step child & inheritance

lucysid

Hi, can anyone tell me what happens to our house if myself & husband die without a will, we have 2 children together & husband has 1 child from a previous relationship, does our house just get split 3 ways ? even though house half mine, & also could I get a will drawn up whereas my 2 children share my half, then all 3 share my husbands half ? I realise this sounds harsh but I have worked hard to pay mortgage & I want my own children to benefit.

Tigsteroonie

(Caveat - this is a very simplistic response!)

It depends on who dies first - if you both happen to die at exactly the same time, then then elder is deemed to have died first.

If hubbie dies first and you second, the estate would be split between your two natural children.

If you die first and hubbie second, the estate would be split between his three natural children.

If I were you, I'd write some wills lickety-split.

lucysid

Thank you, & yes you are right, we need to sort a will asap

PasturesNew

Also, if you die first, he might remarry and your kids get nothing - if he then died and his new wife got it all.

Mojisola

lucysid wrote: »

could I get a will drawn up whereas my 2 children share my half, then all 3 share my husbands half ?

To do this, you would need to own the house 50/50 as 'tenants in common' rather than as 'joint tenants' which is more common for married couples.

BobQ

OP
You need to get a solicitor to draw up a Will that meets your objectives. There are several options but essentially the problem is to write words that deal with all the likely eventualities in terms of who dies first. A solicitor will explain your options.

getmore4less

If married/civil partners you die (intestate) within 28 days of each other then there are special rules, the commorientes(oldest first) ones don't apply.

The estates are treated as if you both predeceased each other

74jax

I agree, best to speak to a solicitor.

Keep_pedalling

Does your husband agree that this split is fair? If not he may want to balance this out by giving more of his share to your step son.

I think you 2 need to have a serious discussion on this then sort out the wills.

Newly_retired

Is there any likelihood that your stepchild may also inherit from his mother or perhaps his maternal grandparents? If so, you may want to consider this when discussing any kind of balance.

PennyForThem_2

If you are paying the mortgage, whose name is the house in?