House left in a will

evenasus

My daughter-in-law's mother passed away suddenly this week.
They've just found a copy of her will which was drawn up by a solicitor about 4 years ago.

In the will it states I leave 'house number & street' to my son and daughter.
Her mother actually sold and bought another two years ago, to be nearer to her daughter.
Her mother did ask the solicitor at the time if she needed to amend her will, being as her address had changed and the solicitor said she needn't bother. Which I find very odd.

Has anyone come across this sort of problem?

Keep_pedalling

This is why you should never put such clauses in wills. This particular legacy fails, however if the same son and daughter are also the residual benificiaries then it should not matter which would be the only reasonable explanation as to why her solisitor said the will did not need to be changed.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]It very much depends on what the rest of the will says.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]If the residue estate if left in the will to the same son and daughter then it should not matter, but in that case there would have been no reason the mention the house at all in the will.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]If the residue estate is not left to son and daughter they may be a problem.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Is it possible the solicitor did not actually see the will?[/FONT]

evenasus

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

This is why you should never put such clauses in wills. This particular legacy fails, however if the same son and daughter are also the residual benificiaries then it should not matter which would be the only reasonable explanation as to why her solisitor said the will did not need to be changed.

I realise that but my daughter-in'law's mother was a stick head in sand sort of person.

I'll see if I can have a look at the will myself, being as they want help with it.
My son said all it says is that she leaves the house to her son and daughter and any monies/savings to be split between her five grandchildren. Oh and that she wants to be cremated.
The named executors are her son and daughter their aunt - the sister of the deceased.

Yorkshireman99

evenasus wrote: »

I realise that but my daughter-in'law's mother was a stick head in sand sort of person.

I'll see if I can have a look at the will myself, being as they want help with it.
My son said all it says is that she leaves the house to her son and daughter and any monies/savings to be split between her five grandchildren. Oh and that she wants to be cremated.
The named executors are her son and daughter their aunt - the sister of the deceased.

As MJ says the legacy fails but the exact wording of the will is crucial. If there is no residuary legatee there is possibly partial intestacy. The executors need legal advice before proceeding to sort the mess out.

Keep_pedalling

Sounds like the new house might have to be dealt with under intestaty rules.

evenasus

Phew- relief all round.

My son has just phoned to say he's managed to see the will for himself.
Yes her will states her previous home but it also states 'Any other properties I own at the time of my death.'

My daughter-in-law is still very upset over her mum dying, which is understandable as they were very close.
I imagined she skimmed over the will, which is in the usual solicitor language. But didn't take it all in.

Thank you to all for your responses.

Mojisola

evenasus wrote: »

In the will it states I leave 'house number & street' to my son and daughter.

Her mother actually sold and bought another two years ago, to be nearer to her daughter.

Her mother did ask the solicitor at the time if she needed to amend her will, being as her address had changed and the solicitor said she needn't bother.

evenasus wrote: »

Yes her will states her previous home but it also states 'Any other properties I own at the time of my death.'

A good solicitor who future-proofed the will. Good job!

Yorkshireman99

evenasus wrote: »

Phew- relief all round.

My son has just phoned to say he's managed to see the will for himself.
Yes her will states her previous home but it also states 'Any other properties I own at the time of my death.'

My daughter-in-law is still very upset over her mum dying, which is understandable as they were very close.
I imagined she skimmed over the will, which is in the usual solicitor language. But didn't take it all in.

Thank you to all for your responses.

Glad to hear that.

Keep_pedalling

evenasus wrote: »

Phew- relief all round.

My son has just phoned to say he's managed to see the will for himself.
Yes her will states her previous home but it also states 'Any other properties I own at the time of my death.'

My daughter-in-law is still very upset over her mum dying, which is understandable as they were very close.
I imagined she skimmed over the will, which is in the usual solicitor language. But didn't take it all in.

Thank you to all for your responses.

I would still suggest this is a very poorly written will. If before she died she had to go into care and her house needed to be sold to pay for it, her estate would have been mainly cash and that would have gone to the grandchildren.

This would have been especially problematic should she have died very soon after the house had been sold and most of the proceeds were still sitting in the bank.

AnotherJoe

I agree KP, and even if she wasnt going into a home, supposing she took a "break" between houses of a few weeks and ended up with a large sum of money intending to spend that on a house but died before she rebought. .