Rewrite a will

lake888

Me and my husband plan to rewrite our wills, basically mirror wills. So after first death, everything is left to the spouse. If the spouse is predeceased, everything goes to our niece as we have no children. Our property is joint tenant. I believe the surviving spouse can continue to live in the house. Is this a simple and clear situation? We don't want to involve anything with trust. I read about immediate post death interest trust but don't think that is relevant in our case.

Keep_pedalling

As joint tenants, on the first death ownership passes solely to the surviving spouse, so yes as simple as it gets. I also can’t see the need for an IPDI trust unless you want to protect your niece from losing her inheritance in the event the surviving spouse remarries.

Do you both have lasting powers of attorney in place.

lake888

Thanks @Keep_pedalling. Yes we both have.LPA

lake888

Yes I have thought about that. May be I'll need to add another beneficiary.

MyRealNameToo

If the house is a joint tenancy then it doesnt form part of the estate and the will of the first deceased won't impact what happens to it.

The main consideration really is what is to happen if the surviving spouse outlives the other by a long time and therefore remarries etc. Automatically if it goes that far their old will will be nullified by the marriage and if they dont write a new one their estate would pass to their new spouse. If they do write a new will it can say whatever they want and may not consider the niece any more if they have step kids/grandkids etc. Of cause it can get more complicated if their new spouse also predates their death and they now hold assets from both former spouses.

If you want a say on what happens to the house post death changes will be required.

lake888

I just think of another question. Our niece will also be our executor. Should I add a back-up executor in case she passes before us?

Sooz1966

Having almost completed this process for my dad, I'm kind of relieved I'm the only executor. Having to get a second executor's signature, etc, would have been a pain, especially if they didn't live locally. I also think it's important to choose someone who is unlikely to be completely floored by your death and is very organised, willing/able to research what they need to do, and computer-savvy. I think I'd rather amend my will if the chosen executor pre-deceased me than set up a chain of executors but I might be biased due to my current experiences!

Savvy_Sue

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870296#Comment_81870296

That's the belt and braces option. As you can see, opinions vary, but I think it would rather depend on who your fall-back beneficiary is.

I believe you could word it so that if she has had any children by the time you die, they get her share, but you still need a backstop beyond that.

if it's a remoter relative with a sensible head on their shoulders, you could pick them. If it's a charity, you could name them - they'd almost certainly appoint a solicitor to do the job. So you could just appoint a solicitor. But it is an "If niece unable or unwilling to act, then …" option rather than joint executorship.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870336#Comment_81870336

That's all very true, but I didn't find it a problem to co-execute each of my parent's wills with a sibling who didn't live locally - albeit less than 100 miles away. AND if it is really tricky then you can ask them to either renounce or go 'power reserved', which is not complicated. If they won't, and insist on full involvement, then they can do the trekking around, IMO …

Savvy_Sue

On the subject of posting things around for signatures, at a late stage of a house sale from the estate, we were asked to get a form signed by us 5 siblings, at speed. I don't remember what or why, although I know our solicitor thought the buyers were OTT in requiring it.

1 printed the form, met 2 halfway and got it in Friday's post. 3 got it back in Saturday's post and 4 posted it to me on Monday. On Tuesday I hand delivered it to our solicitor.

With goodwill it can be done - or at least it could then, not so sure about now... And we did calculate who needed it on Saturday or they wouldn't be home from work before the post left.

Ms_Chocaholic

What happens if the house passes to the partner on the first death but then that partner needs to go into a care home and is there 10 years, the niece will get nothing. To avoid this you could change the ownership to Tenants in Common so you each leave your half to the niece but with it written in the will that the remaining partner can continue to live there/move home etc.

Keep_pedalling

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870336#Comment_81870336

Not a good idea, you may not longer have the mental capacity to make a new will if that happens years after making the original.