Wills

[Lily]

I have finally got something to make a will for!

I've basically split my 'estate' such as it is between my niece & nephew. But I'm thinking, should I name my parents in it first in case I cark it before they do, and *then* my BIL and SIL, and *then* T and Z? What have you done?

Thanks

[overthehill]

I think it's quite normal to make provisions in case the main beneficiary(ies) die before you. In my mum's Will, I am the main beneficiary, unless I had died before her. In that case, her estate would have passed to my children, if I had any and, if not, to my sister ... Then, in case both of us snuff it without having produced offspring, it would have gone to her nieces and nephews, and then - if everyone else is dead and childless - to her favourite cousin's children.

[Derek Nimmo]

I've left everything to my sisters equally - they can do any divisions they may want to do with their kids. If I left anything to my parents, then whatever they received would be taxed again when they die (and it goes in turn to their remaining kids / grandkids) which seems daft. I trust my sisters to see my parents right out of their shares if they need to.

[wendy james]

Ours are

Surviving partner
Or
Girls (in trust administered by P’s mum and their guardian)
Or
Split equally between parents/in-laws

The chances of the 4 of us dying at the same time as our parents is much lower, and we can update when we start to lose that generation.

[AshleyX]

Same. We've left ours equally to our siblings. Some have kids and some don't, so it's up to them what they want to do with the money. I guess we might rethink as we all (hopefully!) get older.

[Lily]

Ah OK so taxwise it's best to give it to my BIL and SIL and they can divide it up as they see fit? I know they will look after the 'rents and give to the children fairly.

[Ella77]

We have split ours 50:50 between our siblings assuming we both die at the same time. (He has more siblings, but his family is wealthier, so they will inherit more from other sources, so we thought this was fairer). There is some complicated thing whereby if they have children and they (brother, parent of children) die before I do, their share will pass directly to their children.

Neither of us wants/needs to leave anything to our parents, and honestly our siblings need it far more. (Also we wouldn't do it that way anyway for Derek's reasons re tax.)

[smalex]

Ours is

Each other
W
Then half to his parents and half split between my nephews.

We had a guy come to the house and help us write it and it was very helpful actually

[Ella77]

Yes, I had one through work and it was so helpful. I think if you have a straightforward estate (no partner, no children) it might not be necessary though?

[Derek Nimmo]

I haven't left anything to either BIL - as far as I know, both marriages are solid, but why complicate things? Any inheritance is for my sisters to do with as they see fit, not their husbands.

[Derek Nimmo]

Yes, I had one through work and it was so helpful. I think if you have a straightforward estate (no partner, no children) it might not be necessary though?

Any estate takes far longer to pay out if you die intestate though (I think?).

[Flora Poste]

Ours is fairly simple - to each other, then to our children equally. We've also made provision for who gets the kids if we both cark it (actually, we need to change this as as it currently stands they are going to get shipped to NZ to Mr P's sister, which isn't ideal as when we originally drew it up she was in the UK).

[AshleyX]

Oh yeah, I forgot, it's each other first We didn't include siblings' partners/spouses.

[Flora Poste]

There used to be a cheap wills thing* offer running in Novembers I seem to remember where you could get a will written up professionally (and presumably a spot of advice as well) for next to nothing. I can't remember what it was called though or even if it still happens.

*not describing it very well

[Morganna]

Ours is :
Surviving partner
J and S (if they have any children they can sort that out from their share)*
Our siblings equally
Siblings' children equally
Freedom From Torture**

* this one was tricky, as although there are no grandchildren yet, we considered mentioning potential ones in their own right, in case, say, J was killed in the same fatal crash as we were, to ensure that his children would get his share. As it is, they won't - it would all go to S, and she could decide whether to look after the orphans. It all seemed too complicated to start mentioning unborn babies, but we could revisit if and when we need to, or if J and S ever fall out - at this stage, they get on well (as do their partners), and they are both decent types who would look out for one another.

** this one is in case of the highly improbable event that everyone is wiped out at once (eg because of a meteor hitting a unlikely wedding attended by all generations of both sides of the family), and is to ensure that the government doesn't get anything. The solicitor was very thorough, and insisted we left no potential stone unturned!

[AshleyX]

Oh yes, was it Will Aid, Flora? I remember reading about that.

https://www.willaid.org.uk/

[Tsu]

Mine's a bit more complicated because I have a child and he doesn't. So if I die first, my half of the house goes to No.1 son and my husband has a life interest in the house until he dies, moves out or remarries/cohabits. No.1 son inherits everything else of mine and husband will get my widowers pension.
If he dies first, I get his half of the house and his siblings get everything else of his and I get his widow's pension.

[Texaco Shirley]

A local solicitor was donating their fee to the neonatal unit at the RUH when we did ours.

Ours are to each other, the boys and then SIL. We only have 1 parent and 1 sibling between us so it didn’t take much thought.

[nineseven]

I've left 95%-ish to my brother, and divided up the remaining 5% between a couple of lifelong friends as a surprise when I pop my clogs. After my brother it goes to my nephews.

[sally maclennane]

I need to do this, and consider J now. I own the house (well, me and the building society do!) and I should leave it either to my brothers or my nephew and nieces, which J knows about and agrees with. However, I wouldn't want him to be kicked out straight away if anything happens to me. I think I can add in something to hive him some time to make arrangements.

I do need to speak to a lawyer, as I also need to check he can't make any claim on the house if we split up I'm fairly sure he can't as we're not married but probably best to check #romantic