Help with my will - son from first marriage and now remarried

Yorkshireman99

You need to go and see a solicitor because that is the only way to get it done correctly. Before that you need to discuss it with your wife who also needs to make her own will.

getmore4less

motorguy wrote: »

LOL, yes thats probably where we'll end up.

The problem i have is that theres a fair chance if we take that approach she'll want to leave her "half" to her nephew and niece.

I wouldnt have a particular problem if she'd kids, not so keen on the idea that her sisters children effectively have say in what i can do (in terms of move and giving them a large sum of money, etc)

It is possible to structure the life interest so you(well the chosen trustees) keep control of the asset pot so even if you want/need to move you still have the full value to work with.


Definitely one for discussion and what if's(death sequences) to see where the stuff ends up.

For many the zero sum life is a goal and use up everything you have but that is really hard as you need somewhere to live

If you feel any obligations to keeping stuff in the family if you inherit from your parent s but don't have joint issue it can get complicated if at the same time you want your loved one to have use if needed.

Tuesday_Tenor

Just a few points to add into your thinking:

- Understanding how the house is owned is vital. If you own it as 'joint tenants' then you both already own 100% of it, but jointly. When one of you dies the other will still own it 100%, but now as sole owner. There will be no 'half' to leave to anyone else. No element of the house enters the deceased's estate at all. The other person now owns it solely, 'by survivorship'. If you want to have 'half' (or whatever proportion) a house to leave in your will, you need to own the house a 'tenants in common', by which you each own 50% (or whatever proportion).
I believe a joint tenancy can easily be severed into tenants in common.

- While nothing is ever certain regarding inheritances, you both might want to consider whether you son is likely to inherit much from his mother, and whether your wife's niece and nephew are likely to inherit much from their own parents. You might want to agree the assumptions on which you reach whatever compromise you do now, and be prepared to adjust your wills if those assumptions change (son inherits masses from maternal grandfather while your brother-in-law goes bankrupt and has nothing to leave to his own children) .... It is well-nigh impossible to do crystal-ball gazing as who knows which relationships will change over time, and inheritances be left to cats homes instead of expected relatives .... But you and your wife might unconsciously already be making certain assumptions, so it would be good to be aware of, and discuss, them.

- And what should happen if you both die at the same time?

martinbuckley

motorguy wrote: »

Ok,

If i die first and leave everything to my son then that would mean he would own 50% of the house. Meaning if she ever moved - say to something smaller to release equity - that would trigger a payment of 50% of the value to my son.

Would this mean that if you were to die first, as your son has a 50% stake in the property your wife lives in, he would also be liable for 50% of all maintenance bills thereafter?

Savvy_Sue

*~Zephyr~* wrote: »

If he dies first the kids get the rented house and half of the jointly owned house, but I have the right to reside in it forever. Everything else he owns, goes to me. If I sell the house to move away or downsize or whatever, the kids are entitled to their share. Otherwise they have to wait for me to snuff it.

the issue with that is if half the value of the house you live in is not enough to buy outright something else / smaller / more suitable when you want to, especially if you're by then not working.

*~Zephyr~* wrote: »

Although he needs to get a new will done this year because we're getting married and if he doesn't everything will be mine ALL MINE!!!!! *evil cackle*

And he knows he can get a will written before you marry, as long as it's written 'in contemplation of marriage'.

But well done for thinking about it while co-habiting. Too many people assume they have rights when they don't.

PasturesNew

There are ways you can hand your son half when you die, a half he can do nothing with while your 2nd wife requires a home and requires the value of that half to move, if appropriate.

It's possible to do that.

This is a fairly typical situation to put down in writing.

2nd wife would need to be able to access the value of your half, in order to move house at any future point, while protecting it from her giving it to somebody else and from her care home fees gobbling it up.

All perfectly normal/usual, a solicitor will be able to get it done for you.