WILL

RAS

If you outlive her, you can write a new will and leave the whole house to your sister, the cat's home or the your best mate, regardless of what is in any mirror will. As the more recent one would prevail.

maman

ZaSa1418 said:

ronnies6 said:

Thankyou very much all. Reading your comments leads me to think that unless we agree to tenants in common a will will be useless as it will all go to her anyway and she would then give it to them all as she would never honour my wish. Thanking you all

You can do it without her permission if you have to , check this out Joint property ownership: Change from joint tenants to tenants in common - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 
Have you discussed that you want to leave your half to your sister? If so what does she say

Please read this link ronnie . You CAN transfer to tenants in common whether she approves or not. You sound as if you could give up before you start. Ask her if she's prepared to do it amicably and then, if not, do it anyway! 😊

sheramber

Speak to a solicitor explaining what you want and he will advise you.
You can change the house ownership and make a will without your wife's consent or knowledge.
To avoid your wife not complying with the will appoint the solicitor as executor and give your sister a copy of the will.

Keep_pedalling

Ideally you should work together on this for the best outcome for you both otherwise there could be a right mess after the first of you dies.whatever else you think about her suggestion she is absolutely correct in that both of you should not put of making wills any longer, you should have had them in place decades ago.

You should not simply leave your house to your sister as that could leave both your wife and sister in a difficult possession. What most couples in your situation do is make will leaving their half of the house to who ever they wish but with a life interest given to their spouse. So for instance if your wife dies first her half goes to her children but they don’t get to actually inherit until you die or until you no longer need it. The other way round and your sister has to wait for her inheritance.

Life interest trusts protect both the beneficiaries and the surviving partner. 

What would you want to happen to your share if you outlived your sister?

naedanger

Do you live in England or Wales? If not then you need to state where you live, since for example the law on what you can do in your Will is quite different in Scotland.

elsien

You also need to consider what you would want to happen if your sister dies before you. Who would you want your half of the house to go to then? 

AnotherJoe

ronnies6 said:

Hi, I have been married for over 35 years and have four step children. However whilst I have worked hard all my life (my wife never worked) I supported my wife and the step children and payed for almost everything. However my wife now wants us both to make a will, she has been very controlling all of our marriage and I have always conceded for a peaceful life. However, she wants us to leave everything to her four grown up children. I donot I want my half of the house to go to my sister. Can I make a will without her and state my wishes . Please help. Thanks

Your will can say you leave all your money to Battersea Dogs Home if you want.And you can draw it up with solicitor without your wife present.

Just make sure its lodged with a solicitor, and that multiple people including recipients know where it is.

Because a single copy left with someone who does not like it might go "missing"

ronnies6 said:

Thankyou very much all. Reading your comments leads me to think that unless we agree to tenants in common a will will be useless as it will all go to her anyway and she would then give it to them all as she would never honour my wish. Thanking you all

You do not need to agree to TiC with your wife. You can unilaterally sign a very short declaration to that effect and it becomes active. Get the solicitor to register than against the deeds and keep a copy with your will. (my mum did this unilaterally without my dads agreement  (because he was unable to understand, having alzheimers, left it too late)

You and your wife seem to have some serious disagreement here.

TBagpuss

ronnies6 said:

Thankyou very much all. Reading your comments leads me to think that unless we agree to tenants in common a will will be useless as it will all go to her anyway and she would then give it to them all as she would never honour my wish. Thanking you all

You don't have to agree to be tenants in common - you can do it simply by serving her with notice that you want to sever the joint tenancy. She will know you have severed the joint tenancy but not about what you put in your will (unless you tell her) .

I'd recommend talking to a solicitor - you might also want to consider whether it's appropriate in that case to provide for her to be able to stay in the house until her death, if you were to die first, and if not, whether her share would be enough to meet her needs, to ensure that she could not challenge the will. 

If you do go down this route, I'd suggest making your sister or your solicitor your executor, and also think about what you would want if your sister were to die before you. 

Rezzonto

I did it without the permission of my partner. Surely you can do that too.