Leaving a part-owned house in a will

Frankie56

I really need to get my will written. As I'm not sure I can afford to get a solicitor to do it, I was thinking of either doing it myself or maybe getting a 'free' will as I can donate something to a charity. It is mostly simple as I want everything split equally between my two children. The bit I'm not sure of is that I only own a quarter of my house, the rest is owned by a housing association. I did ask the housing association about it some years ago and they said the house could be passed to my children, although they won't want it as they have their own homes so would want to sell it. Has anyone else made a will to include a part-owned house? I'm wondering if I really need to discuss it with a solicitor.

sammyjammy

Its quite simple you just leave your interest in the house to your children, you can also specify it in a way that the property is sold as part of the will.

Keep_pedalling

You should not actually mention the house at all. If your intention is to simply leave your entire estate equally between your children, then that is all that needs to be said, the house will just be bundled in with the rest. The reason not to name the house is that it may not be your property by the time of your death.

Frankie56

Sammyjammy, that's what I was thinking although didn't think about stating it should be sold. They'd do that anyway.

Keep_pedalling, I didn't realise I didn't need to mention the house. I assumed that, if I sold my share, I'd need to update my will. Your way would make it easier.

Mojisola

Frankie56 said:

Keep_pedalling, I didn't realise I didn't need to mention the house. I assumed that, if I sold my share, I'd need to update my will. Your way would make it easier.

You may not be capable of doing so when the time comes.  Most solicitors will know of cases where one beneficiary was left money and another given a property which ended up being sold to pay for residential care, leaving one person with money and the other with no inheritance.

A good will should be relatively future-proof so keep it general.

SevenOfNine

Yes, my brother has, he only owns 50%, it's been left to his adult daughter. The other half is the Councils, she can either sell or move in & take over the tenancy of the other half.

Frankie56

SevenOfNine, did your brother mention the house in his will and say what was to be done with it, or did he just say it was the whole of his estate? 

SevenOfNine

It's mentioned, the house will go to his daughter & some money split between her & his partner.

Do you think one off your offspring might want to live in your house?

Keep_pedalling

SevenOfNine said:

It's mentioned, the house will go to his daughter & some money split between her & his partner.

Do you think one off your offspring might want to live in your house?

That could go horribly wrong if he no longer owns the house when he dies.

Frankie56

SevenOfNine said:

It's mentioned, the house will go to his daughter & some money split between her & his partner.

Do you think one off your offspring might want to live in your house?

No, they definitely won't want to live in it. It will be sold. I think one problem for them is that if the housing association don't want to buy back my share, my children will have to pay the rent on it until it's sold but I guess it's the same with a mortgage.