Money Moral Dilemma: Should we change our wills following our daughter's death?

honestcove

If you’ve specified in your will that your grandson gets 10%, your daughter pre-deceasing you does not necessarily alter that; unless your Will has a clause specifically covering this scenario.
Without a specific clause, the 40% will go to your other daughter (probably).
The death of any significant beneficiary should be a trigger event for full review of Wills.

Granniesue69

We had four children but unfortunately lost our son who had two children, I know what a difficult time you are facing and I hope you find peace soon as we did.
we made our wills to be equally divided by four with Roberts quarter being equally divided for his two children.
This seemed the obvious way to do it for us.
Your wills are your personal gifts to those you leave behind and only you can decide, ultimately, how your is distributed.

If6was9

Firstly, my condolences to you and your family. The emotions of the situation and the reality of your finances aren't easy to reconcile.

It also highlights the facts that we can't plan for all eventualities. 

I would speak to your other daughter and explain how you had planned to leave each branch of the family tree 50% in the way described. Whenever the time comes for any inheritance, there may be other descendents. 

I'd lean towards keeping the 50/50 split personally. You aren't compensating the loss of a parent, but you are supporting both sibling branches equally 

Bellawilfer

Firstly, I’m so very sorry for your loss. It must be an awful time for you and all your family.
I think this is a dilemma which only you can really answer as you know the intricacies of your family dynamics and situation. I lost contact with most of my family when a young child due to a dispute over a will, and I do think the most important thing is to talk it over with all your family members before any decisions are made. Your other daughter may be very happy for your daughter’s son to have more financial support, or she may be upset by it. If they are close, it would be a pity for him to potentially lose some family support over your Wills if she was discontented, and equally her children also. 

I don’t think there is a cut and dry answer here, but I do think talking this over with everyone involved is key to forming the best outcome. 

SadieO

RSD7a said:

It's a very personal choice. Our grown up children have different financial circumstances and different numbers of children. All that's irrelevant in our view for inheritance purposes. We simply divide up our estate equally between them. What they pass on to their children and how they use it is up to them. To differentiate between them, to us, feels like setting up the potential for a lifetime of ill feeling.

This is how our parents feel. OH and I both have one brother. Both our parents have made it clear that each of their kids gets 50% regardless of any circumstances. OH's brother has kids (we don't) so he may choose to share his 50% with his kids straight away, or just add it to the family finances that his kids will benefit from and ultimately inherit anyway (assuming anything is left when that time comes!) In my opinion it is fraught with complication to say kid A owns their house/has kids/has a good income etc, kid B doesn't, so they should get differing amounts based on this, as these are all things that can change for the better or worse at any point - do parents who do this update their wills accordingly every time one of their kids gets a better job etc? 

OP I am so sorry for your loss. I would split your estate 50:50 between your two children, letting your surviving daughter decide whether to give some to her children, and your deceased daughter's child inheriting her 50%, as they would have done if she passed away after receiving her share. 

Harishawk

Sorry to hear that you have lost your daughter. 

If you wish to change your will you could give 40% to your daughter (which would recognise her direct relationship to you both and the loss of her sister) and 20% to each of the grandchildren. 

(From our family experience you may also wish to consider the possibility of more unplanned grandchildren.  It has occurred on 2 occasions for different generations )

Groom

Perhaps talk to your daughter. She may say that she is financially secure and doesn't need the money and to split it between the grandchildren.  Leaving a large amount to your daughter could mean that when she dies inheritance tax is involved, especially if she owns her house, but if you by-pass her that could be avoided.   

Mojisola

Spendless said:

Marcon said:

What happens if you or your husband dies and then remarries?

As marriage invalidates a will (at least in England unsure about anywhere else) then you either have to go and make another or accept the rules of intestacy kick in. 

Or accept that all the estate may end up with the new spouse and the original couple's offspring could get nothing.

Eatsruns

I am sorry for your loss.
Wills are so tricky! I am single with no children and no plans to have any. My brother is married with two children. His wife is one of two and her brother is married with no children. My dad died a few years back. I have a chronic, incurable disease. 
My mum has changed her will to leave a rental property to me, with everything else spilt between me and my brother. She sees this as fair as my sister in law will inherit from her parents too. My will leaves everything to my brother - though who knows if anything will be left after care costs I may incur if my health worsens (currently in good health and work full time). But his kids stand to inherit from 5 of us at the end of the day!

CB91

If you leave 50% to your remaining child, and 50% between the 3 grandkids, 2 of the grandkids will end up with whatever's left of the remaining child's 50% too, so arguably this isn't a fair split.