How to fairly produce a will for all involved

joparry111

Hi,
My Father has been trying to complete his will for many years but has struggled to finalise it, as all he wants is a fair outcome for all involved.

He has recently come to a conclusion and asked us if we are all happy and in agreement but unfortunately and we are very sad to say that it hasn't quite worked like that and my brother and myself have found ourselves in a difficult position as we don't want to upset or cause any issues for my Father but we don't feel like his decision is a fair one.

In a nutshell, my mother and father were married and owned a house (a) together but separated when my brother and I were children, he left and bought another house (b) together with a woman who had 1 child of her own already. They havent had any children together.
He has decided that his share of house b should be left to his partner and as a result she would then leave the whole house to her child.
Myself and my brother get a share of house a which is now in my mother's name.
There are a few other factors involved but house b is by far the biggest asset and is approx £200k more than house a and we just don't see how it is fair that his share of house b ultimately gets left to a child which isn't his. We havent said too much to him and he said he won't go ahead with completing the will until we say we are happy with it, but my brother and myself have been discussing with each other and feel really awful about the fact that we feel like it isn't right but are unsure if perhaps our emotions are getting in the way.
Any opinions on the matter would be greatly appreciated at how separated parents fairly divide their houses in their will.
Thank you
Jo

System

He must know how you feel and is waiting for you to tell him otherwise he'd have done that will years ago. Maybe he's scared of upsetting the wife if he gives stepchild less so is waiting till he knows he has backup from the 2 of you.

System

could he not give 1/3 each of property a and 1/3 each of property b then it would be fair.

Keep_pedalling

Sounds like his current house is held as tenanants in common, so the sensible thing to do would be to leave his share split 2 or 3 ways and give his current wife a lifetime interest on his share.

Manxman_in_exile

It's futile to discuss what is fair where wills are involved.


Maybe the partner with house (b) contributed most of the finance?


If I were your father I'd want to do the "right" thing, irrespective of what my children thought. Indeed, I wouldn't ask them. Not that I have children...

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Its not clear who currently owns houses A and B, how, and it what proportions.[/FONT]

Sea_Shell

He should be very wary of leaving a specified property (by named address) in a will....as it may be that due to circumstances in the future, that particular property (or a portion of it) is no longer owned by the deceased at the time of death.

It's the same with any specific legacy, be it property, car, Cash or any other valuable. What if it is sold/spent at some point in the future....then it no longer exists!!

gettingtheresometime

How old were you & your brother when your father remarried? How old was your step-sibling?


If you were all relatively young & the children brought up equally then to treat children differently in a will is wrong imo.

nom_de_plume

Perhaps OP's father needs it putting to him by someone not directly involved, e.g. - https://www.birkettlong.co.uk/site/library/legalnews/second_marriages_an_inheritance_dilemma.html

What happens if his current partner passes first?

Manxman_in_exile

My brother's wife died (they had two children and two grandchildren). He remarried a woman who had been married more than once and had several children and grandchildren. Under his old will, his kids would have split quite a reasonable estate between them (certainly over £200k each).


Under his new will he left almost everything to his new wife with relatively nominal bequests to his two kids (£10k each) and smaller amounts to the two grandkids.


My niece is a lawyer, my wife is a solicitor and I have two law degrees. After much deliberation (and my niece sought specialist legal advice) the family concluded there no hope of a successful challenge. (NB - the kids were no longer dependents)


Wills don't have to be fair!

Pricivius

I agree with Mie -what's all this about fairness?


Attempting fairness with multiple marriages, children, step-children, spouses, ex-spouses, partners and ex-partners is nigh on impossible.


If house (a) is in your mother's name then it's not your father's to leave. Your mother could meet a new partner, get married and leave the house to someone else or she might sell it and go on a round the world cruise and rent for the rest of her days; you might get nothing.


My father left everything to his new wife, my step-mother. She has two sons, my father's step-children (they had no children together), and I fully expect to receive nothing when she passes away. My father knew what he was doing and that was is choice. I respect that.


If I were you, I would tell your father to do what he wants. Spend it, preferably, enjoying himself. That's exactly what I have told my mother to do. I can understand why people give up on the whole idea and leave everything to the Donkey Sanctuary.