Info needed re making a will!

Jo4

I have looked for the answer on here but I cannot seem to find it.

Hubby owns our home and earlier this year he insisted on getting my name added to it in order to give him peace of mind that if anything ever happened him that no one could take the house of me and that therefore I would be safe with a roof over my head. Therefore the house is in joint names since June of this year. As we had to go to a solictors to get this done the solicitor advised us that we should make wills.

I know nothing at all about wills. Hubby & I are married 14 years now and we have no children so if anything happened one would it not automatically go to the other? What would happen about our joint bank accounts? What would happen to each others savings or joint savings if we had any? If something went wrong and the two of us passed together (car accident, plane etc) who would then get the house or whatever belongings we have? What would happen to any pets we may have?

Can anyone advise?

Fire_Fox

A will makes life A LOT easier for the surviving partner. Generally if you die together, one actually dies first so the other inherits, not sure what happens if it cannot be established who died first, maybe your estate is split between the two families. Pets can be provided for in wills and many of us do so. Why not ask a solicitor this when you make you wills? Can donate to charity instead of actually paying a solicitor http://www.willaid.org.uk/

chrissie57

Fire_Fox wrote: »

A will makes life A LOT easier for the surviving partner. Generally if you die together, one actually dies first so the other inherits, not sure what happens if it cannot be established who died first, maybe your estate is split between the two families. Pets can be provided for in wills and many of us do so. Why not ask a solicitor this when you make you wills? Can donate to charity instead of actually paying a solicitor http://www.willaid.org.uk/

I thought the elder of the two was always deemed to have died first, meaning the estate would pass into the estate of the younger person and their family would inherit, if there were no children?

Also found this

In England and Wales

The normal rule does not apply between spouses or civil partners if the older spouse/civil partner dies intestate. In this case, the presumption is that the younger spouse/civil partner did not survive the older.

Jo4

We are husband and wife and we reside in Northern Ireland if that helps to answer my questions.

Fire_Fox

chrissie57 wrote: »

I thought the elder of the two was always deemed to have died first, meaning the estate would pass into the estate of the younger person and their family would inherit, if there were no children?

Also found this

In England and Wales

The normal rule does not apply between spouses or civil partners if the older spouse/civil partner dies intestate. In this case, the presumption is that the younger spouse/civil partner did not survive the older.

You mean if they literally appear to have died simultaneously, an aeroplane explodes for example? What I was meaning is that in an RTA, say, one might die upon collision and the other on the way to hospital or in hospital. This happens all too often. I believe where time of death can be established the one who died second inherits. But it all needs clarifying with a solicitor.

Jo4

BTW hubby's parents are both deceased, he has no brothers or sisters, he isn't responsible for anyone else (Godfather etc). My parents are both alive, I have siblings and I have a God-daughter. We have nieces and nephews. Who would everything normally be left to when we both pass?

The solicitor said that we needed to know how much we owned but he didn't say if we needed bank account numbers or anything like that.

thorsoak

If you both make wills, you can then choose who you would want to receive your assets when you die. You can also make arrangements for any pets that you may have.

You don't HAVE to leave family anything if you don't want to!

See a solicitor - it will give you both peace of mind.

Jo4

thorsoak wrote: »

If you both make wills, you can then choose who you would want to receive your assets when you die. You can also make arrangements for any pets that you may have.

You don't HAVE to leave family anything if you don't want to!

See a solicitor - it will give you both peace of mind.

The solicitor gives me the heevy jeevies so I thought I would ask on here.

thorsoak

Jo4 wrote: »

The solicitor gives me the heevy jeevies so I thought I would ask on here.

You can choose any solicitor - find one that you like/trust - after all, you are paying him/her!

Jo4

thorsoak wrote: »

You can choose any solicitor - find one that you like/trust - after all, you are paying him/her!

It is just when they have the deeds that we thought it would be easier to have everything in the one place and we hadn't thought about making wills until he mentioned it.

Another question - is it best to let the solicitor keep the house deeds?

Fire_Fox

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/tax/2865998/Dying-intestate-just-isnt-healthy.html
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto/customerguide/page14-1.htm