefore on death, only HALF counts towards any IHT bill (and of course it doesn't apply to the first death of a married couple).

Pee

You should probably hold as joint tenants in the situation above where you want the house to pass to the survivor.

And it's worth considering whether your parents would want the money or whether it would complicate their situation with regard to nursing home fees and they would rather the estate pass to your siblings or nephews and neices.