Do we need wills?

missimaxo

My husband has just had a health scare (about to have investigatory tests) and this has frightened both of us. We feel that we need to take steps to get our lives in order just in case. I have no experience at all of dealing with things like this (I know - totally naive!). We are both 38, married 8 years, 1 child mine from previous marriage 13years and one child ours 11years).

We have a jointly owned house, with life assurance just in my name (husband had previous health problems which meant life assurance was nearly impossible to get when we bought the house). If something happened to him - I presume this would just pass to me automatically and not form part of the estate.

He has a life assurance policy that he has had years but we have no details. It is paid up to date and pre-dates his health problems so we need to find details of this. Would this form part of his estate or if I am named (which I think I am) does it pass straight to me?

His car is in my name on the log book (when we bought a new car for me he took my old car and we didnt see the need to re-register it).

He only has pension contributions since October when the gov forced his employer to register. No other assets of value.

He does have debts including loans and credit cards.

So my question, do we need to make wills? If the house passes to me, and presumably the life assurance policy will either if I am named on the policy or as part of the estate, is there any benefit to them? He has nothing to pass to our children anyway. I dont know how much the life assurance pays but I know it will clear the mortgage and leave some left over, even if I have to pay the debts off first.

Thanks

RAS

Sorry that you are having a rough time and I hope that things turn out OK.

If the house is a joint tenancy then you both own it wholly and if one dies, the other becomes the sole tenant. Therefore it is excluded from the estate.

Your husband needs to find out about that life assurance policy urgently and if possible complete a nomination form.

I would recommend that you get together and do a Statement of Affairs looking at your expenditure and income. What happens if he has to take time off work? How will you be placed financially then?

If he is OK or can continue work, it may be wise to work out a fairly tight budget and try and clear those debts. Do check also whether any of them include cover(PPI).

Mojisola

missimaxo wrote: »

We are both 38, married 8 years, 1 child mine from previous marriage 13years and one child ours 11years).

It's even more important when there are step-children involved to make wills.

I hope that both of you continue to have many more years in you but, if you died first, your first child could miss out on inheriting anything.

Your husband would receive the bulk of your estate. If he then died without a will, only your joint child would inherit from him.

Keep_pedalling

Even though both of you will almost certainly have many more years together you should make a will a priority. Although either of you dieing soon is unlikely the consequences of doing so without wills in place could be very serious.

Don't DIY it either make an appointment with a solicitor ASAP.

missimaxo

Ok thanks - if he needed time off work then I am in the lucky position that i could cut our expenditure further and support us from my wages alone (things like children's sports activities which we dont want to have to cut yet). It would be tight but doable, and it is likely that we would get support from my family.

To be honest, without his debts I could probably support the family on my own wages. If the worst was to happen, I could continue to support the household, especially if the mortgage is paid off.

We are paying off the debts already (stem from when we had to pay childcare so that we could both work and were simply living beyond our means).

I realise that I could do with a will due to my older child, I am very lucky that my husband views her as his daughter (and always has - I have been with him since she was 1) and would never see her left out from any inheritance. Even if I made a will, I know my ex would get custody and although my ex and husband are not friends, there would be no issue with access for both him and sibling.

It is a delicate time at the moment - he only went to the doctors 2 nights ago and has been referred to the hospital. He was the one to broach finding out about the life assurance so I think I will nudge him gently towards making wills as well. Just trying not to be too morbid as it may turn out to be nothing. I kind of hope we had already sorted this out.

Mojisola

missimaxo wrote: »

I realise that I could do with a will due to my older child, I am very lucky that my husband views her as his daughter (and always has - I have been with him since she was 1) and would never see her left out from any inheritance.

If he dies without a will, the law won't care what he thinks, she wouldn't automatically inherit from him.

Even if I made a will, I know my ex would get custody and although my ex and husband are not friends, there would be no issue with access for both him and sibling.

Not necessarily. If she is considered old enough to be involved in the decision, she could stay with her sister and step-father if that was what she wanted.

missimaxo

Thanks - I have just contacted a solicitor via my union and they are calling me back. They offer a free basic will or discounted if it is more complicated. Won't cover hubby but he should be less complicated than me and I can borach it gently dependent on his mood/ diagnosis.

My daughter would likely opt to stay with sibling and hubby as her dad lives some distance away and she is very settled with her life where we live. We have been here since she was 6 and all her friends are here. At 13 (14 next year) I would hope she can choose. I will see what the solcitor says about how to includeit in my will.

Robin9

You both need wills - there are lots of scenarios to consider - what happens to your children if you both die ?

getmore4less

A relatively simple exercise is to work through intestate(no will) for one and both of you, see where your assets will end up.

If you don't like it(which is possible) make wills.

Also look at guardian issues the legal default is parents by blood.

Mojisola

missimaxo wrote: »

My daughter would likely opt to stay with sibling and hubby as her dad lives some distance away and she is very settled with her life where we live. We have been here since she was 6 and all her friends are here. At 13 (14 next year) I would hope she can choose.

Your husband could get parental responsibility if her father agrees - this is in addition to you and her father keeping your responsibilities.

Something to think about if his health improves.

Your husband having PR would strengthen your daughter's chance of staying with the family if anything should happen to you.