If the worst happens. How do my family get my Money?

p00hsticks

Dunnit wrote: »

3. You need to document the companies, their administration addresses and your reference numbers in a spreadsheet/file that you have accounts/money/psb etc.
4. You need to file all the relevant share certificates, bonds etc in an accessible folder.

Can't rexcommend these steps too highly. It's all very well talking about the legal part - wills, marriage etc - but the simple steps of keeping an up to date list of what assets you have where and making sure that your partner / next of kin know where to find it is priceless !

gfplux

We have had a net worth spread sheet that is updated on 31st December each year.
This provides a simple document that lists all our assets and therefore will help either of us that is left behind.

getmore4less

as soon one of you has assets over the single(£325k) nil rate band it gets messy if not married,


Over £650k and IHT is hard to avoid on first death.

zagfles

dunstonh wrote: »

Death certificate posted in and a claims form completed. The paperwork level will vary with providers but the same principle applies.

Unless the amount is small, ie under a few grand total, probate is likely to be required. That's far more work than than just sending in a death certificate and completing a claim form. You need to fill in probate forms, inheritance tax forms (even if none to pay), swear an oath, lodge the will etc.

Where possible, hold investments jointly (as joint beneficial owners, not "tenants in common"), then they automatically pass to the survivor. Not all investments allow joint holdings though.

zagfles

atush wrote: »

And I told them to get married too. And no it isn't causal.

But sometimes people dont know (or forget) that marriage is a contract and comes with lots of good stuff tax and legal wise. That can save time, effort and heartbreak later.

Seen non married couples with the house in his name, he dies and she gets nowt. His family (ie parents and siblings) do.

And even if you have a will leaving everything to your partner, the paperwork for probate is massively more complicated if you're not married.

riverboat2001

Thanks for all the input, we're off on holiday soo, on our return, I'm going to hunt out the divorce papers to see if it was ever actually finalised, and then we can get married. I'm up for a Honeymoon anyway!

atush

Id do that before you go. What if it wasn't finalised and your ex gets the assets if you die on holiday?

bugslet

zagfles wrote: »

And even if you have a will leaving everything to your partner, the paperwork for probate is massively more complicated if you're not married.

I can't argue with that, because I don't know what the probate paperwork for a married couple would be like, but it really wasn't that complicated when I did it back in February for an unmarried couple, or that was my personal perspective on it.

zagfles

bugslet wrote: »

I can't argue with that, because I don't know what the probate paperwork for a married couple would be like, but it really wasn't that complicated when I did it back in February for an unmarried couple, or that was my personal perspective on it.

The complicated bits are on the IHT forms, eg when you have jointly owned assets, you need to declare the contribution each person made to the asset, when joint ownership started etc. Could be hours or days ploughing through bank statements or mortgage statements to determine who paid what. Details you don't need for married couples.

Plus of course you need to declare gifts between the couple - eg did the deceased buy the surviving partner a car, jewellery, expensive holiday together etc. Don't need to declare any gifts between spouses.