Cost of not having a will

neilmorgan

Keep_pedalling said:

neilmorgan said:

I watched the programme the other night about having or not having a will.
My situation is simple and I would want the English rules of intestacy used to distribute whatever I leave. No divorce, no second marriages etc. Everything to my wife & vice versa then everything to our children. House is in "Joint" ownership. Accounts are joint except for ISAs. Our names are both on every bill etc. My children will agree between them who AT THAT TIME is in the best position and location to be executor. They are all money savvy and will support reach other.

A badly written will can make it very difficult for a family to deal with some things, for example if circumstances change unexpectedly after writing a will so I don't want to have one that may possibly restrict them.

But a well written will can handle changes in circumstances far better than intestacy can. For instance you die, your spouse remarried, fails to make a will and your children end up with mother. A will can avoid that. 

The only thing that I picked up on that would affect our family were the repeated comments that it would cost more to deal with my estate if I didn't leave a will.
Why would it cost more? With a will you pay for probate. Without a will you pay for probate. What else do you pay for without a will?

With no will someone would have to apply for letters of administration but there would normally be no additional costs involved with that.

While you are thinking about wills, also think about putting LPAs in place not having those in place could cause extreme financial difficulties if one of you lost the mental capacity to make your own decisions though illness or accident.

Thanks, I'm aware of the LPA issues and other issues too which is why I have already ensured that all finances that can be are shared including bills etc. I had LPA for a disabled person and while it was very worth while it was easier to deal with some companies (not banks) by having my name on the accounts too. That helped after their death too as I could just deal with the bills without paperwork hassle.

Some companies, especially some banks, were blooming awful at understanding that power of attorney gave the holder absolute control of finances and insisted the disabled person come in to sign documents.
 

RAS

You do understand that if you die first and your wife remarries, your children could get nothing?

neilmorgan

sheramber said:

3 wills just in our extended family where it would have been simpler to deal with without the will because the will added restrictions that intestacy wouldn't have.

But you wouldn't be putting restrictions in your will would you?  You want  straightforward inheritance to apply so there would no need for restrictions.

The restrictions weren't deliberate. Intestacy simply wouldn't have added them.
It seems nobody can answer my main question of what the extra costs of intestacy are.
Maybe there are none but with Martin Lewis mentioning it I feel I may have missed something.

neilmorgan

RAS said:

You do understand that if you die first and your wife remarries, your children could get nothing?

Yes. But even if I do leave a will I would leave everything to her anyway. Almost everything we have is in joint names already. It's then up to her to write a will if she decides to remarry to take all the new circumstances into account. She is well aware of the risks of not having a will if she remarries as she has seen it happen.
Changing the ownership of our house is an interesting point which I will look into but my main question is still "What are the extra costs of not having a will?" 

YoungBlueEyes

I can't answer your question I'm afraid. I've only commented to point out that the "Have you suffered from not having a will?" sticky has gone. That would have been a good resource to read, and would have given you pages and pages of people's experiences to go through.

YoungBlueEyes

My mistake - here it is 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5550957/have-you-suffered-from-not-having-a-will-tell-us

Sarahspangles

I think if you arrange your affairs carefully and the value of your estate doesn’t increase to the point where it would be taxed there may be no additional costs if you just let the ‘default’ arrangements of intestacy apply.

I do think there are some highly unlikely scenarios which might cause an issue like you unexpectedly inheriting or winning a large sum shortly before you die, or maybe having a substantial personal injury award for something that has left you incapacitated, so you can’t remake your will.  Perhaps in those circumstances a Will would reduce IHT or give your widow more freedom in the way that she distributes your assets.  

CwtchDweller

Not to be a misery guts here, but what happens if you and your wife die in the same fatal incident? Has she made a will? How much would your children receive if you both died intestate? 
Genuine queries - I've no idea about these things, as my situation is quite different to your own.
(Am wishing you both long and happy lives!)

Keep_pedalling

neilmorgan said:

Username03725 said:

neilmorgan said:

My children will agree between them who AT THAT TIME is in the best position and location to be executor. They are all money savvy and will support reach other.

Much like couples who swear they’ll never get divorced, then they get divorced. 

My siblings and I were like that, close as could be for a bunch of middle-aged folk all the way through the deaths of both parents, then some minor issue became a big issue and there’s a split. I’ve tried to resolve it but after a while it becomes pointless. Our parents would be stunned at the fallout. But clearly you can rely on that never happening, to save a few quid on a will.

I really don’t see what you’re trying to achieve. For the sake of a pretty trivial amount you can specify exactly what you want to happen and nominate all of the children as executors, and any of them can renounce that when the time comes. Mainly though, if you write a will it’s absolutely clear what your wishes were. Surely the better option than relying on external processes. Up to you though. 

Like I've already stated, I would want the estate shared out in the same way as intestacy would.
What if my children want someone else to be executor? If I name them all then there is more paperwork involved just to get started. If I die naming my children as executor my wife wouldn't automatically be able to deal with my estate so I'd have to  have her named but what if she doesn't want to be executor? More paperwork 

If you have 3 executors and one does not want to be involved they can simply reserve powers. No additional paperwork or costs involved. If your children foolishly wanted someone else to do the work then that would cause no more issues than if you died intestate. 

Following on from another comment, If I die first and wife remarries then my will is meaningless and she would have to have one to safeguard our children's inheritance whilst also taking into account her new husband's children and circumstances.

No you will would not be meaningless unless you were foolish enough to DIY it and not cover all the what if situations that a solicitor would discuss with you and cover in the will they would draft up.

It's not about saving money. I have seen 3 wills just in our extended family where it would have been simpler to deal with without the will because the will added restrictions that intestacy wouldn't have. 

Could you be more specific about what these restriction are ?

All I'm asking is what are the EXTRA COSTS of dying intestate? 

As far as administration is concerned normally none, but there could be significant costs to the eventual beneficiaries if intestacy does not cover an unfortunate what if event.

neilmorgan

YoungBlueEyes said:

My mistake - here it is 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5550957/have-you-suffered-from-not-having-a-will-tell-us

I'll go take a look. I'm happy to learn.