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stepchildren and wills?
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Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »Hi
We are in a similar situation but married for a number of years and I have a child from a previous relationship (now adult).
When we did our wills, I left my 50% of the house to my child but in the will it specifies that my husband can continue to live in the house until his death. If he remarries then the house has to be sold. If my husband were to downsize, then he could do so but any remaining money left would go to my child (eg this property sold for £250,000 but new one only costs £200,000 so £50,000 would go to child).
We did the wills this way as I was concerned that if I pre-deceased my husband, he could go on to re-marry, meet a woman, then if he were to pre-decease her then the property would go to his 2nd wife and my child would receive zilch.
:money:
it is actually very common for even married couples with the same children to do this planning , as marriage after death does happen where the estate then goes off to a third party rather than your own children !
in circumstances where they have different children from previous marriages its even more important as you wouldn't believe the amount of times people change their Will once their loved one has passed away to only benefit their own blood children cutting out the other half !0 -
DarrenMoneySaving wrote: »:money:
you wouldn't believe the amount of times people change their Will once their loved one has passed away to only benefit their own blood children cutting out the other half !
My aunt did exactly this. Mu uncle predeceased her and she inherited his entire estate, On her death, his children from a previous marriage received a few thousand each, whilst her daughter inherited the rest - including the couple's major asset (the house).
Outrageous!0 -
My thoughts would be to think carefully about buying a house with this man.
It cannot work for him to leave half the house to his son, whilst you own the other half. That's not only being unfair to you, but also saddling his son with a problem of all the trouble and angst afterwards.
He could make life more simpler by taking out life insurance, to ensure you are both secure in the event of his death.
But something else did stand out for me, that he doesn't have a pension. So basically in years ahead, he will be having to live off your pension! and then when he dies, he leaves you nothing.
I think your worries are valid ones. And I agree this is complicated and messy, when in fact it shouldn't be if he just thinks this through.
Personally, I hope you don't enter into this house purchase with him, without some sort of more fairer solution on the table.0 -
the most easy flexible way is the trust period will only end on the other remaining partners death but can also include conditions such as co-hobitating etc ends the trust period.
It would mean that someone you've only been with for 4 years in the case of OP, never lived together so no idea whether the relationship would work anyway, could end up with the right to remain in a property they could hardly have had the time to call home for say another 50 years with the children who have been in the life of the partner for possibly a longer time and with a stronger commitment not entitled to benefit from it for all that time.
Back to the same point that although this proposal makes sense after a few years living together by which time commitment to both each other and the home is established, it does do so when you first move in together.
DH and I didn't go ahead with a will that does offer some protection to each other in addition to my kids until we'd lived together 4 years and had agreed to marry (although it wouldn't have changed if we hadn't married).0 -
It would mean that someone you've only been with for 4 years in the case of OP, never lived together so no idea whether the relationship would work anyway, could end up with the right to remain in a property they could hardly have had the time to call home for say another 50 years with the children who have been in the life of the partner for possibly a longer time and with a stronger commitment not entitled to benefit from it for all that time.
That could be resolved by having a clause that if the death occurred within the first, say, five years of cohabitation that the survivor has 6/9/12 months (whatever is agreed as reasonable) to move out and the child inherits their half of the property.
If the relationship is still going strong after five years, the lifetime clause could come into effect.
That ties in with the way short and longer marriages are handled in divorce proceedings.0 -
DairyQueen wrote: »My aunt did exactly this. Mu uncle predeceased her and she inherited his entire estate, On her death, his children from a previous marriage received a few thousand each, whilst her daughter inherited the rest - including the couple's major asset (the house).
Outrageous!
it really is outrageous, I've seen it a lot and even amended Wills for people doing this after doing them Wills when they was both alive and decided not to use a property trusts... (I point out its not exactly fair and it may cause a troublesome claim on the estate later but the clients instructions are the clients instructions its not for me to refuse) but there is nothing stopping a partner/spouse changing their Will after the other one has passed, which is why splitting tenancy and using a property trust makes a lot of sense for most people0 -
That could be resolved by having a clause that if the death occurred within the first, say, five years of cohabitation that the survivor has 6/9/12 months (whatever is agreed as reasonable) to move out and the child inherits their half of the property.
If the relationship is still going strong after five years, the lifetime clause could come into effect.
That ties in with the way short and longer marriages are handled in divorce proceedings.
That indeed would be the best compromise if it can be made legally binding. Would OP be ok with that?0 -
My husband and I made a similar arrangement to Ms Chocaholic when we married 6 years ago. We both had our own houses at the time. I had 3 children but he did not have any. My main concern was also that I could pre-decease him while we were still relatively young and that he would re-marry and pre-decease his new wife and then my children could lose out.
In our wills, he left everything to me. I left my half of the estate at the time of my death (including the house) to my children in trust with my husband having a lifetime interest. I also wrote a letter to my executor (my son) that stipulated that should my husband need money to pay bills etc later in life then I expected it to be provided to him from any money which was 'mine'. My children all know about this and are happy with the arrangement.
I wonder if part of the issue here is that the son is only 12 years old. We worry more about our children when they are young I think. My children are all in their 20s and 30s now, in relationships, have jobs and have all taken the first step onto the housing market, so I feel that any money we leave to them will be a bonus but I am confident they will make their way through life on their own. I think they see it this way too which is just as well as my husband and I plan to spend as much of our money as we can!0
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