Will Question

dippynina

Hi - My partner and I have not written wills yet. Recently my OH had a bit of a health scare which has prompted us into discussing this. I will give you a bit of background info first. We are not married but been together 16 years we have a joint mortgage which is interest only at the moment. We have a 5 year old daughter and OH also has twin boys from a previous relationship. If anything happened to OH would I still keep the house or would I need to sell it to split proceeds between the kids. Any help much appreciated. Thanks

Fang_3

Are you tenants in common, or joint tenants? If the former, it would have to be sold, if the latter, it would be yours. But why on earth do you not have a will?!

Mojisola

If your OH dies before he makes a will, his children will be his next-of-kin and will inherit. You are not a relation and you will have no claim on his estate.

What happens to the house depends, as Fang says, how you own it.

For all your sakes, get a will made!

claretmatt

Agree with the above comments that you should get a Will drafted as soon as possible.

You expect the that you both owned the house 100% so it would automatically pass to you.

Also you can add into your Will who you would want to look after daughter if anything happened to you.

Whilst on the topic I would check that you insurances to cover any unforseen circumstances are sufficient

gratefulforhelp_2

Life insurance life insurance life insurance.

Guardians guardians guardians.

paulwf

A Will can help you from a practical point of view, not just for divvying up the assets, as you can name each other as executors. Remember there are two scenarios to consider...what happens if 1 of you dies before the other and what happens if you both die at once e.g. in a car crash (sorry!).

Have you considered getting married for the practical advantages it brings? You've got kids and a house together but legally neither of you are the others next of kin. Sorry if this sounds unromantic but it could be worth getting married because it will make your lives easier.

Best to discuss all the scenarios with a solicitor. Plus as gratefulforhelp says make sure you've got mortgage insurance at the very least. Just recently lost a friend with an interest only mortgage on a house in negative equity and the bank are getting heavy with the next of kin.

Mojisola

Your OH will also need to consider his twin boys. Does he want to make some provision for them? For example, his part of the house could be put in trust for his children.

When you have the complications of not being married and having children from other relationships, you must get good advice and write water-tight wills.

Kate78

I would see a solicitor not some dodgy will-writing company.

May cost more but will be worth it to make sure that things are as they should be. Legal advice especially important as you're not married as that does make a big difference.

Newly_retired

Get married.
Make a will.
Relax

dippynina

Fang wrote: »

Are you tenants in common, or joint tenants? If the former, it would have to be sold, if the latter, it would be yours. But why on earth do you not have a will?!

Could you tell me what 'tenants in common' etc mean - Sorry but I am clueless about these things. You are absolutely right we should have a will but to be honest we have really struggled financially over the last few years and naively this was not top of our list. We simply cannot afford it at the moment. In fact could anyone advise how much roughly this would cost. Thanks

Mojisola

If two of you own the house as "joint tenants", then you both own all the house so if one of you dies, the other still owns the house.

If you own the house as "tenants in common" then you each own a share of the house. It doesn't have to be 50/50 - you can make any arrangement that suits you. If a "tenant in common" dies, their part of the house will pass to their heirs. If the deceased has made a will, then the share of the house can be gifted to whoever he wants. If he dies without a will, then the intestate rules come into play and his share of the house will go to a spouse (even if the couple are separated, if a divorce has not gone through, the wife will inherit). If there is no spouse, then the estate will be divided among any children.

In your case, if you and your OH are tenants in common and he should die, his part of the house would go to his three children. You might have to sell up in order to give his twins their share of the inheritance.