Making a will

[ebikeerwidnes]

I did mine a few years ago based on a template

Problem is that I won;t know whether or not it works until after I am dead
by which time it might be a bit late to fix it I suppose

 

[presta]

Wills are also revoked if you divorce. Children are rather difficult beneficiaries if underage. You can't just leave everything to a 10-year old.

My parents separated when I was 9, and divorced soon after. My father's DIY will left everything to me, and was upheld without question when I was 29, but I don't know what it did or didn't say about me inheriting as a minor, as I never read it. I can't remember how old I was at the time it was made, but I do remember him saying that he had to make my uncles the executors because I wasn't old enough (he'd planned to make me executor when I came of age, but then never got round to it).

I've seen direct examples of this, it's very important. In one case the new wife inheritated everything then immediately made sure her own will excluded all of the husbands relatives, in the second case the new wife remarried and now her and and her new husband live in the family home that was originally intended to go to the dead husbands relatives.

The (2nd) husband of someone I know announced out of the blue one day that he wasn't leaving her the house because he didn't want it to go to her family when she died, so she said she was leaving him rather than wait to be made homeless. Then just as she found herself another place, he told her he didn't want her to go, and suggested moving into somewhere smaller so that she could have the house, and the balance of the cash could go to his kids.

So that's what they did, put the house up for sale, find a buyer, start selling off the surplus furniture etc, then just before they were due to move he changed his mind again and told her she could have the house. She marched him down to the solicitors the next morning and got it all put in writing.

I seem to remember that hand-written notes penned in the trenches by First World War soldiers have been upheld in law as valid wills.

My mother altered her (solicitor-made) will by scribbling all over it, but she didn't get it witnessed, so it wasn't valid.

 

[wiggydiggy]

The (2nd) husband of someone I know announced out of the blue one day that he wasn't leaving her the house because he didn't want it to go to her family when she died, so she said she was leaving him rather than wait to be made homeless. Then just as she found herself another place, he told her he didn't want her to go, and suggested moving into somewhere smaller so that she could have the house, and the balance of the cash could go to his kids.

So that's what they did, put the house up for sale, find a buyer, start selling off the surplus furniture etc, then just before they were due to move he changed his mind again and told her she could have the house. She marched him down to the solicitors the next morning and got it all put in writing.

Theres ways around that, I know of someone that lives in the house they inherited from the deceased spouse, but they only own 50% of it and the remainder is held in trust for the deceased family. There's also conditions on if they remarry or wish to sell.

It sounds like this man went for the nuclear option rather than explore options, it doesn't just have to be that everything passes to the spouse.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

As a slight aside - if you made a DIY will and then died
but maybe had a relative that you had deliberately not left anything to - and specifically said this in the will
Then presumably the relative would not know that you had died

so - presuming that they find out some years after the will is all sorted that they got nothing - and the will specifically said this
would they be able to claim anything - and who from???

clearly anyone answering is probably not an expert so all answers must be taken as just what they think

Question asked partly because when my Granddad died my Dad - and a solicitor - were the executors

some time after my granddad's sister wrote to my Dad saying that she had heard that he had died and had been promised that "she would be remembered in the will" but had received nothing.
I have no idea how she found out he had died because my Dad had pretty much never had any contact with his aunts and uncles and had no way of contacting them!

 

[MontyVeda]

My parents separated when I was 9, and divorced soon after. My father's DIY will left everything to me, and was upheld without question when I was 29 ...

if you were an only child then Intestate Law would have left everything to you anyway (I believe).

 

[presta]

As a slight aside - if you made a DIY will and then died
but maybe had a relative that you had deliberately not left anything to - and specifically said this in the will
Then presumably the relative would not know that you had died

so - presuming that they find out some years after the will is all sorted that they got nothing - and the will specifically said this
would they be able to claim anything - and who from???

clearly anyone answering is probably not an expert so all answers must be taken as just what they think

Question asked partly because when my Granddad died my Dad - and a solicitor - were the executors

some time after my granddad's sister wrote to my Dad saying that she had heard that he had died and had been promised that "she would be remembered in the will" but had received nothing.
I have no idea how she found out he had died because my Dad had pretty much never had any contact with his aunts and uncles and had no way of contacting them!

