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Who needs a will?

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Recently had a letter through from work regarding my "death in service" benefit, and who I wish it to be paid to should I be unlucky enough to cop it. I think its around 4x my annual salary so about 75k.

It got me thinking about whether I need a will?

I am 23, no mortgage, I have around 40k in assets including cash savings and stocks & shares. I have a decreasing life insurance policy with Aviva which initially provides 250k of cover decreasing over the term, and runs for the next 22 years and thus covers until my daughter is 25.

My daughter is currently 4 years old, and I am estranged from her mother.

I realise that as my next of kin I want all my assets to go to her, however do I need to get a will drawn up which lists my Mum/ Sister as the trustees until she is 18?

I put my Mum on the death in service form in the end, as if I copped it and they sent a cheque to my daughters address (Same as her Mums) - what would stop her Mum opening a childrens account in trust and drawing all the money out?
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Comments

  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Well currently should you die without making a will all your assets apart from the DISB would go to your estranged wife (I'm assuming you would have said if you were divorced) - so yes you need a will. And your mum will get the DISB to do what she wants - so again you need a will if you want it to be in trust.

    Remember your will is not forever - you can and indeed should change it if your circumstances chnge sufficiently
  • ses6jwg
    ses6jwg Posts: 5,381 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Lol woops sorry estranged was the wrong word. We were not married, we do not have any contact any longer was what I meant to say.

    My #1 priority is that she cannot get her hands on a single penny via my daughter.
  • ses6jwg wrote: »
    My #1 priority is that she cannot get her hands on a single penny via my daughter.
    in that case you need a will - its easy to draw up -are you ina union -if so they can do it for you

    fj
  • Yes you still need a will even if you have nothing at all today.
    Tomorrow morning you may find out that you have won millions on the lottery,then drop dead of a heart attack
    Owing on CC £00.00 :j

    It's like shooting nerds in a barrel
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 119,633 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I am 23, no mortgage, I have around 40k in assets including cash savings and stocks & shares. I have a decreasing life insurance policy with Aviva which initially provides 250k of cover decreasing over the term, and runs for the next 22 years and thus covers until my daughter is 25.

    Is the life policy in trust?
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • Short answer to your question 'who needs a will?' Everyone does. Everyone without exception.
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
    Before I found wisdom, I became old.
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,731 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    If you want your ex to have no control over the money you have to leave a will. and I would consdier making your mother the Trustee until she is 21 not 18. And re look at your insurance, as if it isn't written in trust your ex will have control of that.

    Having said all this, I am presuming you are paying your ex something for the upkeep of your daughter, and that you can see her. If not, see you do so as you need to keep in touch with your own flesh and blood.
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Your ex is most likely to be the person who cares for the child, barring some compelling reason not to. So it's likely tht she would end up with effective control of the money even if it was in trust for the daughter.

    Your mum wouldn't have to pay any money you left her to your ex but it would still be hard for her to pay a lot towards the care of your daughter without the daughter's current carer having access to at least some of it.

    So first, who's going to care for your daughter after you get hit by a bus? If you solve that in a way that the courts would agree with then the rest of your objective seems possible.

    Given the potential difficulties of keeping a child from their mother it may be quite challenging and you would probably be best off seeking legal advice now if you want some outcome other than mother looks after the daughter and money in trust for the daughter (which in practice is very hard to police).
  • Not leaving a will is a sort of "fingers up" to your heir(s). Basically, by not leaving a will, you are saying "I cannot give two hoots about who is going to fight over everything. Some poor s0d will have to go through all the work of getting letters of administration, rather than the much easier probate. And so if I want everything to go to my daughter, then I need to be pretty sure that she is the legal heir if I die intestate...."

    Why give all that grief, and 'impose' on someone to act on your daughter's behalf, for no recompense?
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    And be sure that the named executor(s) are willing to do the job. If they renounce doing it or just do nothing about it things get even more messy.
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