Wills and second marriage.

You are right Old Frill. If joint owners, the house will revert to the husband who can then do leave the property to whoever he wishes. However, if this is the case the deeds may be changed to tenants in common retrospectively. My husband and I did this recently when updating our will. Not only does it protect half the property to be left to whoever one wishes, it also protects one half from the state retrieving any care costs after both partners die.

You need a solicitor not gransnet

If the house is in joint names, if you die, your share automatically goes to your new husband. That’s how joint ownership works. You need proper legal advice, as there are many ways to this.

Hmm - be careful ! My dad’s mother remarried a man at 70 who only lived 2 months after , leaving all his house and money to my grandmother . My father inherited all from her and he and his lady friend blew a lot of the money . Eventually the lady died - much older than dad then he died 6 weeks after leaving what was left between my sister and I .i got a mink coat with over short sleeves worth £17 on e bag but cost £2,400 in 1974 . When I was at dad’s funeral a lady came up to me and said she was supposed to inherit from her dad when my grandmother died but got nothing at all but wasn’t going to ask for anything from what was left of me and sister . This shows how there is little control really of inheritance once you have gone . I would never remarry - most especially because of my children .

I do wish that people with zero legal knowledge would refrain from wading in with their comments. It is not helpful and can be positively damaging.

If in joint names your husbamd owns half assuming the title is 50-50 and has either or survivor on the Title Deeds. If you had Title drawn up to accommodate your bigger share should have no problem should you die first but you can include that DH can remain in house but should he move, your share is to be paid as you direct in your Will You would need to check what the Title states for ownership. Legal advice would help you to contruct a Will to give instruction re DH and family. Of course DH can do the same, you can remain but if you move his lesser share is to be dispersed as he instructs in Will.

DH has 1DS and we had 2DS so we bought tenants in common and so it's sorted by his half being split 3 ways, mine 2 and whoever is left gets rights to remain until we die. Get legal advice NOW!! Good luck [an aside took us 3 years to agree as we would argue about it] all 3DS know what's what also so no surprises

We have a similar case in our family. The father who had 4 adult children died in his mid 50 s. He had remarried 5 years beforehand when he was first diagnosed with cancer, but did not change his will assuming wrongly, his second wife woukd be fair to his children who he remained close to.
Sadly she took house, life insurance and savings, everything for herself and her two children.
His 4 children got nothing, not even a small keepsake, causing a lot of ongoing hurt and distress to them all.
Please seek legal advice and get your affairs in order.

Your wife needs to consult a solicitor. An executor has to honour the terms of the will. The situation can be salvaged but don’t delay.

My wife's father died last year (second marriage) and although left a will leaving his 50 percent of the house to be shared by his daughters, step MIL has registered the house in her name and daughters stands to inherit nothing as she is leaving all to her wealthy family. Perplexed and heartbroken

Unfortunately if they were to divorce the assets of the marriage would probably be divided equally. We don’t know if the OP and her husband made wills before they married. I rather suspect so as the wills are described as long overdue for review but they have only been married for five years. Unless expressed to be made in contemplation of their marriage their wills are no longer valid and if the situation remains as it is and the OP dies her husband will automatically inherit the entire house and everything else she possesses. Subsequently he might have to go into care and the house would be sold to pay fees. If my husband were prevaricating in such circumstances and expecting me to rely on his word there would be trouble!

Germanshepherdsmum

Severing the joint tenancy is a simple matter and doesn’t require the consent of the other joint tenant but it will result in a 50/50 tenancy in common which is not what the OP needs to achieve if she has contributed two thirds of the purchase price. Converting it to one third/two thirds requires the co-operation of the husband. Their ownership should have been set up in this way when they bought the house.

Exactly. I do hope he cooperates.
Every property I've bought with another the solicitor has very clearly asked if it's Joint or In Common, and the split.
The cynic in me wonders if OPs husband is more savvy than her.

Severing the joint tenancy is a simple matter and doesn’t require the consent of the other joint tenant but it will result in a 50/50 tenancy in common which is not what the OP needs to achieve if she has contributed two thirds of the purchase price. Converting it to one third/two thirds requires the co-operation of the husband. Their ownership should have been set up in this way when they bought the house.

stanlaw

Don't worry about the joint tenancy/tenancy in common issue as that can be easily sorted out and a good solicitor who does both Wills and Family Law will give you really helpful and comprehensive advice about how to achieve a completely fair outcome. For this to work, you do need to be clear together first about your intended outcomes and you will be advised to even think carefully about possessions and family heirlooms as it is often those which lead to a complete breakdown in the family afterwards. It is NEVER a good idea to have one executor from each side of the family so you need to think as well about appointing independent executors who will act fairly for everyone involved. Trust me, I'm a lawyer!

