Wills

[Ric.ror]

My current will leaves everything in equal measures to both my sons. Could I change it so that one will not recieve any money until he is a cerain age or without the consent of his brothers consent

[almcd007]

Absolutely - it's your will you can leave what you want to who you want - your solicitor can draw up a codicil but will more than likely draw up a new will. The money can be left in building society account until he's 18 or 21 - whichever you prefer.

[Ric.ror]

I was thinking of 45 - he is 19 now and I hope to be here until at least then

[almcd007]

Usually an age stipulation is done because the recipient would say be too immature to cope with the money or have a better Idea what to do with it - I'm sure it's still up to you - but I'd be pi$$ed off if you gave it to my brother but not to me and we were both grown adults !! It would be like favouring one against the other. You must have your reasons. But also bear in mind anything could happen to him healthwise - wouldn't you want him to enjoy it ?

[Lou Knee]

you do not need to draw up a new will.....just add a codicil to the original one........you can draw this up yourself as you could with the will as long as the 2 witnesses to your signature are not beneficiaries of the will or codicil

[Buenchico]

Please don't attempt to do it yourself. I used to write wills for a living but there were several occasions when I would refuse to draft a particular will. This was because the potential client really needed to seek the services of a solicitor who also had expertise in financial planning. Your case would be one such situation.

Suppose you fell under a bus next year. Your son wouldn't get the money for 25 years, so what would happen to it until then? I assume that you'd want the money to be earning interest but who should decide how it shoud be invested?

Your will needs to create a trust. It then needs to specify who the trustees should be, together with any other specific requirements. Unlike drawing up a simple will, this is a complex area and needs the services of a solicitor.

Chris

[joko]

why would you give the power to one son?

don't do this because it will inevitably cause problems and power struggles and you are basically giving one son the power to give the other nothing.
they may well end up enemies