Question about estate, not leaving a will.

AngelEyes_2

My husband and I bought our house 24 yrs ago and we have 2 adult children. My question is... if my husband were to die without making a will (he refuses to) as I understand it I am entitled to the first £250k of his estate, now this is the bit I don't understand...If our house is worth £310k is his estate worth £155k because the house is not all his to leave?

I have tried to find information about this but cant seem to find anything other than the wife gets the first £250k, nothing about the value of the property being halved to give the figure of the deceased's estate, or isn't this how it is?

Confused :huh:

paddy's_mum

You first need to check the details of how the house is owned. Is it owned as joint tenants, tenants in common or is only your husband's name on the deeds of the property? You can find out from the Land Registry if you cannot lay hands on the papers relating to the original purchase.

There are several good books on wills and estates, usually available from Public Libraries, that might help you to get a good understanding of the words used and how such things are decided.

RAS

Hi

You do need to know the basis on which the house is owned.

In one case the the house is wholly owned by both of you and on the first party's death there is no transfer of ownership. In the other case the exact percentage owned by each party is specified and that would determine the value for probate purposes.