UK Last will and testament with a European beneficiary living in France

Yorkshireman99

SoniaG wrote: »

I totally understand your point of view and I agree that an element of trust is necessary. My husband and I have also had good discussions about this and although I do trust him and he has promised to give the share I entrust him to to the people I love (my siblings), we still need to have it officially written in a will otherwise both our shares would automatically be subject to the intestacy law and my siblings would never be able to get my share if he dies after me. As we have no children, if all my siblings are already dead when we both pass away, I want to make sure that my share goes to my chosen charity (very important to me), rather than be subject to the intestacy law.
In your case, have you written a will to confirm your main wishes? I feel this is a precaution on top of trusting the other person...it gives peace of mind.
Hopefully we will be able to live a long life and enjoy our hard-earned assets till we die but I can't help wanting to cover for all eventualities.

Don.t overthink things! Any good solicitor can sort it out for. Not having children makes it far simpler. iMHO it is better to keep it simple and leave the surgvivingspouse maximum flexibility. No need to complicate things with joint will etc. Also changing from joint tenants is worthwhile.

SG00

Thank you very much! The problem is that my husband does not want to change our contract from 'joint tenancy' to 'tenancy in common', so I am left with the only other possibility which is writing wills, preferably 'mutual wills' as I understand that these cannot be amended and are irrevocable. I am not sure why he doesn't want to change the tenancy but this is definitely something he will not agree to...

SG00

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Don.t overthink things! Any good solicitor can sort it out for. Not having children makes it far simpler. iMHO it is better to keep it simple and leave the surgvivingspouse maximum flexibility. No need to complicate things with joint will etc. Also changing from joint tenants is worthwhile.

The problem is that my husband doesn't want to change our contract from joint tenancy to tenancy in common...

izoomzoom

Changing our ownership from JT to TIC cost less than £200 and it was done in a week (from when the solicitor starting actually working on it). This was about 4 years ago.

Ms_Chocaholic

SoniaG wrote: »

Thank you very much! The problem is that my husband does not want to change our contract from 'joint tenancy' to 'tenancy in common', so I am left with the only other possibility which is writing wills, preferably 'mutual wills' as I understand that these cannot be amended and are irrevocable. I am not sure why he doesn't want to change the tenancy but this is definitely something he will not agree to...

What are the reasons for him not wanting to change the property ownership?

If he won't do that then how do you know for sure that your wishes regarding your 50% of the house going to your siblings will be adhered to. Also, what would happen if you died, your husband then met another woman, married her and he then died. His wife would get it all as any marriage nullifies any will.

SG00

izoomzoom wrote: »

Changing our ownership from JT to TIC cost less than £200 and it was done in a week (from when the solicitor starting actually working on it). This was about 4 years ago.

I would love to do this but my husband refuses to change it from JT to TC, that is the problem.
So I feel that I need to protect my share. He has nieces and nephews that I barely know and I need to make sure that my share does not go to them if he survives me (law of intestacy)..., hence the wish to write mutual wills.

izoomzoom

As it stands, by owning as JT, if you die first, the whole house goes to your husband. Despite what his will says now, he can change it to whatever he wants in the future and your siblings will get nothing. Also If he remarries, and doesn't do a new Will, she will get your house.

Another thing about CIT is that if you die first, your half goes to your siblings (in trust, with him having a life interest), and the State cannot touch your half if he goes into care.

SG00

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

What are the reasons for him not wanting to change the property ownership?

If he won't do that then how do you know for sure that your wishes regarding your 50% of the house going to your siblings will be adhered to. Also, what would happen if you died, your husband then met another woman, married her and he then died. His wife would get it all as any marriage nullifies any will.

This is exactly what worries me (the fact that any future wife would get my share)!!! So even irrevocable mutual wills are nullified by marriage? What is the point of irrevocable wills then?
The only reason that my husband gives me for not wanting to change from joint tenancy to tenancy in common is 'trust issues'. He's assured me that I can trust him and he gets very offended by the fact that I want to change to tenancy in common. But obviously, I want to protect my share...

Ms_Chocaholic

Can you turn it round and say if he was to die first, then his share of the property destined I presume for his nieces/nephews would go to your siblings.

SG00

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

Can you turn it round and say if he was to die first, then his share of the property destined I presume for his nieces/nephews would go to your siblings.

Well, this is exactly what I said to him but he doesn't care at all where his money goes after he's dead. This is the big problem, he is very different than me. I care about my hard-earned money but he only cares for the present. He doesn't care about when he's dead. So I don't think he understands my point and how important this is to me. He just wants to enjoy the present moment and not think about the future/the morbid stuff!
So it's like talking to a brick wall!