Our personal wills.

marc3

we are seeking to do these and have employed professional/specialist solicitor accordingly ..
however we are really struggling to get to grips with this.
mirror will seems to be simplest / best option, but we are 'blended family' and mirror will  does not seem to adequately protect any beneficiaries(children ) of the first to die as survivor can readily change will and thus eradicate any benefits the children of first born would receive.

hence we go to 'life interest trust ' model ,but there it seems the survivor loses their control and has to seek 'permission' for a lot of what they may want to  do in life ,and we are not ones for having others control our lives.
solicitor says there is no 'middle ground' and hence whilst we want to get them done, we dont feel comfortable with either .

I just find it hard to believe that somehow a clause cannot be inserted in a mirror will that ring fences a minimum amount of assets for the children of the first to die ,if the survivor does subsequently change will/ remarry/become spiteful etc .

thoughts /guidance/advice very welcome 

thank you 

Emmia

You don't have to make mirror wills, you can make two wills which leave your assets differently if you choose, but when the first of you dies that means that the survivor doesn't get the whole estate at that point.

It does sound like you need a will though, as the intestacy alternative wouldn't necessarily offer what you want either.

doodling

Hi,

There isn't really any middle ground. Either you own stuff in which case you can do anything you want with it / give it to whoever you please or you don't own stuff, in which case you have to ask the owner if you want to do something with it 

In your example, why would any ringfencing need to be conditional?  I think that trying to come up with a watertight legal definition of "spiteful" might also be highly profitable for lawyers, both in writing the will and in the event that a court has to interpret it.

Mirror wills don't have any special legal status.  They are just two entirely independent wills where the writer has  swapped the names of the spouses in certain clauses.

Marcon

marc3 said:

we are seeking to do these and have employed professional/specialist solicitor accordingly ..
however we are really struggling to get to grips with this.
mirror will seems to be simplest / best option, but we are 'blended family' and mirror will  does not seem to adequately protect any beneficiaries(children ) of the first to die as survivor can readily change will and thus eradicate any benefits the children of first born would receive.

Mirror wills aren't suitable for blended families, for just the reason you give.

marc3 said:

hence we go to 'life interest trust ' model ,but there it seems the survivor loses their control and has to seek 'permission' for a lot of what they may want to  do in life ,and we are not ones for having others control our lives.

Permission from whom? Properly worded, a life interest trust is going to be the best bet for both of you - and your respective offspring.

marc3 said:

I just find it hard to believe that somehow a clause cannot be inserted in a mirror will that ring fences a minimum amount of assets for the children of the first to die ,if the survivor does subsequently change will/ remarry/become spiteful etc .

Your solicitor has already confirmed that it can't (and they are correct). You seem to be veering towards some sort of discretionary trust - have you discussed that with your lawyer?



In your first paragraph you've recognised that mirror wills don't provide protection for the children of the first party to die, so you need to decide what your priorities are: accepting that a life interest trust comes with (limited) strings attached, or crossing your fingers...

Emmia

No kids, but when I did my will I left things mostly to my husband, with some small specific bequests.

If I predecease him, what he does with the money etc., after I'm gone is entirely up to him - if he decides to spaff it on bimbos, roulette, fast cars or whatever... that's his choice. 

His will is similarly drafted - the arrangements for the second death mean the money is divided between family, but the survivor could redo the will at any time to leave it to the cats home.

It's probably best if you accept that the will you write is for the here and now, and what happens after your death is not something you can overly influence.

marc3

above made me laugh if nothing else.

thanks for all of the replies (by all means keep them coming ) 

they all help and maybe we arent just going mad over it and are not alone in our thinking ?

maman

We're in a similar position with the blended family.

What is it that you find particularly restrictive about the lifetime interest route? 🤔

Alphatauri

I have always understood a life interest trust in a will can specify what happens in certain circumstances e.g.
- who pays for maintenance
- downsizing - the funds can all be used to say downsize from a house to a bungalow or flat and any excess funds can either be split as per the will or invested with the remaining partner only having the interest etc.
- care home - house sold and again either money to DC or invested with partner having the interest.
- Co-habiting or re-marriage - does the house have to be sold and money split as per will? Timeline? Etc.

Talk through the possible life changes and whilst it is not as flexible as mirror wills it doesn’t have to constrain the surviving partner to remain in an unsuitable home. 

Newly_retired

My husband died last year and we each have two adult children. We had similar wills, not mirror wills.
Our property is owned as tenants-in-common, on a 50:50 basis, giving me as the survivor the right to continue to live in the house and be responsible for maintaining it. When I die, the house will be sold and our respective children get their share of my half and his half. It is also written in the wills that the Trustees must co-operate with me if I wish to sell the property and I may use the whole proceeds to do so - so nobody is controlling my future.
His other assets are divided three ways, between his two adult children and me. No problems. It can be done.

Of course I have now rewritten my will in the light of changed circumstances, but my late husband's children have already been catered for.
I hope this helps.

Malthusian

There is a halfway house between "leave your estate to a life interest trust" and "leave it to the spouse absolutely" - leave some to a life interest trust and some absolutely. And potentially leave assets directly to your children if the spouse won't need them or the income from them. 

Is your home 50/50 tenants in common? (If it's joint tenancy, your Will won't apply and your spouse would become sole owner on your death.)

marc3 said:

I just find it hard to believe that somehow a clause cannot be inserted in a mirror will that ring fences a minimum amount of assets for the children of the first to die ,if the survivor does subsequently change will/ remarry/become spiteful etc .

That's pretty much what a life interest does - ringfence the assets left to it for the remainderpeople once the life interest dies.

As Newly_retired says, the terms of the trust can be written such that the trustees do not have any real control over the life interest's life; if they want to move they can move. 

The survivor and their stepchildren would also have the option of winding up the trust. This would involve the life interest accepting a cash sum upfront in exchange for giving up the right to lifetime income (or right to reside in the case of their home or part of it). This could be particularly relevant if the trust asset was their home and they wanted to downsize to a smaller/cheaper property. The remainderpeople (stepchildren) would get less than if they waited for the survivor to die, but they may be willing to accept that in exchange for not having to. If the survivor can meet their needs from their own resources (e.g. their half of the home) plus a fair split of the life interest trust capital (which would take into account their life expectancy), this might be better for everyone than leaving the trust to run until death. 

This can only happen if all the beneficiaries are willing and can agree a fair split. Just mentioning the option to emphasise that a life interest trust should not have to tie down the life tenant for their lifetime.