Bunch of marriage related financial questions.

Mojisola

cazziebo wrote: »

Don't have a scooby but congratulations on the marriage and thanks for such a witty post.

We've told Tropez before that he should write a blog!

Tropez

Mojisola wrote: »

We've told Tropez before that he should write a blog!

I do actually have a blog now but it's under my real name and is on different subjects.

Tropez

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Get the will done - after all, your family may have a claim upon your estate otherwise. Where else could they hold their Christmas parties/orgies?

What a horrible thought.

As you know, I don't believe in ghosts but if it were possible I'd have to come back in spirit form to mess with them if they tried getting hold of my possessions.

Any

RAS wrote: »

Yes marriage invalidates wills. OH would get the first £250K under insolvency rules and than it starts to go to other relatives. So a new will written in anticipation of marriage might be a good thing (only becomes valid on marriage).

Is this actually true? I thought everything goes to a spouse if there is no will in the UK? If it is OH needs to write a will:D
Would it be just me and his son sharing if there was no will, or could for example his brother have right to a piece? (OH would definitely not want that to happen!!)

Sorry for crashing your thread Tropez!!

Otherwise - how much do you like the idea of extension? If I could extend I would do it immediately. Also it will up the value of the house massively. BUT it depends how much of an intrusion it would be (my friend's extension means they cannot live in the house for few months, that is a big project, but yours sounds as if the only thing you won't be able to use is the garage?) and how much it is going to cost vs what is the value of houses of that size in your area...

Mojisola

There's loads of charts showing the rules -
https://www.tollers.co.uk/system/docs/178/original/Rules%20of%20Intestacy%20Flowchart.pdf

Tropez

Any wrote: »

Otherwise - how much do you like the idea of extension? If I could extend I would do it immediately. Also it will up the value of the house massively. BUT it depends how much of an intrusion it would be (my friend's extension means they cannot live in the house for few months, that is a big project, but yours sounds as if the only thing you won't be able to use is the garage?) and how much it is going to cost vs what is the value of houses of that size in your area...

I don't mind her building an extension if she requires it. She intends to pay for it out of what she can get from selling her own house, so I'm sure that will cover the expense involved. The house is an L shape with the bottom of the L making up the garage. It shouldn't provide too much intrusion, though I have wondered where the stairs would be to access the extension but I'm sure it won't be too difficult.

As for the actual value of the house - ah, I've given up looking. It's quite disheartening. Quite regularly you'll see houses come on to the market in this area, remain there for more than a year while slowly dropping £100k or more off the asking price. Unfortunately, the nearest town got decimated by the recession so there are few jobs around, which makes it an undesirable area. Truth is, the house is worth as much as it can be worth at the moment because I couldn't sell it for it's actual value, only whatever the market deems appropriate (although still more than I paid for it!) so her extension would be completely a quality of life thing for her.

On the positive side, I won't have to move nearer to London after I and a few others convinced our bosses what a stupid idea that was so there's really no need to be moving any time soon.

hazyjo

Just something else to consider...

Do you have hotels nearby? People often feel the need to have a 'spare room/bed for guests'. But do you need them to be in the same house as you? It's often far cheaper for a host to pay for a hotel on the odd occasion someone might need/want to stay over than pay for a house with that extra bedroom or undertake building work in order to create another room. Even then, the guest/s might decline and pay themselves and make a weekend of it.

Or invest in a sofabed and bung them in the lounge. Surely cheaper to replace one sofa (or two if you want them to match!) than build an extension.

Think about it...

Jx

Tropez

hazyjo wrote: »

Just something else to consider...

Do you have hotels nearby? People often feel the need to have a 'spare room/bed for guests'. But do you need them to be in the same house as you? It's often far cheaper for a host to pay for a hotel on the odd occasion someone might need/want to stay over than pay for a house with that extra bedroom or undertake building work in order to create another room. Even then, the guest/s might decline and pay themselves and make a weekend of it.

Or invest in a sofabed and bung them in the lounge. Surely cheaper to replace one sofa (or two if you want them to match!) than build an extension.

Think about it...

Jx

My fiancee is primarily thinking about her cousin and her cousin's three children who stayed with us a few months ago which OH wants to be a regular thing. Even with the space we have it wasn't the easiest to find everyone somewhere to sleep so I can see her point about not using up another one of the spare rooms.

The issue with a hotel is that my OH and her cousin don't get time together that way. They spent most nights sitting out on the patio or in the conservatory last time chatting away for a few hours which isn't doable if the cousin was staying in a hotel with her kids.

I'll admit it seems rather batty to be looking at an extension when the reason for doing so is catering to people who don't live here but in my mind if that's what my fiancee wants to do then that's fine by me. It's not going to negatively affect the value of this house and as far as I'm concerned, marital assets or not, any money she gets from the sale of her own house is for her to do with as she pleases.

suejb2

Hi Tropez I cannot offer advice on this but I am interested in your blog.From your other posts I have read the Blog should make excellent reading.

Tropez

suejb2 wrote: »

Hi Tropez I cannot offer advice on this but I am interested in your blog.From your other posts I have read the Blog should make excellent reading.

My blog is largely an outlet for my creative side - short stories and whatnot. As it could make me personally identifiable I'm reluctant to share it here.

But I suppose I could set up another blog under an assumed name (I've taken a shining to Cletus van Damme lately) and let you have a nosey. I'll have a look into it later.