Intestacy and children from previous marriage

purplepatch

My DH and I are considering writing wills and trying to get our heads around the rules on intestacy.

As we understand it, if my DH were to pass away intestate, as his spouse I'd inherit £125k of his estate and have a life interest in half of the remainder. The remainder would be shared between his kids - our 2 daughters (one age 4 and baby of 6 months) and his son (age 9) from his previous marriage. I imagine that the "life interest" means that the house can't be sold until I die?? Other than our house, we don't really have anything else of much value.

Just wondering whether his son could stake a claim on his portion early, ie, force me to sell our family home. I'm obviously not averse to him getting a share of his father's estate, but he has a home with his mum and stepdad and half sister, financially secure etc - my priority would obviously be keeping a roof over my daughters' heads! It would be a nightmare to be bereaved AND have to sell our home to release my stepson's inheritance.

Also, another question. Our house is owned in our joint names, so if something happened to either one of us, is our estate the entire value of the property or only half of its value given that we own it equally?

I'm thinking that we need to get a solicitor to draw something up, but interested to know re the above if anyone should know?? Also interested to know whether if something happened to DH, would I still be expected to pay his son's maintenance payments... guessing not, but it's something else to think about.

Nicki

You need to get proper legal advice on this tbh but as a solicitor I would always recommend people to write wills as you never know what's round the corner. Your OH could win the lottery tomorrow and if he died intestate you would face a huge tax bill. With a will you can decide how you want things to be dealt with when you die, and save tax.

As for your question re the home, this depends on whether you own it as joint tenants or tenants in common. If you are JT you both own the whole of the property so if one of you dies it does not form part of the estate, just belongs to the survivor in its entirety. So if you are JT your stepson couldn't force you to see the home to give him his inheritance. If tenants in common you each own a pre-defined share, which passes under your will. Once severed, a JT can't be reunited so think carefully before doing this.

benood

I'm not a solicitor but I agree with Nicki - get the will done by a specialist who has PI cover. I've heard stories of people getting into a complete mess by trying to write their own wills and ending up paying double or more to sort it out afterwards.

Errata

Make a will and be sure to specify who will have responsibility for the kids if one of you dies and the other is incapacitated, or both of you kick the bucket at the same time!
It's not expensive and what's the point in spoiling the ship for a haporth of tar!

purplepatch

Thanks for the replies. We're definitely going to see a solicitor. I wouldn't contemplate a DIY will.

Nicki, we are joint tenants so the house would pass to me. Other than that, there wouldn't be much else of value.

We have life assurance to cover the mortgage, but other than that, there is only a lump sum death in service benefit from the employer of 4 times salary which is paid in accordance with the Trustees instructions. Having read Martin's article, we are making arrangements to set up a life insurance policy for 10 times salary. Would this lump sum form part of the estate?

Nicki

No. Usually these policies are written in trust for the beneficiary and pass outside the estate, which is helpful for tax purposes and also means the money is available immediately rather than having to go through probate.

purplepatch

Thanks Nicki. In that case the estate is definitely going to be less than £125k so even on intestacy, it isn't such an issue. Obviously you are a solicitor so have a vested interest, but if it's a straightforward will where really just wanting to specify guardians for kids if we both die- do we really need to use a solicitor? Someone has told me to get a pack from the post office... seems a bit more MSE than the £150 plus vat that the firm of solicitors I just rang would charge. Should I completely rule out DIY??

Errata

As with everything, you don't pay people for what they do but for what they know. Why not work out what percentage of the estate £150 + vat is, I think you'll see it's peanuts and well worth it.

nearlyrich

I am not a solicitor and I am a money saver but complicated family situations are not the place to save money on wills. You may not have much of value now but when the time comes you might have a problem and at that time the last thing you need is problems. Choose a specialist who knows exactly what they are doing and get your wills written to express exactly what your wishes are.

Nicki

I'm not a wills specialist, and even though I did do some training on this area as part of my overall legal training, I still chose to go to a specialist for my own and my DH's wills rather than do it myself, nor will I draft wills for anyone in my family. That may well give you an inkling as to my attitude to diy packs even in the hands of someone who is pretty savvy. If you do some research you will find that most solicitors are part of a scheme where for part of the year they will do simple wills for a vastly reduced sum which goes to charity. If costs are a real issue maybe wait until then? Can't remember any more details about this now I'm afraid so you will have to ask Law Society or local solicitors for details of when and which firms are participating

purplepatch

I think you may mean willaid and that isn't happening again until November 2008. I think we may well wait until then as the estate isn't going to grow any in the next year or so. Well, maybe if we actually start doing the lottery.....