Wording of Will

WYSPECIAL

A relative is making a Will.
He has no dependants so it should be fairly simple.
His daughter has always relied on the support of the benefits system and this is unlikely to change. He doesn't wish to entirely disinherit but also doesn't want to leave her in a position whereby leaving her a gift affects the benefits she is entitled to until it is gone.
 Thoughts are to leave her an amount that is equal to the maximum savings you are allowed to have before it affects entitlement to means tested benefits, currently £6,000.
Rather than specify £6,000, as this amount may increase during the life of the Will, is it ok to say: "I leave my daughter XXXX XXXXX, date of birth xx xx xxxx  a sum equal to the maximum savings allowed before means tested benefits are reduced at the time of my death." or similar wording?

Keep_pedalling

Sounds totally nuts, especially if his estate is a substantial one.

Does the daughter have any disabilities that are preventing her from earning enough to to get off benefits? 

NedS

I'm confused?

If he has no other dependants, why would he not want to leave his estate to his daughter?

Receiving an inheritance and no longer being dependant on the state for a mere existence may make a huge difference to his daughter's quality of life. Who else would he leave it to?

Flugelhorn

who else is he going to leave the money to? 

actually this feels like defrauding the state - his daughter could have enough money to support herself and wouldn't need to state to support her - she would probably have a much better life with the money 

sheramber

How much is his estate likely to be?

What  is he intending to do with the rest of his estate?

Why would he not want her to be able to afford some luxuries than be stuck on benefit?

Maybe he could treat her to some luxuries now, rather than wait until he is dead?

singhini

i don't know the answer but i don't see a problem with writing what you said i.e, "a sum equal to the maximum savings allowed before means tested benefits are reduced at the time of my death".

However i think you can challenge "Testamentary Freedom"
There is something called The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 which allows the close family and dependants of the deceased to apply to court for a share of his or her estate, on the basis that the Will does not make ‘reasonable financial provision’ for that relative or dependant (most commonly, a spouse and child). The only people who can stake a claim through this law are;

• spouses or civil partners of the deceased;
• former spouses or civil partners of the deceased who have not re-married;
• any child of the deceased;
• any person who was treated as a child of the family;
• a person who was maintained by the deceased;
• a cohabitant (for two years or more) of the deceased.

And even then, they must demonstrate that they were unfairly treated in the Will. Ultimately a judge will determine what is reasonable.

Therefore the daughter could say she was unreasonably treated by the dad and the dad wanted her to suffer and remain on benefits, debt etc............ 

The judge may well make an award ito the daughter 

Grumpy_chap

How large is the individual's estate likely to be?
Why would the individual only wish to leave £6k to the daughter?
Who will the remainder of the estate be left to?

If the daughter received a larger inheritance, could this make a massive difference to her life?  Place to live?  Training for better career prospects?  Money to simply enjoy more of life?

What is the age difference between the individual and the daughter?
Is it possible that the issue around savings affecting benefits will be moot by the time the individual passes?  Could the daughter be of state pension age and therefore no longer affected by saving caps (assuming the daughter will receive full SP)?

Newly_retired

More information needed, but it could be that the ( full ) inheritance might still be a low figure, meaning that once the daughter’s benefits have stopped, she quickly uses up the inheritance on rent and living costs, and then has to go through the rigmarole of making a fresh claim, so is no better off at the end of the year.

tacpot12

I'm not legally qualified, but I don't see why a clause that says " I leave my daughter XXXX XXXXX, date of birth xx xx xxxx  a sum equal to the maximum savings allowed before means tested benefits are reduced at the time of my death."  wouldn't work. There are Will clauses that use similar language in relation to the Nil Rate Band for inheritance tax. 

But if your friend wants to be sure that he is going to leave his daughter something, he really needs to pay a solicitor to write his Will for him. Free Advice off a public internet forum is risky and she could be missing out if he doesn't a proper Will written. 

maman

Using a solicitor is definitely the best way to draw up a will but he needs to think through the questions he would be asking and his wishes regarding his estate. 

For example, is the daughter the only likely beneficiary? If not, who else and in what proportion ? What is the size of the estate? Who will be his executors?

We don't know why the daughter 'relies on the support of the benefits system' but it seems logical to me that the daughter could use the inheritance in place of benefits as long as the money lasts. 

WYSPECIAL

Thanks for all the replies.

To add more detail:

The estate wouldn't be substantial in the way many on here are. Probably current value of about £200k vast majority of which would be his house.

His daughter is a perfectly healthy adult and has been in a long term relationship for years but her and her partner have always chosen to work as little as possible in low paid jobs and claim as much as they possibly can in means tested benefits. She has a comfortable lifestyle that she is happy with.

Her life and her choice but he doesn't want his hard earned money to simply be wasted over a brief period of a few years of excessive expenditure and then her having problems having to reapply for UC (or whatever it is by then) and explain where her inheritance has gone. There is no animosity between them and leaving her only a small gift wouldn't be to punish her in some way; or an attempt to defraud the state as one reply suggests! He feels leaving her a substantial amount would cause more issues than it solved.

He wants to leave the majority of his estate, in equal shares, to his two grandchildren.

Age wise he is late 50's and in good health, his daughter is late 30's, grandchildren are both young adults and his mother is in robust health and very active in her early 90's.

He currently has no Will and has finally accepted it would be a good idea to have one and would review it when appropriate but wanted something that reflected the current situation.

He is unlikely to part with money to write one and would probably use one of the free services offered.

Executors would be his brother who is 2 years older than him and his cousin who is 12 years younger.