Advice on wording in a draft will

74jax

Bit of a strange one. I’ve FINALLY got my husband to make a will – his first ever.

He was reading me the first draft of it last night and I found a sentence to be a little bit ambiguous, but obviously understand wording in a will can be slightly unusual.

The sentence is – My sister, (name of sister etc), has first refusal of any family heirlooms and possessions.

Although I completely understand he means ‘family’ to be his Dad’s belongings in the loft (ie his dads watch, old photos etc), it reads to me that it can be interpreted in other ways.

I know a will should be crystal clear and not open to nit-picking etc, but I wondered if more knowledgeable people could advise what they consider to be ‘family possessions’ so I can see if it’s just me being ‘funny’…… it has been known J.

TonyMMM

Is he writing it himself ?

Much too important to get wrong - get a local solicitor to do it (and for you at the same time ?)

74jax

No it is a draft from a solicitor.

Mojisola

74jax wrote: »

The sentence is – My sister, (name of sister etc), has first refusal of any family heirlooms and possessions.

Although I completely understand he means ‘family’ to be his Dad’s belongings in the loft (ie his dads watch, old photos etc), it reads to me that it can be interpreted in other ways.

It can - his sister could argue that she had the right to go through your house and take anything she wants!

74jax

Mojisola wrote: »

It can - his sister could argue that she had the right to go through your house and take anything she wants!

So it's not me being silly? He said it was the solicitor who came up with the wording....

He said it's clear he means family as in him and his sisters family {dad}. I said it wasn't clear at all and she could come in and take the TV {OK I was being daft and picked the most random object}...

Mojisola

74jax wrote: »

So it's not me being silly? He said it was the solicitor who came up with the wording....

He said it's clear he means family as in him and his sisters family {dad}.

I said it wasn't clear at all and she could come in and take the TV {OK I was being daft and picked the most random object}...

It isn't clear - if he means their father's possessions, why not say
"any of our father's heirlooms and possessions"
and not
"any family heirlooms and possessions".

Keep_pedalling

If these things are just stored in the loft, why does he not just offer them to her now?

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Assuming he is leaving the bulk of his estate to you, it would be simpler just to trust you to do the right thing.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Are these heirlooms valuable? If so they will be deducted from any IHT nil rate band which is transferred to you, whereas if you just later gift them to the sister they won't.[/FONT]

Dox

Anyone who has to argue that something 'is clear' can rest assured that it isn't!

This is just the sort of drafting that starts costly family disputes about what someone 'really meant'.

Get a better solicitor.

74jax

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

If these things are just stored in the loft, why does he not just offer them to her now?

I've suggested this for years, I HATE clutter! but he wants them as regularly looks at them. I doubt she'd even want them to be honest....

Tom99 wrote: »

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Assuming he is leaving the bulk of his estate to you, it would be simpler just to trust you to do the right thing.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Are these heirlooms valuable? If so they will be deducted from any IHT nil rate band which is transferred to you, whereas if you just later gift them to the sister they won't.[/FONT]

No the bulk isn't to me, and not valuable that I know of. More sentimental.

Dox wrote: »

Get a better solicitor.

My exact words to him......... it's taken him 20+ years to get a solicitor to actually draft a will..... I don't think he'll change. I update my will maybe every 5 years or so - I'm a control freak over it. He is the complete opposite.....

Malthusian

If he's not a control freak then he could just dump the pointless clause and just leave you to give the items to his sister on his death.

You want to throw them out so he knows you're not going to hang on to them and refuse to give them up to the sister.

Alternatively, if they do mean that much, list all the items unambiguously in the Will. "My late father's watch, my late father's photos, my late father's golf clubs" etc etc.

On its own that sentence means the sister will inherit his entire estate. You can only dispose of your own possessions in your Will so "any family possessions" means "any possessions", "family" is meaningless. "First refusal" means the sister gets everything, unless she generously decides to let you have some.

They're not his Dad's possessions or "the family's" possessions, they're his (if they're not, the Will can't dispose of them). "Family heirlooms and possessions" does not accurately identify any particular subset of his estate's possessions.