Husband won’t make a will

jacksprat27

I have made my will as I had a substantial property when I remarried. Now we have moved I keep asking my husband to make his to make things simpler for me if he should die. My worry is that, even though our new property is just in my sole name, should he die without a will that the property would be included in his estate as we are married. He has 3 children from a previous relationship, 2 of them under 18 and provides maintenance for them. I don’t want to have to sell the house to pay them if this is the case hence my insistence on him making a will. If I really can’t persuade him am I safe leaving things as they are?

Flugelhorn

If the property is in your sole name and is registered in just your name at the Land registry then I can't see that it would be part of his estate - even if you jointly owned it, on his death it would solely belong to you, outside his estate. Main problem would be if you owned it as Tenants in Common (sounds unlikely) when his "half" would be dealt with separately after death and could be left to the children. Need to check what the registration on the LR actually says.
Though I see you concerns that the children may be able to have a claim on any separate estate he has - there may be death in service benefits payable to them and possibly insurance. 

DigForVictory

Make it as simple as possible - a postcard with tickboxes. On my death I want to be cremated/buried [insert location]
I want my wife [insert your name here] to have everything/everything in trust then half everything the rest to be sold & divided equally amongst my surviving children & grandchildren [insert their names here]/ everything in trust & then the lot given to the local cats home.

Make it funny, make it silly but give him the unpalatable choices mixed in with laughs then take it to a solicitor & get it drawn up properly & invite neighbours over to witness him signing it. He may not immediately but you can say straight faced they were his wishes.

Keep_pedalling

While you husband is being an idiot, it is not you who would suffer from him having no will. If he wants his children to receive something from his estate then he needs a will, otherwise they are likely to get nothing unless his estate is worth more than £250k. 

Even if he want to give them nothing he should make a will so that his children understand this was a deliberate decision to leave them nothing.

jacksprat27

Thanks for your help. The property is registered in only my name. He is being an idiot and thinks it is morbid to talk about wills. I am more than happy to give his younger daughters an amount equal to his maintenance payments until they are 18, however don’t want them, aided by their mother,  to make a claim on the house. I said I would work out everything so that he only needed to go and sign so I will keep working on him. Reassuring that if the property is in my sole name that this wouldn’t be included in his estate. 

Savvy_Sue

jacksprat27 said:

Thanks for your help. The property is registered in only my name. He is being an idiot and thinks it is morbid to talk about wills. I am more than happy to give his younger daughters an amount equal to his maintenance payments until they are 18, however don’t want them, aided by their mother,  to make a claim on the house. I said I would work out everything so that he only needed to go and sign so I will keep working on him. Reassuring that if the property is in my sole name that this wouldn’t be included in his estate. 

No, but how big is his estate without the house, and what does it consist of? If it's less than £250,000, it's all yours. If it's more than £250,000 it's not all yours, and I ask what it consists of because if it's not 'liquid' or easy to make liquid, then you may still face some unpalatable choices. 

Also worth him making a will just to avoid ex causing trouble. Ex may not know or care or believe that the house is in your sole name, and the last thing you will need at such a time is an argument with her over that fact. 

If it's clear that he has been generous to his children in his will, it's far less likely that she will cause trouble, and if she does it will be far simpler to settle the matter. 

jacksprat27

Thanks, I was just worried that if I can’t get him to make a will that the ex on behalf of his children would make a claim. I need a serious talk with him! 

xylophone

Have your husband read
https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/why-you-should-make-a-will
If you are the sole  legal and beneficial owner of the property, it cannot form part of his estate.
Remind him that it is irresponsible not to make a will - bereavement is hard enough without having intestacy thrown in.

Tom99

Savvy_Sue said:

No, but how big is his estate without the house, and what does it consist of? If it's less than £250,000, it's all yours. If it's more than £250,000 it's not all yours.

It's £270,000 now, changed this week.

Owain_Moneysaver

jacksprat27 said:

He has 3 children from a previous relationship, 2 of them under 18 and provides maintenance for them. 

Are you a legally-recognised adoptive parent of those children? If not, and he doesn't make a Will, then the Court will have to appoint a Guardian of his children. That might not be you. If he would prefer it to be you (or he is emphatic he doesn't want Wicked Aunt Edna to get the children) he needs to make a Will. 
Not making a Will is a great way to say to his children "I didn't think you were worth an hour of my time with a solicitor". 

jacksprat27

No the children live with their mother. Obviously if something happened to her they would have to. He knows he should do one but it will be down to me to do the groundwork.