What happens when that day comes?

127001

Albermarle said:

You did not mention any pension provision, although a couple of the replies did . THis question was important .
Money in pensions normally goes, outside the will, to the person nominated in the "expression of wishes" form.
Have your pensions ( assuming you have some ) all got the expression of wishes form filled in ?

yes we have nominated each other for pension nominations. thanks

127001

wannabe_a_saver said:

127001 said:

thanks everyone quite a ew things to research.  House is joint owned etc so all good there.
Grim subject I know but would rather think about it now and have a plan than.  

Owned as joint tenants where you each own 100% or as tenants in common where you each own (usually) 50%?

Oh thats a bit of a techie question.  We bought it together, we did not specify anything during conveyancing so a regular purchase?  So which one it is I would not know.  We sold our last house and both had to sign all the paper work and bough the new one and both signed everything.

nottsphil

wannabe_a_saver said:

127001 said:

thanks everyone quite a ew things to research.  House is joint owned etc so all good there.
Grim subject I know but would rather think about it now and have a plan than.  

Owned as joint tenants where you each own 100% or as tenants in common where you each own (usually) 50%?

You can't each own 100% but you can own it jointly. Maybe we can use the analogy of ownership of the family pet to define  'joint tenants'? 

conradmum

You can check UK intestacy laws here. https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y/england-and-wales/yes/yes/yes
If you lived in England or Wales, the spouse inherits the first £270,000, then the rest is split between relatives. If you die without a will, your spouse does not automatically inherit everything, as many imagine.

bungleberg

If either of you are a member of a Trade Union it’s worth checking to see if they offer a will writing service. For example Unite the union will write the members will for free and mirror wills for the both of you for £42. 

Flugelhorn

127001 said:

wannabe_a_saver said:

127001 said:

thanks everyone quite a ew things to research.  House is joint owned etc so all good there.
Grim subject I know but would rather think about it now and have a plan than.  

Owned as joint tenants where you each own 100% or as tenants in common where you each own (usually) 50%?

Oh thats a bit of a techie question.  We bought it together, we did not specify anything during conveyancing so a regular purchase?  So which one it is I would not know.  We sold our last house and both had to sign all the paper work and bough the new one and both signed everything.

you can download the title from the land registry for about £3 and that should indicate whether there is a form A restriction which might indicate that you are tenants in common not joint tenants. TBH becoming tenants in common is something that people very specifically decide to do so if you don't remember it is probably joint. (though better to check)

Other thing to consider is what happens to the money if you both die together - it will fall under intestacy rules if there is no beneficiaries named - and you may not like the way it is distributed. We didn't like the options so named some old friends instead.

Keep_pedalling

Death is not the only thing to consider. You would be wise to set up lasting powers of attorney as well to cover one of you being incapacitated through illness or accident.

127001

lots of info and lots of things to consider.  
Definitely will sort wills, we want our monies to go to some charities so something to sort in 2021.
Thanks again everyone.

Eco_Miser

conradmum said:

You can check UK intestacy laws here. https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y/england-and-wales/yes/yes/yes
If you lived in England or Wales, the spouse inherits the first £270,000, then the rest is split between relatives. If you die without a will, your spouse does not automatically inherit everything, as many imagine.

The spouse gets the first £270k plus half the rest, the remainder going to descendants (not relatives in general) if there are any, otherwise, as is the case for the OP, the spouse gets the lot. https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y/england-and-wales/yes/yes/no

wannabe_a_saver

127001 said:

wannabe_a_saver said:

127001 said:

thanks everyone quite a ew things to research.  House is joint owned etc so all good there.
Grim subject I know but would rather think about it now and have a plan than.  

Owned as joint tenants where you each own 100% or as tenants in common where you each own (usually) 50%?

Oh thats a bit of a techie question.  We bought it together, we did not specify anything during conveyancing so a regular purchase?  So which one it is I would not know.  We sold our last house and both had to sign all the paper work and bough the new one and both signed everything.

It would be good to find out for certain, but if percentages of ownership were not discussed, that probably means you own as joint tenants, where essentially you each own the full house in the same way that you each own the full contents of a joint account.  This means that when the first of you dies, the house isn't part of the estate because it is still 100% owned by the survivor.  Check though!