Marriage or not - Terminal Illness Diagnosis.

Lifesaver

My partner and I have lived together for 5yrs, I own the house, it’s in my name, he has no assets. He’s recently been diagnosed with Terminal Cancer and wishes for us to get married.
He has 4 children from a previous relationship that he hasn’t had contact with for many years – they are now adults, he wants to make Will leaving his pensions and any other monies and personal property to me – he really has very little.
Would it be a good idea financially to get married or should he just make a Will detailing his wishes? He is adamant that his estranged children do not receive a penny.
My daughter says if we get married there could be conditions in the pensions that state spousal beneficiaries need to have been married a certain length of time to receive full benefits.
Has anyone got any advice for us please regarding implication of getting married/ not getting married?
Thank You

Mojisola

It would be best to do both.

Getting married makes you each other's next of kin so you won't have any issues dealing with hospitals and/or hospice and arranging the funeral.

You also need to make a will to allow for the remote possibility that you should die before him.

silvercar

So sorry that you are in this situation.

It would be best to get professional advice on will writing. Whether you get married or not, he should write a will.

I have read that including children in the will by name and leaving them say £100 each avoids any risk of an excluded person making a claim that the deceased "forgot" to include them.

Best to take advice.

silvercar

Also consider a Lasting Power of Attorney.

Mojisola

silvercar wrote: »

It would be best to get professional advice on will writing. Whether you get married or not, he should write a will.

He should make sure that the solicitor makes notes regarding his reasons for not leaving his children an inheritance (in case evidence is needed to refute a claim) and include a letter with his will setting out his reasons. A will becomes a public document after probate; the letter can stay private but can be used if necessary.

DUTR

Mojisola wrote: »

He should make sure that the solicitor makes notes regarding his reasons for not leaving his children an inheritance (in case evidence is needed to refute a claim) and include a letter with his will setting out his reasons. A will becomes a public document after probate; the letter can stay private but can be used if necessary.

This is indeed correct.

gettingtheresometime

Also if he does make a will before you get married, make sure the will is written in anticipation of the marriage.

Also get him to check who his death in service benefits are allocated to if this is applicable...there have been many cases where people have said they want X to receive these benefits, only to break up with X forgetting to change the recipiants and then a couple of years die and X get the benefits.

These are different from the widow's pension aspect.

tea_lover

Mojisola wrote: »

It would be best to do both.

Getting married makes you each other's next of kin so you won't have any issues dealing with hospitals and/or hospice and arranging the funeral.

You also need to make a will to allow for the remote possibility that you should die before him.

Next of kin isn't an actual thing in this country.

POPPYOSCAR

Many solicitors will give a free 30 mins consultation.

If I were you I would consult with one.

da_rule

Getting married will mean that anything he leaves to you under his will be be exempt from inheritance tax. You will also inherit his unused nil rate band which could mean that your own inheritance tax threshold will be increased to £650k which can be helpful when property is involved. So, in terms of tax benefits it depends how much his estate will be worth.

If you get a will and don't get married then you can inherit everything but the estate will have to pay inheritance tax if the estate is worth over £325k. You also won't inherit any unused inheritance tax threshold.

If he dies with no will and you're not married then his children will inherit everything. If you get married and he dies with no will you will inherit half and the children will inherit the other half of which you will retain a life interest in half. Everything left to you would still be exempt from inheritance tax, only the value left to the children would be chargeable. If this doesn't take up all of his nil rate band (£325k) you can inherit anything that remains.

As has been said, leaving a letter explaining why certain people are excluded would be advisable and making a statement in the will is also advisable.

Something else that you should consider is making a lasting power of attorney for both property and affairs and personal welfare.

MPD

Marriage and will (and lasting power of attorney). Should one of his adult children decide to challenge the will (and be successful) the marriage will leave you in a far better position.

Ah romance!