Making a will - Married Couple with toddler

[Bob Mannix]

I would add "and an equal share of your joint estate is below £254,000 (or current inheritance tax limit) and you have separately operable joint bank accounts" .. then don't make a will at all. The second is to avoid problems with delays if one partner dies and the money is in a single account of theirs. If the first is not true, you definitely need to take proper advice on inheritance tax. My parents didn't and the chancellor had £40,000 he shouldn't have had and need never have had *if they had done it properly*. IANAL usual disclaimers etc.

More important (often) than a will, in your circumstances, is life assurance for one or both partners. Should one die the other would need to pay for child care, whicever it is who dies and what the circumstances are.

[Mary Fisher]

Yes, but it can take ages for probate ... :-(

Mary

[Broadback]

When you do a DIY will where do you keep it? Maybe you wish to leave all your money to the lady/Gentleman to whom you are not married but have been living with for years. You die and your antsi off-spring finds the will and destroys it, then that person will benefit, as you are intestate. So if you do make a will register it by sending it to the probate office. If someone tries to claim on your estate against your will then they will sort that!

[Mary Fisher]

I didn't know about that facility but it's a good idea to give a copy to each of your executors.

Mary

[Stuart Noble]

IIRC joint accounts revert to the survivor and aren't part of the probate process. This was certainly the case for me when my mother died.

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[Stuart Noble]

intestacy

No longer than if there's a will. Just a different part of the form to fill in.

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[nightjar]

Yes, they ensure that the state gets everything if there are no close relative left when you die. I would prefer the local cat's home to get it.

Colin Bignell

[Stuart Noble]

"nightjar .uk.com>"

intestacy

I don't think they have to be close relatives. Any blood relative, however distant, will qualify if there's no one with a greater entiitlement.

I believe The Donkey Sanctuary is a popular choice.

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[Mary Fisher]

And that could be what makes it very complicated. Finding twenty seventh cousin fifteen times removed is not straightforward and makes a lot of money for the lawyers.

Mary

[nightjar]

I had in mind a specific case, involving relatives of someone I know. The couple were not killed outright, but died at the scene. The main complication was, however, that who died first mattered to two of the beneficiaries and they thought it worth fighting about.

Colin Bignell

[nightjar]

Simplified (half blood relatives complicate things) the rules are:

Married: Depending upon the value of the estate, the spouse may have to share with children, or with parents, or with siblings, depending which, if any, you have.

Unmarried: The estate is shared equally between all members of the first of these types of relative you have, in this order: children, parents, siblings, grandparents, parents' siblings. If you have none of those, everything goes to the Crown. Even first cousins don't qualify.

Colin Bignell

[Mary Fisher]

"nightjar .uk.com>"

You spelt 'Brown' wrong.

Mary

[Peter Crosland]

"> If there's nothing unusual, then don't make a will at all. The intestacy

Remarkably bad advice in numerous ways. In fact just about the worst advice you could give.

Peter Crosland

[Mary Fisher]

I agree.

Mary

[Bob Mannix]

If they are separately operable, yes straight away (as I implied). If they require two signatures then there may be a significant delay - not a problem if you have other funds as the survivor gets the money eventually. AFAICR, IANAL etc

[Stuart Noble]

The OP said there was nothing complicated about his affairs.A couple with a toddler, so a will is going to just re-state the intestacy rules. People who deal with these things will tell you that more trouble is caused by wills than the lack of them.

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[Stuart Noble]

If your wishes are different from the intestacy rules, then make a will. Most people's are not, so it's a waste of time, and makes no difference to the granting of probate (or letters of administration). Delays usually occur because the estate has to be approximately valued before probate and that is down to the executor.

My father-in-law left everything to his daughter, end of story. So why did his will span 10 pages? The solicitor who drafted it said that various deeds would have to be drawn up, trustees appointed blah blah, before he could apply for probate. All stuff and nonsense according to The Probate Registry. We did it ourselves in 2 weeks.

IME they are bending over backwards to make this whole process as straightforward as possible but, if getting turned over by the legal profession makes you feel better.........

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[Stuart Noble]

No, you didn't imply it, you stated it. And I didn't read it. No hope is there? :-)

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[Peter Crosland]

Your advice as well as being very bad has shown that you have little, if any, real knowledge of the problems that intestacy can cause. Furthermore your suggestion that a will is just going to restate the instestacy rules emphasises how wrong your advice is. God help anyone who takes it. For the benefit of the OP spend about a hundred pounds getting simple wills drawn up by a solicitor. If nothing else you can be sure that he has insurance against negligence.

Peter Crosland

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Use a decent solicitor. Look for an 'out of town' one who doesn't have to charge the same hourly rate as one in posh premises.

Solicitors make more money out of sorting home made wills than they do from writing them.

If you'd like a recommendation, e-mail me.