Terminology in a Will, clarification??

SevenOfNine

If a signed and witnessed Will states "I bequeath all my personal property and the contents of my Council house and garage to ........." (the name and address of the beneficiary there at the end), does that mean EVERYTHING - including all monies etc?

Or is this a badly worded Will, open to interpretation and opening a whole can of worms which the immediate Next of Kin may decide to challenge it?

SeniorSam

You cannot gift your council house to anyone as it belongs to the council unless you have purchased it.

What you have worded is not at all good and it would be better if a Will from W H Smith's were bought if you don't want to do it properly through a solicitor.

Those Wills are already worded and all you have to do is input in spaces. You then need to sign it in front of a professional personal professional person, but all the information about that will be in the document you purchase.

Hope this helps

Sam

Vomityspice

?? It doesn't bequeath the council house! Read the statement again.

I bequeath all my personal property and the contents of my Council house and garage to ........

Seems perfectly clear to me. What do you believe is open to challenge?

Biggles

Yes, looks fine to me. 'All my property and house contents' is about as comprehensive as it gets.

blossomhill_2

If you want it to include all monies then say so
You don't need to say its a Council house, that is irrelevant; as it was misunderstood by the 1st person who read it then I would say it is far from clear

lilac_lady

In Scotland the rules are different. No matter where you live, if you feel that your will may cause problems when you're gone, I would advise you to get one drawn up by a solicitor.

Your wishes would then be legalised without problems.

SevenOfNine

Oops, should have made it clear it's not my will, its a friend with no partner or children, just a helpful neighbour he wants to reward when he's gone (again, not me). Personally, I think he should get this done properly but hasn't & I'm not convinced it's clear enough.

I suppose I'm wondering exactly what the legal interpretation of "all my personal property" is. Is money classified as 'property'? I agree the house/garage bit is clear though 'Council' is superfluous.

Errata

It's incredibly badly worded. As noted, 'council house and garage' is superfluous. Money isn't property as it belongs to the Royal Mint - we just have it on loan
The government can change the value of money as it sees fit; not something it can do with someone's kitchen table and chairs.

xylophone

http://willtemplates.webeden.co.uk/#/e-w-ni/4549261262 http://freeguard.co.uk/aboutus.aspx
This might be of interest if his affairs are as simple as you suggest.
Remember a witness cannot be a beneficiary.
The witnesses must witness the testator's signature in his presence and in the presence of each other.
http://www.nsandi.com/you-and-your-money-bereavement-getting-your-affairs-order-writing-will might help.

Old_Git

I am about to inherit from an estate .The will said I leave my entire estate to Old Git . Nothing confusing about that .
In this case there is a house ,contents and money .

John_Pierpoint

I believe the shortest will read "All to Mother"
However it is important to be clear and cover all the possibilities;most importantly the possibility that the sole beneficiary might have died in the mean time.
The will also needs to identify the executors, who can be beneficiaries.
Professional executors can charge for the work they do, lay persons can only charge expenses (so if not beneficiaries should be left something dependent on their proving the will)
My local auctioneer explained that he loved banks acting as executors as they just say "clear the lot and send us a cheque for the balance". By the time a bank has cleared a Council House - there might not be much left.

In some jurisdictions, but not in England and Wales, certain assets, especially real estate, are subject to different rules.

[My Grandmother left a long rambling solicitor drafted will. It included "I leave all my stocks shares and money on deposit with the Post Office savings bank..........." Problem was when she died the considerable nest egg had moved from the PO bank to a Building Society savings pass book.
Now the pass book reads "these shares..........."
Compare and discuss.]

A badly written will can be more trouble than no will at all.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1164505