Do we need to update our wills?

whitesatin

Sorry if this is on the wrong board.

When we got married, fifteen years ago, my husband moved into my (mortgaged) home. We went to the solicitor and had our wills written saying that if I died he would continue to live there and when he dies, the house etc. would go to my two children. He has no children.

We subsequently have moved house twice and are no longer living in the house named on the wills. Our house is now in joint names.

I am now wondering if we need to amend the will or will it be assumed that the situation is the same despite a different house. It is possible that we may move again before either of us die, possibly downsizing, relocating etc. There is no mortgage on our property now. Will we have to constantly make adjustments each time we move?

Should we make (an expensive) appointment with our solicitor?

margaretclare

According to my solicitor, everyone should review their wills every few years, make sure the provisions are still the same or whether there are any changes you wish to make. We last made our wills in 2003 and have reviewed them again and written new wills this summer.

paddy's_mum

If the house you now own is held as Joint Tenants, you do need to change your will because on the death of the first, the entire property passes to the survivor. That is fixed in law and cannot be avoided or got around by any piece of paper, will or deed.

If that should be your husband, what he does with the house on his death is entirely up to him. He could marry again and leave it to Wife No 2, or the local cat rescue or indeed anywhere but to your children.

You may consider a solicitor's appointment to be expensive but I can tell you that it costs much more to untangle an inheritance wrangle!

mountainofdebt

Well my train of thought would be this : did the sale of the original house contribute to the purchase of the subsequent properties? I'm guessing it did.

Did your husband contribute to the mortgage on the original property or did he contribute to any of the household bills ?

How long do you have to be married before what was mine before we become ours?

scooby088

My will was made when i was single and i still want everything written in it to be carried out when i die. Can't see me having a change of heart in the near future although one of the charities named in the will may change in the future.

findingmyownway

scooby088 wrote: »

My will was made when i was single and i still want everything written in it to be carried out when i die. Can't see me having a change of heart in the near future although one of the charities named in the will may change in the future.

Are you still single?

Marriage invalidates a will, as do several other life-changing events.

margaretclare

mountainofdebt wrote: »

Well my train of thought would be this : did the sale of the original house contribute to the purchase of the subsequent properties? I'm guessing it did.

Did your husband contribute to the mortgage on the original property or did he contribute to any of the household bills ?

How long do you have to be married before what was mine before we become ours?

For me, that's simple. No longer than the moment when the vicar/minister/registrar says: 'I now pronounce you man and wife' or husband and wife.

DH and I said to each other 'All that I am I give you, all that I have I share with you'. There was no 'how long before...' It took effect from that moment.

However, in some divorce settlements they make the distinction between a 'long marriage' and a 'short marriage'. I heard of someone locally who was divorced after a year. They each left the marriage with what they brought to it.

scooby088

findingmyownway wrote: »

Are you still single?

Marriage invalidates a will, as do several other life-changing events.

Not single now, but not married either just with a long term partner can't see my mind changing about marriage either.

paddy's_mum

scooby088 wrote: »

Not single now, but not married either just with a long term partner can't see my mind changing about marriage either.

Scooby - I don't wish to rain on your parade but have you actually checked what the situation would be if you died very suddenly? The fact of a "long term partner" may have an impact on how your possessions are dealt with upon your death irrespective of what a will says.

whitesatin

It may have sounded, in my OP, that I was trying to prevent my husband from inheriting my half, that is certainly not the case, we are perfectly happy and he says he is happy with the arrangement that they get it all ultimately. I am not sure if we are joint tennants or whatever, I just know that we bought the house in both our names with the proceeds of our previous home plus some savings. Of course he contributed towards expenses when he first moved in with me. He is really good with money and keeps me on the straight and narrow, believe me. My problem is that I am really keen that my children see the benefit of all the years I have paid mortgages, with and without my husband. As someone says, should he marry again that might be an issue though I don't think he would do that lightly. When my aunt died, her husband then had their joint house but when he died, his side of the family claimed the lot despite them having married late in life and he moved into the house she owned. They said they didn't go in for wills in their family and my mum didn't question that. It meant that my mum got nothing despite having looked after both of them in their ill-health, so it just made me a bit cautious. Both were senior level tax inspectors so I doubt if they didn't have a will be mum didn't want to look greedy and settled for her sister's collection of family photographs.

Hopefully my husband would have another 40 years or more to live, he is quite a bit younger than me and I don't enjoy the best of health. I don't think I am being selfish in trying to ensure that my two children get a reasonable share albeit eventually.

Sounds like a visit to the solicitor has to happen at some point in the near future.

Mojisola

whitesatin wrote: »

It may have sounded, in my OP, that I was trying to prevent my husband from inheriting my half, that is certainly not the case, we are perfectly happy and he says he is happy with the arrangement that they get it all ultimately. I am not sure if we are joint tennants

I don't think I am being selfish in trying to ensure that my two children get a reasonable share albeit eventually.

paddy's_mum wrote: »

If the house you now own is held as Joint Tenants, you do need to change your will because on the death of the first, the entire property passes to the survivor. That is fixed in law and cannot be avoided or got around by any piece of paper, will or deed.

If that should be your husband, what he does with the house on his death is entirely up to him. He could marry again and leave it to Wife No 2, or the local cat rescue or indeed anywhere but to your children.

Do take on board what paddy's mum says or your children risk not inheriting anything from you if you should die first.