I haven't left my estate to relatives (because I don't want it to go to someone who feels entitled to it) so I wondered what happens if those who know there's a will don't know I've died, and those who know I've died don't know there's a will. What happens if the estate gets distributed under intestacy law without the will being found, and conversely, what can I do to prevent the will being challenged after I'm not around to argue the toss. Any relatives clearing the house will have an interest in the will being 'lost'. I thought that storing it with the Probate Service would help, but the solicitor didn't want to, and didn't want to answer any of these questions either. I'd have found someone else, but by the time she was being difficult and evasive I'd already signed a contract. It's another reason why I want to make a new will, but keep putting it off because I don't know how to stop the same happening again.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

That is a good point

a distant relative may know of a will - or a newer will - but not be aware that the person has died

I presume a solicitor has a duty to keep an eye on local death announcements (is this true??)
but nowadays I don;t think people are so certain to publish the death announcement on a specific place

My parents always insisted that it was 'the done thing' to put an announcement in the Liverpool Echo and the Wirral papers
but these days I don;t think people would be so certain to do it
and also there are so many other channels to consider

so how would an executor know to start things off??

 

[oldwheels]

Things can get complicated sometimes.
It transpires that half of the house I live in belongs to my wife who died in 2015. She had left everything to me in her will so I assumed that included her share of the house.
This came to light when I was consulting a solicitor on another matter and they offered to sort it for a paltry £1000 or thereabouts.
Apparently it has to be registered with some central registry office to be legal. ( or so they said).
Told them to get lost and it can wait until my turn to depart comes and somebody else can fight it out.


it can

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Of interest to those deliberately excluding offspring from a Will.

Ilot vs Mitson:

https://www.harrison-drury.com/home...what-are-my-options-if-im-left-out-of-a-will/

 

[midlife]

Things can get complicated sometimes.
It transpires that half of the house I live in belongs to my wife who died in 2015. She had left everything to me in her will so I assumed that included her share of the house.
This came to light when I was consulting a solicitor on another matter and they offered to sort it for a paltry £1000 or thereabouts.
Apparently it has to be registered with some central registry office to be legal. ( or so they said).
Told them to get lost and it can wait until my turn to depart comes and somebody else can fight it out.


it can

Not wishing to be morbid and apologies but I'm not sure a deceased person can own anything.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Not wishing to be morbid and apologies but I'm not sure a deceased person can own anything.

Including their own body I believe.

 

[CXRAndy]

Things can get complicated sometimes.
It transpires that half of the house I live in belongs to my wife who died in 2015. She had left everything to me in her will so I assumed that included her share of the house.
This came to light when I was consulting a solicitor on another matter and they offered to sort it for a paltry £1000 or thereabouts.
Apparently it has to be registered with some central registry office to be legal. ( or so they said).
Told them to get lost and it can wait until my turn to depart comes and somebody else can fight it out.


it can

A quick call to the bank and/or Land registry will tell you what to do and how. Like you say everything transferred to you, just needs registration

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Of interest to those deliberately excluding offspring from a Will.

Ilot vs Mitson:

https://www.harrison-drury.com/home...what-are-my-options-if-im-left-out-of-a-will/

I suspect that one of the main points in this is that the will excluded the child - and then left everything to 3 charities
and there was no previous record of involvement in these charities

I suspect that if the deceased person had spent a lot of time volunteering and donating to these charites that it might have been different


ANyone any idea if there is a time limit on all this?
In other words - if the child does not know their parent has died and only finds out after the will has been sorted out - then how close, in time, would they have to start proceedings against the actual beneficiaries??

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I suspect that one of the main points in this is that the will excluded the child - and then left everything to 3 charities
and there was no previous record of involvement in these charities

I suspect that if the deceased person had spent a lot of time volunteering and donating to these charites that it might have been different


ANyone any idea if there is a time limit on all this?
In other words - if the child does not know their parent has died and only finds out after the will has been sorted out - then how close, in time, would they have to start proceedings against the actual beneficiaries??

We were advised to do a 'side' letter to our Wills to specifically exclude named person - detailing why and when cerrain events occurred.

The case illustrates that you cannot just exclude eg a child from a Will and expect it to be non-contestible.

Seems to be a (worrying) minefield tbh.

 

[oldwheels]

Not wishing to be morbid and apologies but I'm not sure a deceased person can own anything.

True which is why I said it gets complicated.