It's a joint tenancy which states ownership is 50/50 when OP owns two thirds. Husband doesn't want to consider wills and
his agreement will be necessary to change to tenants in common and the percentage ownership. How can a solicitor fix this without both sides agreement? I'm intrigued.

I too have a friend whose father remarried (widowed after forty years). There were together less than three years and when he died EVERYTHING went to the new wife. She wouldn't even let the grandson inherit his medals. My friend and her siblings were heartbroken but apparently nothing could be done. Definitely take independent legal advice and remake your will. Personally, after a divorce that wrecked me for years financially I would never marry again. Keep control of your own money is my advice!

You can change to tenants in common, we did this and both own half the property. My DH has left his share to his son and I have left my share to the daughter we have together, both with the proviso that the surviving spouse gets to remain in the property until they also die. The house is then sold or one child buys the other one out if they want the house

For a start you need to change to tenant in common. Not joint. See a lawyer before you speak to your husband about it again. Then put your decision before him and ignore his reluctance. Men often remarry even if they swear they won't. More men than women do. You have every right to ensure things are crystal clear.

newnanny, this requires the advice of a solicitor specialising in wills and property. At present the OP doesn’t own two thirds of the house and that needs to be rectified but her husband’s co-operation will be required to put the ownership of the house on the footing it should have been put on when they bought it.

You need to leave your 2/3 RDS of the house to your DC with proviso that your DH can live there for rest of his life do your DC inherit when he dies.

Please sort this out for your children asap as similar happened to my Mother. My Mother and father had bought their property outright when they were both 35 years old. My DF left my DM at 42 years for another woman and signed the house over to my DM. At 44 my DM met my DSF who moved in with her. My DM always kept her house in her sole name because that was one of the conditions when my DF signed it over to her in Court. Move on decades later and unfortunately my DM got extremely sick which he resented in her early seventies and DSF decided he wanted her house in his name. Fortunately my DM realised that he was only interested in her money and house which he wanted to leave to his children by his first wife (my DM was his 4th wife). She promptly put said house deeds in my name which he wasn’t at all happy about as you can imagine.
If my DM had lost her mental capacity in any way it could of all gone to him and his kids which was definitely not the reason my parents worked so hard in their twenties and thirties to pay their mortgage off. DSF had already swindled my DM out of another another property they had both bought together over their marriage but he was greedy and he wanted both properties to leave to his DC and his kids didn’t even like him as he’d left their mother when they were 3/4 years old!
Also my DF married the woman he went off with and left me half of their property in his Will but as soon as he died his wife quickly moved house and changed her Will so both her children from her first marriage will get the house she has now bought!

Remember that marriage sets aside any wills made prior to same. Unless a new one is done, all would go to spouse.

As advised above, get a good solicitor to tie everything up for you. Believe me, I know of so many cases where 'other' people have appeared from nowhere when it has come to wills. Grooming and exploitation disguised as friendship can bring a lot of heart ache for friends and family where a vulnerable elderly person is concerned. It is always wise to keep a look out for elderly folk around us, so they are not taken in.

I was in your shoes, I remarried but entered the marriage with substantial equity which I wanted left to my kids should I die, because if hubby remarried and then died his new wife would get the lot! (as is the law that spouse inherits unless specified in will beforehand) So it is possible to do a will for that scenerio, mine says that when I die he gets the house UNTIL he remarries, or ends up in a home, or sells the house, (obviously would hate to make him homeless on my death), so basically he is babysitting my 50% share for my kids until his circumstances change, but I am adamant that some new woman he marries is not getting her hands on my hard earned life savings money intended for my kids future.

This is such a tricky issue, isn’t it? I’m in a similar position. Do get GOOD advice. When we came to review our original wills (Tenants in common, surviving partner, retained right to remain property for their lifetime) discovered that this had never been properly recorded with land registry. There are issues to consider, including who is responsible for maintaining the property, and happens if they downsize and release capital. After 25 years together, making equal contributions, we have decided that we just need to trust each other to treat all of our offspring equally. We are being very transparent with all of them, so that our wishes are abundantly clear to everyone. But there have been some difficult negotiations, and it’s put a strain on our relationship at times.

I'm also just echoing Old Frill's advice to set up PoAs, both financial and health, for yourself.
And of course, see a solicitor. The way your husband is prevaricating is not a good sign.