Will of Testament query

kfirle

Hi,
I'd like to ask a question about my dad's last will of testament. He's remarried, and his second wife has two children of her own. He's about to write his will, and he's wondering how it may be possible to make sure that if he dies first, his wife reserves a relative portion of his property for me and my brothers, and not transfer ownership of everything they owned together to her own two children. Can anyone direct me?
Many thanks.

Quentin

His solicitor is the best place to direct him to!

Enterprise_1701C

My step-mother had a jolly good go at arranging that she could do that, she tried her best to stop any restrictions going into the will. Turned out that they had already remortgaged the house and handed all the money over to her kids on the QT anyway.

So please, no-one turn round and say this wouldn't happen. I think we were lucky in that the personification of the wicked step-mother died first, as it was she put a blatant lie in the will which meant her kids got more anyway, my father was a soft touch and believed everything she said, even to the extent that she told him I did not need to wear my glasses all the time and he believed her and informed me of the "fact" and that she knew best as she was a "medical professional" (a dentist!). It didn't matter that by then I had seen neither of them for many years and they certainly were not savvy to my optical prescription :eek:

HappyHarry

kfirle wrote: »

Hi,
I'd like to ask a question about my dad's last will of testament. He's remarried, and his second wife has two children of her own. He's about to write his will, and he's wondering how it may be possible to make sure that if he dies first, his wife reserves a relative portion of his property for me and my brothers, and not transfer ownership of everything they owned together to her own two children. Can anyone direct me?
Many thanks.

This is a common situation, and would normally be dealt with using something called a Life Interest Trust. This is where a portion of the property goes into trust upon your father's death. This property can be used by your stepmother during her lifetime, but on her death, would revert to you and your brothers.

This is not something for your father to do himself - this is an area where a solicitor's advice and drafting is crucial.

kfirle

Many thanks to all for your detailed and informative replies. Very helpful.

Keep_pedalling

kfirle wrote: »

Many thanks to all for your detailed and informative replies. Very helpful.

Whatever he does make sure he does it with a solisitor, not DIY and not with an unregulated will writing company. A will is one of the most important documents anyone will sign in their lifetime, and it is is not something to pennypinch on.