Codicil for a Will

Mr_Dufray

I’d be grateful for advice. A friend, early seventies, made a will in 2000 or so, dividing her assets 50/50 between her two adult children. She remains happy with this Will. She wishes to add a small codicil, allowing 5% of her assets to go towards servicing the upkeep of an overseas property for a duration of 7 years, allowing the children to enjoy it after her death without the burden of the expense, giving them both time to decide what to do with the property. 

The property in question is her mother’s house in Scandinavia which all the children have made liberal use of as a holiday home over the last 50 years. She would like to make this addition because she is concerned there may be pressure from other family members - partners or such like – to dispense with the property after her death, pronto. She would like this process slowed down, giving everyone time to come to a decision. This codicil is strongly supported by one of the children who is keen to retain the house for as long as reasonably possible. This codicil has not been discussed with the other child yet. 

Could a small, one-page codicil be added without need of a lawyer – and if so what measures should be taken? Witnesses, the form it should take, etc. 

With thanks

Mr D, London

tacpot12

A codicil could be drafted without a solicitor, however there are two significant risks with doing so. The first is that the codicil creates a conflict with the original will, and this means the will or the codicil can not be implemented as your friend intended. The second is that if the codicil is written and signed without the other child being consulted they may feel that the mother or their sibling has taken against them, and this could cause problems in the family. I would recommend that she discusses it with the other child before doing anything - her wishes are reasonable, and the change is just creating some flexibility as to how the property is disposed of, so the other child may be happy for the codicil to be written. However I think that this change is too significant a change to be added via a codicil; it can be done, but it would be much safer to take have a new will drafted via a solicitor.

Selling the property may be the best long-term solution as retaining it will lead to having to deal with property taxes and other issues in a foreign country.  If the children don't speak the language, retaining the property could be fraught with problems. 

xylophone

One of the offspring is very keen to retain the foreign property.

Would she consider writing a new will and leaving the foreign property to that child with a corresponding adjustment to the legacy of the other offspring?

Keep_pedalling

Trying to control your assets beyond the grave is very rarely  a good Idea and I don’t  really see how this can possibly work in practice. Setting aside money for the upkeep of a property would have to go into a trust, but that won’t stop the property being sold. 

If she has sufficient assets she can leave the house to the one keen to keep it and leave the equivalent in other assets to the other child.

Savvy_Sue

I may be overcomplicating things here, but I'll take that risk ... ignore me if I am. 

A UK will (generally) only deals with UK assets. Who owns the house in Scandinavia, and does that need to be willed under the law of that country? 

The idea of setting money aside for its upkeep from the UK assets sounds reasonable, but I agree it's a job for a solicitor who will ask all the 'what if' questions. 

Mr_Dufray

Thank you very much, all of you, for your v thoughtful and helpful replies. I will summarise them and pass these onto my friend. Exceptionally helpful. Mr D.

TBagpuss

I don't think it would be a simple codicil - she would need to set out who was responsible for administering that 5% and work out who owns the Scandinavian house in the 7 year period - I would suggest that she either sees a solicitor to have it done properly, (and these days, generally updating the will rather than adding a codicil is sensible, since wills are not copied out by hand any more) or accept that her children will need to sort it out and simply leave a letter of wishes setting out her suggestion.

Wills can usually include property held overseas unless the country where the property is held requires otherwise, normally you would need to expressly limit it to UK only if you don't want it to cover the overseas assets, and to do a separate will in the other country. However, it is sensible to check what the laws are in the country the property is in, as (especially for land, which you can't move!) it can be difficult to enforce a will or other disposal if it runs contrary to the normal law in that country. 

Mr_Dufray

Okay, thanks for this TBagpuss (and everyone else too). V helpful. 

AnotherJoe

Mr_Dufray said:

I’d be grateful for advice. A friend, early seventies, made a will in 2000 or so, dividing her assets 50/50 between her two adult children. She remains happy with this Will. She wishes to add a small codicil, allowing 5% of her assets to go towards servicing the upkeep of an overseas property for a duration of 7 years, allowing the children to enjoy it after her death without the burden of the expense, giving them both time to decide what to do with the property. 

The property in question is her mother’s house in Scandinavia which all the children have made liberal use of as a holiday home over the last 50 years. She would like to make this addition because she is concerned there may be pressure from other family members - partners or such like – to dispense with the property after her death, pronto. She would like this process slowed down, giving everyone time to come to a decision. This codicil is strongly supported by one of the children who is keen to retain the house for as long as reasonably possible. This codicil has not been discussed with the other child yet. 

Could a small, one-page codicil be added without need of a lawyer – and if so what measures should be taken? Witnesses, the form it should take, etc. 

With thanks

Mr D, London

It could but it sounds like a bad idea.

So first, they'd have to retain at least 25% to cater for that.

Second, who will manage that money make sure its properly managed and so on.

Third, say the money runs out in year 4. What happens then?

Suppose one child wishes to retain and the other doesn't , or suppose they just disgree  with some expenses on the house? Or one wishes to visit the house to check on maintenance and wants to use some of the money set aside for airfare and the other disagrees because they are just going on holiday and using that as an excuse, etc.

Needs a new roof? No it doesn't we sell in 2 years anyway. yebbut if roof is poor that will detract from sale price. Well not enough money for new roof.... etc.

As someone else posted trying to control from beyond the grave isnt usually a good idea.

If one or both kids are keen to keep it leave it to them and leave them responsible for it and that way the rest of the inheritance is dealt with in one go with no overhamg.