Have you got a will?

Gorgeous_George

No

bunking_off wrote: »

I'm as guilty as everyone else on this. However, allowing for the house being joint tennants (rather than tennants in common) so being out of the equation, my assets are such that my wife gets the lot under the intestacy (sp?) rules in any case. We haven't got any kids so I believe the lot goes to our parents/brothers should we drive off a cliff. No excuse for not getting around to writing a will, I realise.

One piece of advice for anyone contemplating writing one. Do not put a solicitor as your executor. My mum did that, the solicitor was long gone and these rights get "sold" on as part of the business. Took us best part of a year to get the eventual inheritor of the executor rights to relinquish them so probate could be granted.

I believe it is not that simple if you die together. The oldest of you will be deemed to have died first but the younger one will not have survived the necessary 28 days. Therefore, all of the house will transfer to the younger one but nothing else.

This could mean that the younger one's estate is over the IHT threshhold.

With no children, the eldest person's assets (excluding the house as this now belongs to the younger of the two) will be distributed to the older person's brothers and sisters etc. The younger person's assets (including all of the house) will be distributed to that person's brothers, sister etc.

I think it is better to have a Will.



GG

coal9011

Yes

Please, Please, Please ......... Make a will!

Everyone who is in a life partnership or a marriage Must make a will. Why? Well because none of us know what is around the corner and the consequences of a partner dying without making a will can be catastrophic for the remaining person. Believe me ....... I know!

smoky_joe

Yes

Please, Please, Please ......... Make a will!

i agree because in january my mother died and we where always told that the house would be ours and that we would be sorted, she did not have a will so intestancy states that evrything goes to the father in law even though he wanted us to have it so we got intouch with a solicitor and set about sorting out the mess but my father inlaw died 4 weeks later and low and behold everything goes to his children who my mother never even met heck they havent seen their father for 20 odd years, so the house pensions insurances even my nannas money that my mother inherited goes to total strangers
even if he had no children evrything would go to his blood ie parents brothers sisters then the duke and duchess of duchovy:mad:
so what i am saying is make a will for petes sake make a will the mess that is left for your family to sort out is unreal we even have to shell out to keep the house in good order untill his family come forward to claim it what a stab in the back that is,

by the way thats why i have asked twice now about a morage on the morgages thread and still havent had any luck with addvice yet

skylight

Yes

We have trust wills. A few years ago whilst we were both in excellent jobs, the amount of insurances (personal, company, pensions etc) pushed us so far over the threaholds that should we die at the same time, the kids would have been left with a stupidly enormous tax bill.

Everything is in trust now. And the most important bit was naming the guardian of the kids. Because we KNOW that his mum and my mum would go to court over these kids (they dislike each other!) For the record (and they both know it now) my Dad has been listed as the guardian, followed by my best mate, who prays that nothing happens to us!

The only reason we got the wills in the first place was for the guardian aspect. If one or both of us dies, then the last thing we want anyone to worry about will be money. The kids know they are going to live with Grandad (he lives in Spain with a pool, so this subject comes up a lot!!)

I see a will as a selfless act. Its not about you. You wont be around to care. Its to safeguard your loved ones and for no other reason. Without a will? GET ONE!!

localhero

Hi SmokyJoe,

I am sorry to hear about your situation. Unfortunately around 70% of people die without a will each year.

I am forever trying to tell people the merits to a) make a will; or b) update it to minimise inheritance tax.

The reasons that I find people don't make a Will are:

1) Nobody likes to consider their own mortality - so the task gets put off. People always are 'too busy' doing other more exciting/interesting things (although arguably less important things).
2) People think it's tempting fate - I say it's tempting fate not to make a Will.
3) People think they don't need to (they think it will go to spouse anyway) which isn't always the case. The intestacy rules means that the children could in some cases sell the house to obtain their share when the first parent dies.
4) People think they've got nothing to leave. Everybody's got something. You could die with a winning lottery ticket in your pocket, or have life insurance, or be involved in an accident (with compensation due) - who should get that money if there's no will?
5) People don't want to take a day off work to see a solicitor with only a vague idea of the cost or to call a willwriter because they don't know who they can trust. A professional willwriter (beware of the unregulated/uninsured cowboys out there - see my earlier post re: the Institute of Professional Willwriters) will usually visit you in your own home at a convenient time, and offer fixed costs without hidden extras.

In my experience the most common reasons people do make a will?
1) They've heard about someone else dying without a Will.
2) Recommendation - how straightforward it was and how relieved they are they've done it.

skylight

Yes

Or leave it all to someone (thing) altogether a little more hairy!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6969648.stm

Hoario54

No

I will be taking advantage of the Will Aid scheme this November.

My wife and I were booked in to have ours created last November and then our daughter decided to arrive on the day of the appointment!

Needless to say we have been too busy to arrange anything in the meantime but need one now more than ever.

coal9011

Yes

I agree (carlotte664). A will is in a way a selfless act. At a time of someones death the last thing your spouse, partner or immediate family should be worrying about is money. It's a time to grieve. mourn and remember your loved one.

Usually those close know only to well what was intended, but without a will uncertainty and chaos will result with the only winners being the solicitors earning nicely from it all.

My partner of 8 years died at the start of a very large property development project (without making a will) and I was left with a 2.5 year court battle to try and secure a little equity from her greedy brother. It effected me a badly as at a time that I sould have been mourning and remembering my beautiful 48 year old partner but instead I had to deal with complex and protracted legal matters.

Not making a will can leave so much heartache and distress behind!

VickyM_2

Yes

As we are an unmarried couple living together, with a joint mortgage, it's absolutely vital that we both have wills, otherwise it would be a horrible mess... So we both do, but I'm really aware that ours are a bit out date so this is prompting me to sort that out.

olly300

No

smoky_joe wrote: »

i agree because in january my mother died and we where always told that the house would be ours and that we would be sorted, she did not have a will so intestancy states that evrything goes to the father in law

According to this:
http://www.cch-solicitors.com/wills/intest.htm

Your post doesn't make sense if it is your mother and she had no spouse, then the rules of intestancy favour you rather than your father-in-law etc.