OH won't make a will

snoopy58

Hello, I hope someone can give me some advice please.
My is due to leave the Armed Forces (after 37 years) next summer, so in the run up to the end of a good career we are trying to get him ready for civvie street. Up until he leaves the Armed Forces he will have a Service Will, but won't, absolutely won't recognise that he/we to have new Wills.
OH thinks that because we are married (have been for over 30 years) that everything will automatically pass to each other anyway, and in the event of us both dying our (grown up) children will then automatically receive everything. OH thinks that having our Wills done is an unnecessary expense.
To put our economic situation in perspective:

• we own our own home outright
• own an apartment outright overseas, but this is solely in his name
• on leaving the Service he will have a pension and gratuity
• have two grown up children who both live with us - one has just started her teaching career, the other works but doesn't have a fantastic salary and is also severely disabled

I just don't know what to do as he feels (at the moment) that he has all the answers. Could someone please give me a little advice.


Thank you

Torry_Quine

If its the cost that bothers him then November is Will Aid month when you can get wills for much less than normal and the money goes to charities.

jackyann

It can get very complex when a child with disabilities lives with the parents. Glad she is earning her own living at present, but depending on the nature of the disability, that may not always be the case.
I would point out that not making a proper will, with proper advice, may lead to the children being in a difficult position (I don't want to go into details, because it depends on individual circumstances & can be complex)
I would also be careful to seek advice, depending on the nature of your daughter's disability. I have in the past, seen wills cause problems for people who need to access care.
So I would really say this is where you have to bite the bullet & get good advice (start with local CAB or a charity that understands your daughter's disability). Call in "planning for your daughter's future" rather than "making a will" to begin with.

Fire_Fox

Nothing is automatic, it has to be applied for or organisations have to be notified. Ask him if he really wants his grieving widow or grieving children to have loads of hassle. You can choose for example whether the house is given equally to your children to dispose of as they see fit, or is sold and the proceeds divided up (this makes a difference depending who is living in the property, who is in receipt of benefits, if there is any chance of disagreement, sometimes one child is emotionally attached). Definitely consider will month, you just make a donation to charity http://www.willaid.org.uk/

DUTR

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Nothing is automatic, it has to be applied for or organisations have to be notified. Ask him if he really wants his grieving widow or grieving children to have loads of hassle. Definitely consider will month, you just make a donation to charity http://www.willaid.org.uk/

That is assuming he passes before any of the rest of the family :eek:
My 2nd eldest brother passed away and my parents are still going strong.
But the OP's partner does not have to make a will if he does not wish to.

daska

He has a point. Being married means you do have some legal protection that cohabitees don't. But HERE's why to make a will and a FLOWCHART of how it works if someone dies intestate.

What this doesn't tell you are the implications of how it works, or doesn't, in the event that you don't think about it.

The most obvious example I can think of is: Who will take responsibility whatever responsibility is needed for meeting the needs of your disabled child? Would you/he like to ensure that your severely disabled child inherits a larger percentage because their life needs are likely to be greater. Or perhaps you would prefer place all your estate's into trust for the benefit of your children and/or grandchildren - which both protect it and that it could be used at the discretion of the trustees?

Mands

snoopy58 wrote: »

[*]own an apartment outright overseas, but this is solely in his name

In which country? Different countries have different rules regarding inheritance; there are several that have forced heirship which might mean that the apartment would not pass to you alone.

Mands

snoopy58

We have an apartment in Bulgaria. In his name only as just he went out to sign the papers.
Do you think this could be a problem?
Thanks

Fire_Fox

Yes of course. I would imagine a UK will plus UK death certificate would really help resolve that, if needs be.

daska

snoopy58 wrote: »

We have an apartment in Bulgaria. In his name only as just he went out to sign the papers.
Do you think this could be a problem?
Thanks

Yes

Inheritance by will or by intestacy according to the Bulgarian legislation

Nocturnes

I too thought that with a married couple it is straightforward and no Will is really necessary. But I picked up a copy of the WIlls and Probate Guide (by Which) and realised that it can be different for different circumstances and especially if you have overseas property. Intestacy ALWAYS seems to cause problems and can cost plenty from the estate to sort out. In any case, it is always best to have a Will, so that what happens to your Estate after you die is what you would want.

From experience with a relative who died suddenly, she had not updated her Will as she had intended, and the distribution of her Estate was therefore not what she had said she wanted during her final years. So keeping the Will updated is also important. Circumstances change, people change their minds.

I found the Willaid webpage and thought I would go with that in November. I contacted 3 solicitors from the list in my area and I have to say, the advice from one of them arrived very garbled on an email on a Friday afternoon!! I decided not to disturb him further. The other two were helpful and professional and both offered free 30 minute consultations with no obligation.

I went along with a list of questions to one of the solicitors and she happily answered, then confirmed in writing all my queries, for no charge. I could have waited until November for the lesser cost Wills service but I decided that for us it was worth the money to get them done now and then we did not have to think about it again.

It is something we all like to ignore, and I was as bad a culprit over this subject that we all wish to avoid, as anyone. But once I faced facts, read the Which book (I recommend it but it is not essential), I felt more in control and wanted to get it sorted out and not put off any longer.

For us, it is about not leaving a mess for our loved ones to sort out when we pass away, be it one before the other or together (who knows, right?!).

Anyway, that is my experience in case it helps the OP or anyone else.

PS As others have said, you definitely need professional advice on the overseas property as it will depend on the laws on the country it is in. We were advised to have a separate Will in addition to our UK Wills and in the country of property purchase, if we bought property overseas - but please don't take my word for that.