What should we do about wills?

Lucyh81

Hi everyone :hello: it's my first time posting in this section of the forum. I'm getting married in a couple of weeks so have spent a lot of time in the weddings forum and had some really helpful advice.

With getting married, we've realised we need to think about wills and making sure our family is looked after if the worst was to happen.

I'll give you some background as I don't think our situation is straight forward by any means - whose is these days though?!

I've been with my fiance for 2.5 years, we live in his house which is in his name only, he's currently in negative equity but has an insurance policy which will pay it off should he die.

I own a house with my ex-boyfriend which is currently rented out. My ex has signed a statement to confirm that he has no financial interest in the property but agreed to stay on the mortgage as I couldn't afford to take it on alone. I know that this isn't a totally fail safe way to ensure he doesn't ever benefit but at the time I felt it was enough. There is very little equity in the property at the moment (£5-£10k perhaps).

My fiance has a will (although it's pretty out-dated as he made it when he was just renting a property so doesn't account for his house). He has a 10yr old daughter who lives with his parents some distance away (long story which isn't relevant to this) so currently his will leaves everything to her.

I don't currently have a will.

Other than our properties, we just have some small savings between us and our belongings (nothing of any particular value).

We're not sure how much longer I'll keep my property. If the market improves a bit by the new year, I may well sell it and we'd then have the option of re-mortgaging jointly on OH's property where we live. This would obviously make for a much simpler will too!

I'm wondering whether until we own a house jointly or have children together we don't need to worry about a will too much? The way I see it, I have my house and OH has his and we'd both be able to afford the respective mortgages on these (as we did for a few years before we met). If I wasn't around, I guess my property would fall to my ex to take responsibility. We don't have any life cover on it for obvious reasons. OH would still have his place to live in.

If anyone has any thoughts on this situation, I'd be interested to hear them. I don't know much about wills at all and am probably missing something huge which we need to protect ourselves against.

In case it's relevant, our houses are both worth <£150k.

Mojisola

It's complicated and you do need professional advice but here's an unqualified start with some things to think about -

When you marry, his will becomes invalid. If either of you died before you make wills, the rules of intestacy would apply - here's an explanation - https://www.youngandpearce.co.uk/intestrules.htm You would become his next-of-kin ahead of his daughter. He needs a will if he wants to ensure his daughter's future is protected.

Depending on how you own the house with your ex-bf - tenants in common or joint tenants - your husband may inherit your half or your ex may get it.

AndrewSmith

I would echo and agree 100% with the excellent advice above. Yours is a complicated situation that needs handling correctly to ensure that everybody's interests are protected.

A good will provider would draft wills now taking the situation as it is today then would redraft free of charge following your marriage and or disposal of the property.

You should never have to pay for a redraft of a will or to attach a codicil to a will. In fact codicils are a waste of time these days with so many professional will providers offering free of charge updates and rewrites.

Wilma33

Do you have BTL mortgage on your house?

Lucyh81

Thanks for the advice

We don't have a BTL mortgage on my house but the mortgage lender said we didn't need one....

AndrewSmith

You are very welcome

WhiteHorse

Everyone should make a will. Even if you possess nothing, it still makes it easier for those who have to deal with matters. For a complicated situation such as yours, go to a solicitor who specialises. Don't go to a 'will writing service' and insist that an actual solicitor (rather than a legal executive), deals with you.

thegirlintheattic

You both need up to date wills. Yours needs to ensure that your ex does not claim for your house after your death and he needs to ensure his daughter is provided for.

AndrewSmith

WhiteHorse wrote: »

Everyone should make a will. Even if you possess nothing, it still makes it easier for those who have to deal with matters. For a complicated situation such as yours, go to a solicitor who specialises. Don't go to a 'will writing service' and insist that an actual solicitor (rather than a legal executive), deals with you.

Tread carefully when going to a solicitor to make wills as most will insist on being named as one of the executors. This will cost you dearly in the long run with some estates having been charged upwards of 5% of the value for the pleasure.

Solicitors are by far not the only means of obtaining a professionally drafted and legally sound will. In fact there are an increasing number of solicitors that actually contract out their will writing to specialist will providers.

Yes there are, as in any industry, some individuals who do profess to be will writers who have very little knowledge or training at all which is why regulation will come not too soon. However there are a number of very reputable and long established will and estate planning companies that have their own in house legal specialists and specialise in nothing but wills and associated issues.

Also many solicitors will charge you way over the odds for ancillary issues, for example Lasting Power Of Attorney. There are solicitors that charge in excess of £1500 per couple for these and include registration fees up front. When you bear in mind that registration may never occur why should you payfor it in advance? You should never pay more than £500 per couple for lasting power of attorney excluding registration. Any more than that is just extortion.

