Can I (re)write my will myself?

Marmaduke123

Well, of course it's your money and you can do what you like with it. 

Have you really thought through the implications of disinheriting one of your children though? It's possible that your other two sons will regard it as totally unfair, and undo the provisions of your will via a deed of variation. Or they may choose not to do this, and your disinherited son may feel resentment at what you have done, affecting family relationships permanently. Is that really what you want?

I'm not clear if you gave all your sons £30k each? If not, perhaps give the others the same sum now, but don't try to control what they do with it!

castle96

Each son had 30k. They spent it on house purchase or home improvements. I would do a new will after his IVA finishes

cymruchris

castle96 said:

Each son had 30k. They spent it on house purchase or home improvements. I would do a new will after his IVA finishes

Firstly - good on him for having a go at business - maybe he lost it all, but learnt a lot. I also started a business and ended up bankrupt. I lost everything, but learnt so much. 

Secondly - so what's the plan if you write your new will tomorrow, and then pop your clogs next Thursday? Are the other two sons agreeing to secretly squirrel away the money until the IVA is finished and then magically hand it over? Or are you just writing him out without his knowledge as you don't want the IVA to swallow your money? If you did pop off early though - wouldn't it be a good thing for the IVA to be settled quicker so that he could get on with life being 'free of debt' sooner?

I know you want to 'save expense' - and that's not a bad thing, but with an estate worth (from others have said) over £1million, I'd want to make sure I got all the bases covered, and would prefer to take legal advice and get it done properly. (But only you can decide what's right for you).

Keep_pedalling

castle96 said:

Each son had 30k. They spent it on house purchase or home improvements. I would do a new will after his IVA finishes

You still seem to be ignoring the risk that you may no longer have the mental capacity to make a new will when that time comes. Accident or illness could equally cause a loss of capacity as it could a premature death.  

Marmaduke123

Keep_pedalling said:

castle96 said:

Each son had 30k. They spent it on house purchase or home improvements. I would do a new will after his IVA finishes

You still seem to be ignoring the risk that you may no longer have the mental capacity to make a new will when that time comes. Accident or illness could equally cause a loss of capacity as it could a premature death.  

You need to take legal advice. You may be able to draw up a new will now which will accomplish what you want without the risk of disinheriting your son if you died or lost capacity before his IVA finishes.

castle96

"Are the other two sons agreeing to secretly squirrel away the money until the IVA is finished and then magically hand it over?"
That's an idea but gives no certainty !

" Or are you just writing him out without his knowledge as you don't want the IVA to swallow your money?"
Well yes... that was the original idea

lr1277

Am fairly sure that a deed of variation can only be written (and I suppose implemented) within 2 years of the death of the person whose estate has been distributed or about to be distributed. Not sure on the 2nd part.

Also what happens if the IVA lasts longer than the 2 years after your death.

People are assuming that the 2 beneficiaries will give over part of their share of the estate. Say one does and the other doesn't. Or neither do. As @castle96 said, there is no certainty in this approach.

That doesn't take into account if the 2 beneficiaries die before they have the chance to hand over the money to the 3rd brother and the DoV has not been written yet. The money becomes part of their estate, to be distributed.

Or if either of the 2 beneficiaries have a relationship split with their partner and a divorce becomes part of the situation. If no DoV written, will the 'extra' become part of the divorce proceedings, in which case the 3rd brother gets little or nothing.

Not an expert in this area, but raising questions based on posts I have read on this board.

You really should seek advice from a solicitor to talk through these what....if situations.

macman

An estate worth over £1m, and you'd rather rely on the advice of random strangers on the internet, none of whom claim to have legal qualifications, rather than spend maybe £300 on professional advice?