Home & Garden1 min ago
Making a WILL
If neither parties in a marriage doesn't make a WILL regards their property, savings, etc and only one of them dies - does everything go straight to the wife/husband? Even when a mortgage is already paid off?
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Spouse gets everything up to *£250,000 & personal possessions.
Anything remaining is divided into two:-
Half to the children at 18 or earlier marriage.
Half in trust during spouse's lifetime - he or she gets the income. On spouse's death this half goes to the children.
If a child predeceases, leaving issue, his issue will take his share between them.
Married person, no children
If there are parents, brothers or sisters of the whole blood, nephew or nieces:-
Spouse gets everything up to *£450,000 & personal possessions.
Anything remaining is divided into two:-
Half of this goes to spouse
Half to parents. If no parent is living then it goes to brothers or sisters or their children.
Married person, no parents, brothers or sisters of the whole blood, nephew or nieces
Spouse takes whole estate.
http://www.youngandpe...co.uk/intestrules.htm
Anything remaining is divided into two:-
Half to the children at 18 or earlier marriage.
Half in trust during spouse's lifetime - he or she gets the income. On spouse's death this half goes to the children.
If a child predeceases, leaving issue, his issue will take his share between them.
Married person, no children
If there are parents, brothers or sisters of the whole blood, nephew or nieces:-
Spouse gets everything up to *£450,000 & personal possessions.
Anything remaining is divided into two:-
Half of this goes to spouse
Half to parents. If no parent is living then it goes to brothers or sisters or their children.
Married person, no parents, brothers or sisters of the whole blood, nephew or nieces
Spouse takes whole estate.
http://www.youngandpe...co.uk/intestrules.htm
It depends upon the size of the estate, whether the deceased person's parents are still alive and whether the couple had children.
See here:
http://www.direct.gov...lFinances/DG_10013642
However, if the couple's house was jointly owned, it is also necessary to consider whether they were 'tenants in common' or 'joint tenants'.
If they were tenants in common they each owned a specific share (normally a half) of the house, which forms part of the deceased person's estate.
However if they were 'joint tenants' then neither of them owned a specific share of the house. It was their legal partnership which owned the property. With the death of one partner the whole of the property is automatically owned outright by the surviving partner. (The laws of intestacy are then completely irrelevant, as far as the house is concerned. Even if the deceased partner had left a will giving their 'share' of the house to, say, their children, that part of the will would be invalid as no such 'share' ever existed in the first place. The surviving partner would still automatically own the whole of the property).
Chris
See here:
http://www.direct.gov...lFinances/DG_10013642
However, if the couple's house was jointly owned, it is also necessary to consider whether they were 'tenants in common' or 'joint tenants'.
If they were tenants in common they each owned a specific share (normally a half) of the house, which forms part of the deceased person's estate.
However if they were 'joint tenants' then neither of them owned a specific share of the house. It was their legal partnership which owned the property. With the death of one partner the whole of the property is automatically owned outright by the surviving partner. (The laws of intestacy are then completely irrelevant, as far as the house is concerned. Even if the deceased partner had left a will giving their 'share' of the house to, say, their children, that part of the will would be invalid as no such 'share' ever existed in the first place. The surviving partner would still automatically own the whole of the property).
Chris
It doesn't matter if there is a will or not, someone has to apply for probate before the estate can be managed. If there is a will it simplifies it because the named executor/s can apply for probate.
If there is no will, a close relative of the deceased can apply to the probate registry to deal with the estate. In this case they apply for a 'grant of letters of administration'. If the grant is given, they are known as 'administrators' of the estate. Like the grant of probate, the grant of letters of administration is a legal document which confirms the administrator's authority to deal with the deceased person's assets.
If there is no will, a close relative of the deceased can apply to the probate registry to deal with the estate. In this case they apply for a 'grant of letters of administration'. If the grant is given, they are known as 'administrators' of the estate. Like the grant of probate, the grant of letters of administration is a legal document which confirms the administrator's authority to deal with the deceased person's assets.
Graham-W's post only applied in England and Wales. (See my link for the figures in Scotland and Northern Ireland).
If there is no will and the value of the deceased person's estate is less than £5000, there is no automatic requirement for the surviving partner to seek a 'grant of representation' (through 'letters of administration'). Even though there's a house involved, the value of the deceased person's estate could still be under £5000 if the couple were joint tenants. (As stated above, the surviving partner would automatically own the whole of the house, so no part of it would contribute to the estate of the deceased person).
However some holders of the deceased person's financial assets (such as banks) might still require that a grant of representation is obtained.
If the value of the estate is over £5000, a grant of representation MUST be sought.
Chris
If there is no will and the value of the deceased person's estate is less than £5000, there is no automatic requirement for the surviving partner to seek a 'grant of representation' (through 'letters of administration'). Even though there's a house involved, the value of the deceased person's estate could still be under £5000 if the couple were joint tenants. (As stated above, the surviving partner would automatically own the whole of the house, so no part of it would contribute to the estate of the deceased person).
However some holders of the deceased person's financial assets (such as banks) might still require that a grant of representation is obtained.
If the value of the estate is over £5000, a grant of representation MUST be sought.