Similarly with property protection trust wills alongside severance of tenancy. This should never cost more than about £500-600 all inclusive however I have heard many times of people paying over £1000 at a solicitors and then being charged extra for making changes to the will later on. Coupled with the extortionate charges for being executors, think very carefully and research properly before engaging a solicitor to write a will, but also research any firm that you ask to do such things for you.

There are some very reasonably priced solicitors but there are also some that just charge way too much and lock themselves in as executors which is where the real money earner is for them.

Caution and a bit of research is the key, as with anything surrounding money.

britannia6

AndrewSmith wrote: »

Tread carefully when going to a solicitor to make wills as most will insist on being named as one of the executors. This will cost you dearly in the long run with some estates having been charged upwards of 5% of the value for the pleasure.

Solicitors are by far not the only means of obtaining a professionally drafted and legally sound will. In fact there are an increasing number of solicitors that actually contract out their will writing to specialist will providers.

Yes there are, as in any industry, some individuals who do profess to be will writers who have very little knowledge or training at all which is why regulation will come not too soon. However there are a number of very reputable and long established will and estate planning companies that have their own in house legal specialists and specialise in nothing but wills and associated issues.

Also many solicitors will charge you way over the odds for ancillary issues, for example Lasting Power Of Attorney. There are solicitors that charge in excess of £1500 per couple for these and include registration fees up front. When you bear in mind that registration may never occur why should you payfor it in advance? You should never pay more than £500 per couple for lasting power of attorney excluding registration. Any more than that is just extortion.

Similarly with property protection trust wills alongside severance of tenancy. This should never cost more than about £500-600 all inclusive however I have heard many times of people paying over £1000 at a solicitors and then being charged extra for making changes to the will later on. Coupled with the extortionate charges for being executors, think very carefully and research properly before engaging a solicitor to write a will, but also research any firm that you ask to do such things for you.

There are some very reasonably priced solicitors but there are also some that just charge way too much and lock themselves in as executors which is where the real money earner is for them.

Caution and a bit of research is the key, as with anything surrounding money.

Andrew is right, you do need to do plenty of research as to who you consult for professional services regarding your Wills, however, saying that most solicitors will insist on being named as one of the Executors is not true. A reputable solicitor will only suggest being named as an Executor if there may be a need for them to be involved such as a potential for conflict after death. Solicitors have to act in the best interests of their clients and if there others who are capable of being Executors and this would be in the best interest of the client, then this would be their advice.

It's also worth pointing out that solicitors are regulated and have may rules which them must abide by. Will writers are not currently regulated, so if something goes wrong, there is often no means of recourse.

AndrewSmith

britannia6 wrote: »

Andrew is right, you do need to do plenty of research as to who you consult for professional services regarding your Wills, however, saying that most solicitors will insist on being named as one of the Executors is not true. A reputable solicitor will only suggest being named as an Executor if there may be a need for them to be involved such as a potential for conflict after death. Solicitors have to act in the best interests of their clients and if there others who are capable of being Executors and this would be in the best interest of the client, then this would be their advice.

It's also worth pointing out that solicitors are regulated and have may rules which them must abide by. Will writers are not currently regulated, so if something goes wrong, there is often no means of recourse.

I beg to differ. Almost all solicitors will strongly suggest, some even insist, that they are named as one of the executors as it is how solicitors take a large slice of their income. You only have to search this forum to see many many horror stories of supposedly reputable solicitors having insisted on being executors, charging by the hour for doing so, slowing down the administration to charge more, or just taking a huge percentage of the estate as fees. This has in some cases meant that property intended to be kept in the family has had to be sold to fund these fees.

You are right about regulation but this applies whether you are a solicitor or not. Will writing itself is unregulated. Just because you are a solicitor doesnt change that willwriting is unregulated, however the larger more established professional estate planning consultancies have in house lawyers who specialise in nothing but wills, estate planning and inheritance planning. Also these reputable firms who have far more knowledge and experience in estate planning matters than a local solicitor usually carry Indemnity of around £5,000,000 thus there is protection for clients. Yes there are some will writers who are in fact nothing of the sort but this is why research is important.

Just because someone is a solicitor doesn't mean they are specialists in wills or estate planning. In fact there are an increasing number of solicitors that pass will writing and associated business to specialist will writing firms as legislation and estate planning strategies become more specialised and complex.

There is nothing wrong with using a specialist estate planning firm who do more wills in a week than a local solicitor does in years, just ensure that you are clear on the pricing structure before agreeing to engage their services.