Advice on understanding a will

Malthusian

Keep_pedalling said:

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. 

OP and their partner are renting and if their expenditure consumes all their income, they may be right about it not being possible to get a mortgage. Unless they are old enough to qualify for an equity release mortgage where the interest is rolled up, which could be extremely and unnecessarily expensive.

Giant1 said:

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

If what's left from the house after paying the grandchildren's legacies is enough to buy a cheaper property, then her wish for them to inherit a mortgage free home will still be fulfilled, just not in that one. 

It is a rather strange thing to tell your child to do and equally odd for them to obey. I will probably inherit enough from my parents to be mortgage free but I still have a mortgage, because (just as they did) I didn't want to wait for or rely on inheritance to own our own home. 

If she had spent some years in care before her death, the pecuniary legacies could have swallowed up most or even all of the estate, and what was left might not have been enough to buy any property to speak of.

I realise I've drifted off topic here, but the OP's question on the interpretation of the Will seems to have been answered, so all that is left is to work out how to make best use of the cash the son will inherit from the residual estate.

Giant1

Malthusian said:

Keep_pedalling said:

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. 

OP and their partner are renting and if their expenditure consumes all their income, they may be right about it not being possible to get a mortgage. Unless they are old enough to qualify for an equity release mortgage where the interest is rolled up, which could be extremely and unnecessarily expensive.

Giant1 said:

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

If what's left from the house after paying the grandchildren's legacies is enough to buy a cheaper property, then her wish for them to inherit a mortgage free home will still be fulfilled, just not in that one. 

It is a rather strange thing to tell your child to do and equally odd for them to obey. I will probably inherit enough from my parents to be mortgage free but I still have a mortgage, because (just as they did) I didn't want to wait for or rely on inheritance to own our own home. 

If she had spent some years in care before her death, the pecuniary legacies could have swallowed up most or even all of the estate, and what was left might not have been enough to buy any property to speak of.

I realise I've drifted off topic here, but the OP's question on the interpretation of the Will seems to have been answered, so all that is left is to work out how to make best use of the cash the son will inherit from the residual estate.

Thankyou for this,  we are in no position financially unfortunately to have a mortgage and continue to pay rent on our current property,  if only it was that easy youre right, my original question has been clarified for me now, honestly didnt realise how stressful something like this could be, we will just figure out a way to ensure the will is followed correctly now xx

Spendless

I fetched this up recently in another thread that if a will says   Rita, Sue and Bob too get £x and my beloved son/daughter gets the rest, the monetary amount is paid first and the son/daughter gets what's left over even if it's less or nothing.

I made this point because  someone's solicitor didn't want them to leave a % to charities instead of £s because there's always the chance the person who the deceased thought would benefit the most from their will doesn't.   

BooJewels

Giant1 said:

Malthusian said:

Keep_pedalling said:

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. 

OP and their partner are renting and if their expenditure consumes all their income, they may be right about it not being possible to get a mortgage. Unless they are old enough to qualify for an equity release mortgage where the interest is rolled up, which could be extremely and unnecessarily expensive.

Giant1 said:

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

If what's left from the house after paying the grandchildren's legacies is enough to buy a cheaper property, then her wish for them to inherit a mortgage free home will still be fulfilled, just not in that one. 

It is a rather strange thing to tell your child to do and equally odd for them to obey. I will probably inherit enough from my parents to be mortgage free but I still have a mortgage, because (just as they did) I didn't want to wait for or rely on inheritance to own our own home. 

If she had spent some years in care before her death, the pecuniary legacies could have swallowed up most or even all of the estate, and what was left might not have been enough to buy any property to speak of.

I realise I've drifted off topic here, but the OP's question on the interpretation of the Will seems to have been answered, so all that is left is to work out how to make best use of the cash the son will inherit from the residual estate.

Thankyou for this,  we are in no position financially unfortunately to have a mortgage and continue to pay rent on our current property,  if only it was that easy youre right, my original question has been clarified for me now, honestly didnt realise how stressful something like this could be, we will just figure out a way to ensure the will is followed correctly now xx

I think sometimes you just have to be pragmatic about how you resolve such matters and maybe compromise a little on the details, in the interest of coming to a solution that you can live with. 

Don't forget that you will also have the expense of maintaining an additional property that you're not actually living in yet and might not be for some time.  If you can't afford to take a small mortgage or loan to settle the bequests, you might also find it a stretch paying additional utilities, council tax, repairs and insurance on an empty property.  So maybe selling the house, settling the bequests and then using the remaining value from it to improve your lives in other ways might reduce your stress levels and make your lives more comfortable in a different way.