Chris
Ok then our scenario is as follows and we are in debate how a WILL should go - what would everyone else do :
My hubby was married before and has 3 children from that marriage. He is about to receive £100k from his old property as equity when she buys him out or the house is sold and split.
I have never been married but we have two children together.
The £100k he gets he wants to pay our
mortgage off so we are debt free. I've only put £15k into the house when we bought it from the sale of my old house.
Question : if we both die together how does a WILL read?
Does the house become two - half mine and half his? Does his half get shared between his 5 children (regardless of which marriage) then my half shared between my 2 children. Yes it sounds like my 2 children get more of a
share but remember that his first 3 children will gain from thei Mothers inheritance?!
I'm so confused what to do - what's right, etc
HELP?!
My hubby was married before and has 3 children from that marriage. He is about to receive £100k from his old property as equity when she buys him out or the house is sold and split.
I have never been married but we have two children together.
The £100k he gets he wants to pay our
mortgage off so we are debt free. I've only put £15k into the house when we bought it from the sale of my old house.
Question : if we both die together how does a WILL read?
Does the house become two - half mine and half his? Does his half get shared between his 5 children (regardless of which marriage) then my half shared between my 2 children. Yes it sounds like my 2 children get more of a
share but remember that his first 3 children will gain from thei Mothers inheritance?!
I'm so confused what to do - what's right, etc
HELP?!
You need to start by reading exactly what is on the title register to the property.
If only one of your names is on the title register then only that person owns the property and can will it to anyone. (However if , say, your husband's name is the only one to appear on the title register, your will can still allow for the possibility of him dying only minutes, or seconds, before you. See the end of this post).
If both of your names are on the title register as tenants in common then (unless specified otherwise in the register) you each own half of the property and your will can specify who you leave your half to. (e.g. "I leave my share of the ownership of 23a Acacia Avenue, Sometown, in the county of Blogshire to Alfred Charles Smith of that address subject to the condition that he shall survive me for a period of twenty eight days. If such condition is not met, I leave the said share of the said property to be divided equally between . . . ")
If both of your names are on the title register as joint tenants, then neither of you owns any share of the property and you can't leave it to anyone. However you can word your wills to allow for the situation whereby your partner dies shortly before you (perhaps only by a few seconds) and you come to own the whole of the property without the chance to rewrite your own will before your death. For example "If Alfred Charles Smith shall predecease me, then I leave the whole of any real estate owned by me at the time of my death to be distributed in accordance with the following provisions: "
If you don't have a copy of the title register, you can download one for £4 from here:
https://www.landregis...ortal/Property_Search
Chris
If only one of your names is on the title register then only that person owns the property and can will it to anyone. (However if , say, your husband's name is the only one to appear on the title register, your will can still allow for the possibility of him dying only minutes, or seconds, before you. See the end of this post).
If both of your names are on the title register as tenants in common then (unless specified otherwise in the register) you each own half of the property and your will can specify who you leave your half to. (e.g. "I leave my share of the ownership of 23a Acacia Avenue, Sometown, in the county of Blogshire to Alfred Charles Smith of that address subject to the condition that he shall survive me for a period of twenty eight days. If such condition is not met, I leave the said share of the said property to be divided equally between . . . ")
If both of your names are on the title register as joint tenants, then neither of you owns any share of the property and you can't leave it to anyone. However you can word your wills to allow for the situation whereby your partner dies shortly before you (perhaps only by a few seconds) and you come to own the whole of the property without the chance to rewrite your own will before your death. For example "If Alfred Charles Smith shall predecease me, then I leave the whole of any real estate owned by me at the time of my death to be distributed in accordance with the following provisions: "
If you don't have a copy of the title register, you can download one for £4 from here:
https://www.landregis...ortal/Property_Search
Chris
Thanks for all the information but I really just want to know other people's thoughts on how they would split the house if they were me ..... should the entire house just be split 5 ways bearing in mind only two of the children are mine and get equal % as their half siblings or half the house between me and my husband .... my half goes to my 2 biological children and his half is split between his 5 biological children!!
What do you think is right? How would YOU split it in my situation?
What do you think is right? How would YOU split it in my situation?
Only you and your hubby can decide how you want to share the equity when you both die.
However.........................if it were me, I would divide it equally between the five children. I think this is what would happen if you both died intestate. I stand to be corrected on this.
I hope you can come to a joint decision that you are both happy with. Things like this can bring pressure onto a relationship.
However.........................if it were me, I would divide it equally between the five children. I think this is what would happen if you both died intestate. I stand to be corrected on this.
I hope you can come to a joint decision that you are both happy with. Things like this can bring pressure onto a relationship.
No, it was a series on BBC2 and had all sorts (people from different religions who aren't allowed to pass stuff on to their daughters, people with a disabled child, people with a business that only some of their child worked in and people in your situation). You have to be so careful as wills are so contentious and can cau such a lot of bad feeling. My mother wrote me out her will two weeks before she died (it was purely symbolic but she made sure I knew she was doing it and I have been dwelling on it a lot lately and getting a bit cross about it really). Now that she has gone my step dad is perfectly within his rights to leave everything he has to my half siblings (which I perfectly understand) but I would hope that something is said to clarify this (for their sakes) before he pops his clogs.
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