Will update

Fluffykittens2016

Hello. I have a question about wills and was wondering if anyone could offer any insight please.

My husband and I got a mortgage around 9 years ago. Only one place would lend and stated we had to both get a will in place. We were not engaged at the time. We set up our wills, and put down that if one passes, the other gets all the belongings. If we both pass, then 50% goes to who I want and then 50% goes to who he put down.

We had a phone call a week ago from the company and long story short, they were asking if there is a marriage clause in our will. We don’t know as the copy via email has disappeared and we don’t have it printed out, just info about the company etc we have it with.

We got married 5 years ago. The people on the phone said this doesn’t matter, that because we might not have a marriage clause, if one was to pass, the others belongings go to their blood relatives instead.

We do not understand all the legal jargon with things. I was under the impression that as long as you are married, belongings would go to your spouse anyway unless otherwise stated in a will.

Could anyone let us know what this means please as I’m concerned we are both going to have to pay a bit (they wouldn’t tell us how much) to update our wills. 

Thank you kindly in advance 

Ayr_Rage

Where do you live?

In England and Wales marriage invalidates previous wills unless written "in contemplation of marriage"

Time to dig out out the wills and see how it was written.

Scotland is different.

Fluffykittens2016

We live in England. I am unable to find them I don’t know where we’ve put them  we were about 22/23 years old at the time of having to sort them and I sort of never looked for them since.
I don’t believe we were ever asked about intention of marrying etc but we put each others names down as the beneficiaries. We have no children, we don’t want anyone else to get anything if the other passes, we want to protect each other when one goes, but it sounds like even being married doesn’t guarantee this? In your personal opinion do you think it’s best to just get them rewritten now we are married? I don’t have full trust that if one of us passes like right now, that family wouldn’t try to see what they can get

Ayr_Rage

I am not a legal expert but it would seem to me that any wills you had are now invalid.

Time to write new wills and then you can be sure your wishes are followed.

Savvy_Sue

I'd agree with the advice to update your wills, and you don't have to do it with the same company. 

Fluffykittens2016 said:

My husband and I got a mortgage around 9 years ago. Only one place would lend and stated we had to both get a will in place. We were not engaged at the time. We set up our wills, and put down that if one passes, the other gets all the belongings. If we both pass, then 50% goes to who I want and then 50% goes to who he put down.

Just checking: on the second death, half goes to your husband's choice and half to your choice? But you realise that on the first death, the survivor can re-write their will. When you re-write, you might want to address that with your solicitor - it might not worry you but you should be aware. 

Keep_pedalling

Get new wills drawn up by a local solicitor.

i have never heard of making wills as a condition to get a mortgage  before.

kipsterno1

^^^ as above find a good established local solicitor and make new wills.

Any company that rings you up, doesn't clearly explain what and why you need to change and won't indicate an approximate cost I would avoid.

You should both look into making lasting power of attorney both financial and health. These are quite straightforward and can be done without a solicitor. Lots of help and info on this forum.

boingy

There are two slightly odd things here. First, an insistence on having wills in place as a condition of a mortgage.
Second, the company ringing you up about nine years later and asking about the wills. It makes me wonder whether the company that rang is not really the mortgage company, or whether it's a sales call in the hope of selling you new wills.

The wills are not relevant to the mortgage - the loan will be secured against the house.

But regardless of that, check your wills because they may well be void as a result of getting married. Even if they are not then it might be a good time to review them and make new ones if necessary.

Fluffykittens2016

Thank you all kindly for taking the time to answer. We definitely will look at getting new ones and looking around as I agree I think it may be a sales call, I’m not liking the vibe they gave off. Unfortunately we were 22/23 when we were going through the process and had 0 knowledge. We only had one company who would give us a mortgage due to employment situations (one of us self employed) and one of the conditions was we had to both get a will in place. We didn’t really question we thought it was the norm.. and we just wanted to get a mortgage and move out. Will definitely be taking the time to look around and get it right this time