Wills and my items

Star81
Star81 Posts: 37 Forumite
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in Deaths, funerals & probate
Hello. I recently posted about what would happen to my debts should I die and received many useful answers. I am curious to understand if it would make any difference if I made a will. I have a car and a few personal items which I understand may be taken to pay towards my debts. If I made a will stating which items I wanted to go to specific family and friends does this mean they would definitely go to those people or can they still be used to pay off the money I owe? I am new to all this and have never looked I to making a will, I don't own much but what I do own I would like to go to the people I care about. Thank you
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  • theoretica
    theoretica Posts: 12,293 Forumite
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    Any valuable items would be sold to go towards debts.

    Otherwise people would try to take out loans to buy expensive jewellery to leave to their family and friends and loan companies would refuse to lend to anyone old or ill.
    But a banker, engaged at enormous expense,
    Had the whole of their cash in his care.
    Lewis Carroll
  • Star81
    Star81 Posts: 37 Forumite
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    Thank you for your reply. So it wouldn't make any difference if I made a will as whatever I had of any worth will be removed anyway and sold to pay towards my debts? is this what probate is? Sorry for the questions, I am lost with all this legal stuff
  • AnotherJoe
    AnotherJoe Posts: 19,622 Forumite
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    Yes that's pretty much it probate involves appointing someone to agree what is owed to pass it on.
    First funeral expenses.
    Then mortgage
    Then debts
    Only then do people get what's left.

    And probably tax is ranked in there high up as well if owed.

    What I don't know what happens is, say you leave diamond A to person A, diamond B to person B, and Diamond C to person C and there is no other money and say any one diamond will cover the outstanding debts. What gets sold? It cannot be that say diamond A is sold and person A loses out and B & C are OK.
  • Brynsam
    Brynsam Posts: 3,643 Forumite
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    Have a read: https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance
  • Yorkshireman99
    Yorkshireman99 Posts: 5,470 Forumite
    Brynsam wrote: »
    Have a read: https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance
    Also read the !!!8220;stickies!!!8221; at th start of this forum.
  • nom_de_plume
    nom_de_plume Posts: 959 Forumite
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    Star81 wrote: »
    I am curious to understand if it would make any difference if I made a will. I have a car and a few personal items which I understand may be taken to pay towards my debts. If I made a will stating which items I wanted to go to specific family and friends does this mean they would definitely go to those people or can they still be used to pay off the money I owe?

    Much will depend on both the wording of the will and the financial state of your affairs.

    If we assume you want to leave "such car as I may own to my son Jack" and "my bone china tea set to my daughter Jill", the executor should endeavour to carry out these wishes and use other items of your estate not specifically bequeathed to settle any debts. If there is a shortfall in meeting the debts then the "car and bone china tea set" would need selling to cover it.

    When it comes to administering an estate, there is a specific pecking order for distribution with funeral costs and then debts at the top of the list. Specific legacies come next (car, tea set) and then pecuniary legacies (eg specific sums of cash) and finally the residual.
  • AnotherJoe
    AnotherJoe Posts: 19,622 Forumite
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    15th May 18, 7:21 AM
    !!!8220;
    Have a read: https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance
    Originally posted by Brynsam
    !!!8221;Also read the stickies ; at th start of this forum.


    Thanks, but Neither of those answer the sort of question I asked, as far as I can see, eg how the executor would decide. Probably because if it cant be sorted amicably among the beneficiaries next stop is court.
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,931 Forumite
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    edited 15 May 2018 at 2:25PM
    AnotherJoe wrote: »
    What I don't know what happens is, say you leave diamond A to person A, diamond B to person B, and Diamond C to person C and there is no other money and say any one diamond will cover the outstanding debts. What gets sold? It cannot be that say diamond A is sold and person A loses out and B & C are OK.


    [STRIKE]Wotireckon is that all three diamonds would be sold, the debts paid and whatever cash was left would be divided amongst the beneficiaries in proportion to each diamond's value. There is nothing to stop them immediately buying the diamonds back using their cash legacies plus their own money.

    Alternatively, the beneficiaries pay off the estate's debts between them and inherit the diamonds. Same result but slightly simpler.
    [/STRIKE]


    *edit* Owain sounds confident in his answer and mine was (as I indicated) a total guess, so ignore the above.
  • Owain_Moneysaver
    Owain_Moneysaver Posts: 11,357 Forumite
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    AnotherJoe wrote: »
    What I don't know what happens is, say you leave diamond A to person A, diamond B to person B, and Diamond C to person C and there is no other money and say any one diamond will cover the outstanding debts. What gets sold? It cannot be that say diamond A is sold and person A loses out and B & C are OK.

    I think the bequests mentioned first in the will take priority, so in the above event C's diamond gets sold.

    A and B get their diamonds, C does not get a diamond, and any remaining cash left after the debts are paid goes to the residuary legatee.

    However if C really wants his diamond the estate can sell him the diamond and use the cash to pay the debts.

    If between making your will and dying, you have sold diamond A and bought two emeralds instead, A gets nothing, B gets his diamond, C gets nothing, and the emeralds and cash go to the residuary legatee. This illustrates a problem with naming specific items in the Will - they may not exist by the time you die. In many cases the residuary legatee can end up with a large part of the estate.
    A kind word lasts a minute, a skelped erse is sair for a day.
  • Owain_Moneysaver
    Owain_Moneysaver Posts: 11,357 Forumite
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    Malthusian wrote: »
    Wotireckon is that all three diamonds would be sold, the debts paid and whatever cash was left would be divided amongst the beneficiaries in proportion to each diamond's value.

    Crucially, no. Once the diamond is sold it's out of the estate, and so cannot be inherited. And the will specified that particular diamond, not an equivalent amount, and a specific legacy to each beneficiary, not a pro-rata sharing of what's left.

    All cash left would pass to the residuary legatee, not A B or C.
    A kind word lasts a minute, a skelped erse is sair for a day.
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