Wills and children/stepchildren

TBagpuss

Better to see a solicitor, they will be able to discuss options. One possibility might be to leave the houe to your wife and daughter in equal shares, with provisions allowing your wife to remain living in the proeprty for a set period (or for her lifetime) and to have the option of buying your daughter out.

Another possibility would be to take out a new life insurance policy.

Cost of a will varies depending on where you live and on how simple it is. In my area, costs start from around £175 + VAT

nom_de_plume

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

.....You might want to consider formally adopting your stepson........

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

............. The OP would do well to ignore ....... flawed advice and get it done professionally.

Surely, in the OP's situation, having his wife adopt his daughter is a far less flawed option

Kind of highlights the majority opinion to get proper professional advice....

And please don't take offence Yorkshireman as your advice is usually spot on!

74jax

Civvy21 wrote: »

Thanks 74jax.

May i ask who wrote your will. Was it a solicitor, a will writing service or a diy jobby.

Solicitor. I'm a bit paranoid though, my DD turns 18 in a month and one of her presents is a will


It seems harsh on hubby as it stands but the house is in my name and he owns his own property. I wouldn't turf him out, but 10 years is long enough for him to decide where he wants to live. And if he meets someone and they want to live together he has his own place.


As things change, as the inevitably do, I'll update the will to reflect that.


All my money is left to DD also, not hubby.

Manxman_in_exile

You need to see a solicitor. My wife is a solicitor in the public sector and there was no way even she was going to do a diy will when we did ours. And forget about will writing firms.


Probably not my business but you only (I think?) mention your will. What about your wife's? Many couples execute mirror wills with essentially identical provisions. They aren't foolproof but do have definite benefits, unless you and your wife definitely want to dispose of your estates differently.


(PS - the real advantage of using a solicitor is that they will ask you what you want to happen to your estate. Then they will ask you what you want in the event of things happening that you haven't even thought about - or maybe don't ever want to think about! It's this knowledge you pay for.)

Yorkshireman99

Civvy21 wrote: »

Yorkshireman99 - thank you for your good wishes.

If i have to go down the solicitors route then thats what i will do. Just out of interest, in a relatively simple case like (ie the house being the only major asset) would a will writing service not suffice.

Also, anybody know a ballpark figure of how much a solicitor would charge for a relatively simple life interest will.

Incidentally, i do already have a will. The house is left to my wife, and i have a life insurance policy which very broadly matched the value of the house to compensate my daughter. Unfortunately the insurance finishes soon so i need to put something else in place.

Thanks

Never, ever, use a will writer! Many solicitors offer an initial consultation free. They are required to give you written information about the wier charges.

jackyann

Can I just add that leaving some sort of "life interest" in the house for a spouse also needs careful planning.
I have a friend who is "stuck" in a completely unsuitable house for an elderly person(remote, no public transport, complex upkeep) as her husband's will said she could live there as long as she wished, but should she move, the house would be sold and split between her & his children. No way that her share will buy her somewhere to live! This will was drawn up by a solicitor, but was not thought through properly.

Mojisola

jackyann wrote: »

Can I just add that leaving some sort of "life interest" in the house for a spouse also needs careful planning.
I have a friend who is "stuck" in a completely unsuitable house for an elderly person(remote, no public transport, complex upkeep) as her husband's will said she could live there as long as she wished, but should she move, the house would be sold and split between her & his children. No way that her share will buy her somewhere to live! This will was drawn up by a solicitor, but was not thought through properly.

That is unusual - there is normally a clause that allows the surviving spouse to sell and move if wanted. If this releases some of the capital, it may be distributed to the beneficiaries but otherwise this is retained and the spouse can use any interest made on the capital.

Civvy21

Thank you for all your very interesting comments. They have been very helpful and have certainly given me food for thought.

It looks like i am not going to be able to avoid using a solicitor. That's a shame really because the last time i used one, albeit 20 odd years ago, i was astonished at the sheer incompetence and arrogance of the firm. And it wasn't particularly cheap either. Still, i must not let that colour my judgment on this issue.

It is interesting what people say about will writing services. That's also a shame because i still don't think a will like this should be that overly complicated. Although i accept there may be some complexities involved (care costs, upkeep etc) i would have thought it should still be a fairly standard and increasingly common legal procedure. Especially in a case like this where there is only one major asset. Perhaps I'm being ignorant.

Re a couple of the other points made. I am assuming (again, maybe wrongly) that my wife's will will be fairly straightforward, especially as she is not named on the deeds of the house. Joint savings to me, and her personal savings to her son. Are there any other obvious complexities i have missed?

Also, I wish I could stick with the life insurance option. Unfortunately due to the lunacy of UK house prices and the costs of life insurance (i think in insurance terms I am now "old") the cost of a new policy would be prohibitive.

Again, thank you all for your comments.

getmore4less

Solicitor costs will be in the same ball park as any other service.

A good one will knock one out based on experience quite quickly if it is relatively standard.

A solicitor should also be using clauses that have been tried and tested in court or written by council so there is no wiggle room because they are well understood when it counts, even if they make little sense to lay people first time round.

That's part of what you pay for.

Manxman_in_exile

Go to a solicitor. I'm not saying they'll always be better than will writers in all circumstances, but why take the risk? Making a will isn't necessarily once in a lifetime but you can't come back to put it right after you die.


A solicitor will also go through all the "what if" questions you may not have considered. (eg what if you and your wife die together, or both of you plus one of the children?)


But do ask the solicitor to explain the different clauses to you in plain English so you are certain that the will gives effect to your wishes. And be certain you explain your wishes fully to them. We were happy with the first draft of our will until we re-read it for the umpteenth time and realised we hadn't expressed something clearly enough to get the provision right. You can't put it right after it comes into effect.