Advice on understanding a will

Giant1

1. I REVOKE all former Wills and testamentary dispositions made by me and declare this to be my last Will.

2* I APPOINT my son ..... to be the sole Executor and Trustee of this my Will

(herein called “my Trustee” whether original or substituted).

 Pecuniary legacies absolutely and free of all taxes: to .......the sum of.....
 (ii) to ......the sum of.....
 ((iii) to ....... the sum of.....

(iv) to ......... the sum of.....

4. 1 GIVE DEVISE AND BEQUEATH all my real and personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever unto my Trustees UPON TRUST to sell call in and convert the same into money (with full power to postpone such sale calling in and conversion of all or any part or parts thereof without

Being liable for loss and notwithstanding that the same may be of a wasting speculative or reversionary nature) and after payment thereout of my debts funeral and testamentary expenses and all legacies bequeathed hereby or by any codicil hereto to hold the balance and all parts of my estate for the time being unsold and unconverted (hereinafter called “my residuary estate”)

 PROVIDED ALWAYS that ifmy

Said son fails to survive me then the following provisions shall take effect in substitution of clause 4 hereof

5. I GIYTE the following pecuniary legacies

(i) To .....the sum of...

(ii) To ........the sum of....

(iii) Ciii) to ........the sum of.....

(

(v(iv) to ...... the sum of.....

(vi)

(vii) 6. 1 GIVE DEVISE AND BEQUEATH my residuary estate to the said .......

Absolutely.

(viii)

(ix) 7. The Standard Provisions and all of the Special Provisions of the Society of Trust and Estate

(x)

(xi) Practitioners (2nd Edition) shall apply.

user1977

How old are the grandchildren? (and are they all the son's children?)

Just wondering whether the family can simply agree on how the estate is to be divided rather than spend time/money on lawyers.

Giant1

3 are our children 1 is our niece, they are all young adults 

user1977

Giant1 said:

3 are our children 1 is our niece, they are all young adults 

Then this is only an issue if any of them wants to enforce their "right" (if they have one) to get their legacy now. Beneficiaries can always agree to ignore the Will and divide the estate how they wish. No point spending the estate on legal opinions etc if nobody is particularly bothered about it.

poseidon1

Giant1 said:

1. I REVOKE all former Wills and testamentary dispositions made by me and declare this to be my last Will.

2* I APPOINT my son ..... to be the sole Executor and Trustee of this my Will

(herein called “my Trustee” whether original or substituted).

 Pecuniary legacies absolutely and free of all taxes: to .......the sum of.....
 (ii) to ......the sum of.....
 ((iii) to ....... the sum of.....

(iv) to ......... the sum of.....

4. 1 GIVE DEVISE AND BEQUEATH all my real and personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever unto my Trustees UPON TRUST to sell call in and convert the same into money (with full power to postpone such sale calling in and conversion of all or any part or parts thereof without

Being liable for loss and notwithstanding that the same may be of a wasting speculative or reversionary nature) and after payment thereout of my debts funeral and testamentary expenses and all legacies bequeathed hereby or by any codicil hereto to hold the balance and all parts of my estate for the time being unsold and unconverted (hereinafter called “my residuary estate”)

 PROVIDED ALWAYS that ifmy

Said son fails to survive me then the following provisions shall take effect in substitution of clause 4 hereof

5. I GIYTE the following pecuniary legacies

(i) To .....the sum of...

(ii) To ........the sum of....

(iii) Ciii) to ........the sum of.....

(

(v(iv) to ...... the sum of.....

(vi)

(vii) 6. 1 GIVE DEVISE AND BEQUEATH my residuary estate to the said .......

Absolutely.

(viii)

(ix) 7. The Standard Provisions and all of the Special Provisions of the Society of Trust and Estate

(x)

(xi) Practitioners (2nd Edition) shall apply.

Thanks for this.

Regrettably as I suspected nothing in this Will gives your partner any entitlement to the house itself.
At most all he is entitled to is the residue of the estate after the legacies in clause 2 have been paid. If there was an intention your partner should get the house, there is no hint of this in the Will.

If , as you have inferred,  the monetary value of the collective legacies in clause 2 are near to the value of the house, then unfortunately there is little or no residue remaining in favour of your partner.

A separate issue with regard to the grandchildren's legacies, if any or all are under the age of 18 then there are continuing statutory bare trusts in their favour until they acquire outright ownership at age 18.

Furthermore, if any or all the grandchildren are under 18, they are not legally competent to give up or in any other way compromise their entitlements in favour of your partner.

I note you intend seeking alternative legal advice in this matter, but I doubt there will be much divergence of opinion on the outcome here.

Best of luck!

Giant1

Thankyou,  its not massive amounts of money that the grandchildren get, however as he will have to sell the house to make sure they get there money does this mean he will be left with the rest? We have never had to do this before so want to make sure its all done correctly,  I do also have a letter that the solicitor wrote confirming that he get the house so where do we stand on this if she hasnt included it in the will? 

RAS

Please quote exactly what the solicitor wrote, when they "confirmed he get the house". We can't read either the will or the letter.

Re the monetary bequests, if any of the grandchildren are in receipt of benefits they cannot avoid taking their inheritance. It counts as  deprivation of assets.

And why can't your partner take out a small mortgage on the house, sufficient to cover the monetary bequests? Then move in and take a lodger yo clear it, if necessary?

Giant1

It states on the letter he has been left the estate, that includes the house, MIL was very clear about telling him never to get a mortgage because her house will be his so he will be mortgage free,  we cant take a small mortgage out as we couldn't afford a mortgage and rent on our current property and the house isnt big enough for us atm, we were going to move in once our children had moved out

poseidon1

Giant1 said:

Thankyou,  its not massive amounts of money that the grandchildren get, however as he will have to sell the house to make sure they get there money does this mean he will be left with the rest? We have never had to do this before so want to make sure its all done correctly,  I do also have a letter that the solicitor wrote confirming that he get the house so where do we stand on this if she hasnt included it in the will? 

Regrettably the mother's Will is the last word on the matter, and overrides everything else including the solicitor's letter to the contrary. That really is the whole point of a legally executed Will, it is the testator speaking from the grave.

Yes, if the house is sold to pay the legacies then the remaining cash proceeds of sale belong to your partner outright, so he gets to  inherit the lion's share of the estate.

However, I agree with RAS if the legacies are relatively modest it would make more sense to rent the house out and raise a Buy to let mortgage to pay off the legacies ASAP.

I do wonder whether at the time the mother executed the Will (2020? ) she actually had sufficient cash at bank/national savings/ ISA etc that would have covered the legacies leaving the house unencumbered, but with passage of time that cash has since evaporated?  It would certainly explain why there is no explicit gift of the house in the Will, it would in those circumstances have been part of the estate residue not needed for the legacies.

This may possibly be an unfortunate outcome from failure to amend the Will after a change in the mother's financial circumstances, an all to common occurrence.

Keep_pedalling

Giant1 said:

Thankyou,  its not massive amounts of money that the grandchildren get, however as he will have to sell the house to make sure they get there money does this mean he will be left with the rest? We have never had to do this before so want to make sure its all done correctly,  I do also have a letter that the solicitor wrote confirming that he get the house so where do we stand on this if she hasnt included it in the will? 

If it’s not a massive amount of money then it should be possible for him to raise a mortgage against the house and use that to pay the beneficiaries.