Delaying inheritance for will beneficiaries

spg1

My will is currently split equally between my five nephews and nieces (I've no partner or dependents). While my nephews (who are in their 30s) are all pretty sensible with money my two nieces (and one in particular) are less so.

If I suddenly died now (I’m 60 so hopefully not soon but obviously possible) they would each inherit a sizeable amount from my house and pension - say £250k each. Not enough to never have to work again but a lot to receive in your 20s.

For one of my nieces in particular I think this could be quite damaging as I suspect she would lose the incentive to work or to progress at work (she currently has a poor attitude to work and has struggled to hold down a job for more than a year).

I’m just pondering altering my will so that if I died in the not-too-distant future there would be a delay before money is received (eg to make it fair all would inherit on their 45th birthday).

I suppose that then means I’d have to set up some sort of trust to look after the money in the meantime. I’d actually be happy for one or two of my nephews to manage the money but not sure if that is possible? Is setting up some an arrangement costly?

Any thoughts welcome.

Marcon

Why is it 'fair' to make everyone wait for another 15 to 20 years just because you believe one niece is likely to squander the spoils? The problem with treating everyone equally is that the outcomes are rarely equal, because the starting points are different.

You're into discretionary trust territory here, so your best bet is to discuss with a solicitor - preferably STEP qualified, given the sizeable amounts involved.

silvercar

people need the money when they are in their 20s. It’s when they could be choosing a career, having that kind of money behind them for a house deposit or whatever means they could afford to chase a vocation eg nursing or start their own business, rather than feel pressured to choose something just because it is well paying.

Children are expensive to have this amount of money when you are relatively young is life changing. To have to wait to middle age moves it from life changing to nice.

Keep_pedalling

Trying to control your assets beyond the grave is rarely a good idea, to do what you are thinking about is going to creat a massive headache for the trustees of your estate, I certainly would not want the burden of managing a discresionary trust for decades.