Money tied up in assets - will advise

Angie_B

Hi,

I have very simple circumstances for a will - I'm single, no children, one mortgaged property which I live in.

I would like to leave my cousins a small sum of money each (say £5k) in the event of my death and my sister everything else.

My question is, if most of my money is tied up in my property (over £150k equity) and I don't have the amount I want to leave my cousins in cash, can I still specify the £5k each and have it taken out of the whole estate, requiring my sister (as both executor and beneficiary) to sell my property to pay these sums to my cousins? She will undoubtedly need to sell the property anyway to pay off the remaining mortgage.

I hope that my question makes sense! Thank you in advance.

McKneff

I would ask a solicitor to be honest. It looks fine but what if you need care in your old age, the house will have to be sold, cousins then ask for their money, and say the mortgage takes a big lump, not much left to be paying all these £5ks out and sister gets nothing.....


Maybe a solicitor might suggest a percentage or something like that. Leave your sister what you want, then what ever is left to be shared, but it certainly needs thinking about.

Angie_B

Thanks - I hadn't considered that.

I'm still young (in my twenties - I probably should have mentioned that, sorry). I expect my circumstance and will to have changed significantly by the time I'm old, so I was really planning for if I got hit by a bus tomorrow, but I will take your advice and see a solicitor as it is clearly not quite as simple as I hoped! I expect it may be sensible for now to plan to leave only what I can cover from cash in the bank to my cousins and sister equally and then all other assets to my sister.

Thanks!