Giant1

BooJewels said:

Giant1 said:

Malthusian said:

Keep_pedalling said:

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. 

OP and their partner are renting and if their expenditure consumes all their income, they may be right about it not being possible to get a mortgage. Unless they are old enough to qualify for an equity release mortgage where the interest is rolled up, which could be extremely and unnecessarily expensive.

Giant1 said:

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

If what's left from the house after paying the grandchildren's legacies is enough to buy a cheaper property, then her wish for them to inherit a mortgage free home will still be fulfilled, just not in that one. 

It is a rather strange thing to tell your child to do and equally odd for them to obey. I will probably inherit enough from my parents to be mortgage free but I still have a mortgage, because (just as they did) I didn't want to wait for or rely on inheritance to own our own home. 

If she had spent some years in care before her death, the pecuniary legacies could have swallowed up most or even all of the estate, and what was left might not have been enough to buy any property to speak of.

I realise I've drifted off topic here, but the OP's question on the interpretation of the Will seems to have been answered, so all that is left is to work out how to make best use of the cash the son will inherit from the residual estate.

Thankyou for this,  we are in no position financially unfortunately to have a mortgage and continue to pay rent on our current property,  if only it was that easy youre right, my original question has been clarified for me now, honestly didnt realise how stressful something like this could be, we will just figure out a way to ensure the will is followed correctly now xx

I think sometimes you just have to be pragmatic about how you resolve such matters and maybe compromise a little on the details, in the interest of coming to a solution that you can live with. 

Don't forget that you will also have the expense of maintaining an additional property that you're not actually living in yet and might not be for some time.  If you can't afford to take a small mortgage or loan to settle the bequests, you might also find it a stretch paying additional utilities, council tax, repairs and insurance on an empty property.  So maybe selling the house, settling the bequests and then using the remaining value from it to improve your lives in other ways might reduce your stress levels and make your lives more comfortable in a different way.

Yes i think you're right, its just hard to come to terms with selling his childhood home with so many memories,  i know we arent the only ones to go through this, its just tough, ive struggled a lot losing her and caring for her in her last days, this is just the icing on the cake 😢

BooJewels

Giant1 said:

BooJewels said:

Giant1 said:

Malthusian said:

Keep_pedalling said:

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. 

OP and their partner are renting and if their expenditure consumes all their income, they may be right about it not being possible to get a mortgage. Unless they are old enough to qualify for an equity release mortgage where the interest is rolled up, which could be extremely and unnecessarily expensive.

Giant1 said:

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

If what's left from the house after paying the grandchildren's legacies is enough to buy a cheaper property, then her wish for them to inherit a mortgage free home will still be fulfilled, just not in that one. 

It is a rather strange thing to tell your child to do and equally odd for them to obey. I will probably inherit enough from my parents to be mortgage free but I still have a mortgage, because (just as they did) I didn't want to wait for or rely on inheritance to own our own home. 

If she had spent some years in care before her death, the pecuniary legacies could have swallowed up most or even all of the estate, and what was left might not have been enough to buy any property to speak of.

I realise I've drifted off topic here, but the OP's question on the interpretation of the Will seems to have been answered, so all that is left is to work out how to make best use of the cash the son will inherit from the residual estate.

Thankyou for this,  we are in no position financially unfortunately to have a mortgage and continue to pay rent on our current property,  if only it was that easy youre right, my original question has been clarified for me now, honestly didnt realise how stressful something like this could be, we will just figure out a way to ensure the will is followed correctly now xx

I think sometimes you just have to be pragmatic about how you resolve such matters and maybe compromise a little on the details, in the interest of coming to a solution that you can live with. 

Don't forget that you will also have the expense of maintaining an additional property that you're not actually living in yet and might not be for some time.  If you can't afford to take a small mortgage or loan to settle the bequests, you might also find it a stretch paying additional utilities, council tax, repairs and insurance on an empty property.  So maybe selling the house, settling the bequests and then using the remaining value from it to improve your lives in other ways might reduce your stress levels and make your lives more comfortable in a different way.

Yes i think you're right, its just hard to come to terms with selling his childhood home with so many memories,  i know we arent the only ones to go through this, its just tough, ive struggled a lot losing her and caring for her in her last days, this is just the icing on the cake 😢

Probably most of us here fully understand how you feel - many of us have cleared family homes and had to sort through all the memories and discard things that had meaning.  Even yesterday, I was tidying a pile of papers for the recycling and found a stupid drawing my late husband had done of a cat, when minding a friend's young children - just on the back of a circular letter.  These things pop up periodically and knock you sideways.  

It's okay to take your time dealing with everything - there's no hurry to make decisions - you need to give it time to process it all and in the fullness of time, the best solution will present itself.