confused with wills

frankie

we are a married couple and I have 2 children from a previous marriage.

I want a will that will allow all my assets to go to my wife so that she can live comfortably should I die first. I also want to ensure that my 2 kids also get some benefit but not at the expense of causing complications for my wife (we are both currently in our 70s and own our property outright)

We had our property owned as tenants in common and so my kids would effectively own half the property.  However, should my wife want to buy a new property or even downsize, I am concerned that she will not be able to or at best it would be complicated.  I have also been reading about discretionary wills but it seems much the same situation.

So I guess what I want is fairly straight forward but am really confused of what sort of will I need. Before embarking on any expensive legal advice I thought I'd throw it out on here. There must be others of similar situation?

TIA

Keep_pedalling

Leaving your part of the house to your children with a life interest for your wife would be the the normal approach for this situation. Make an appointment to make your wills asap. 

Savvy_Sue

And make sure that the life interest includes provision for your wife wanting to downsize - if half the house would enable her to do so, happy days, but if not you need proper advice on how to enable her to use the half she doesn't own, with a charge going on her new property.

getmore4less

Savvy_Sue said:

And make sure that the life interest includes provision for your wife wanting to downsize - if half the house would enable her to do so, happy days, but if not you need proper advice on how to enable her to use the half she doesn't own, with a charge going on her new property.

Charge not needed with a life interest trust the new property share remains in the trust.

Any cash from downsize can also remain in the trust or a partial release of assets.

The main issue with life interest is the life tenant can benefit from the assets in the trust like live in a property or use interest/dividends but cannot utilize the capital.

This may not be what everyone wants.
Eg. Serious sickness where they need money to live or get treatment s.

TBagpuss

It's fairly common and not difficult to do, as long as you see a proper solicitor they will be able to draw up the will to ensure that your wife is free to move should she wish to do so (and vice versa) 

DairyQueen

OH and I are in exactly this position. I am childless and he has two adult children from a previous marriage. We own our home 50/50 as TIC. Our Wills create a life interest trust on the first death.

The deceased spouse's share of our property will be held by the trust throughout the survivor's life. The Wills are written such that the survivor has the right to live in the property, or to downsize and receive an income from the balance of funds realised, for life. Unused proceeds of downsizing can be used to renovate a replacement property if the survivor so chooses.

Solicitors are used to writing Wills that include these kinds of provisions. Taking expert advice is worth every penny of the professional's fee.

frankie

DairyQueen, thanks for your input.

'OH and I are in exactly this position. I am childless and he has two adult children from a previous marriage. We own our home 50/50 as TIC. Our Wills create a life interest trust on the first death.'

This is the type of will we currently have, its the management of the 50% shared property that our concerns.

'The deceased spouse's share of our property will be held by the trust throughout the survivor's life. The Wills are written such that the survivor has the right to live in the property, or to downsize and receive an income from the balance of funds realised, for life. Unused proceeds of downsizing can be used to renovate a replacement property if the survivor so chooses.'

If a downsize is required, it will likely cost more than the 50% share of the property. There are clause in our current will regarding ability to stay etc.  I can see some of the advantages if TIC but its the ability to raise sufficient funds, even to down size, if that makes sense?