Do it yourself wills.... anyone done one?

Vultures!

Hi Petallus

Have you read what Grannyknot has said on the 18th August 2012.
My mother saw that this situation could have happened in the 90's so Dad and Mum split the ownership of the house into Tennants in Common so they both owned half the house each rather than jointly.
When Mum passed away I got half of their house and Dad still had a right to live in it.
Soon after my mothers death my wife passed away, I was retired early and I went to live with Dad and sold my house.
I got a part time job and Dad did get a lady friend for a few months and she was told I partly owned the house at the start and Dad's half was willed to me so there would be no chance of her family getting any money.
She owned her more modest house.
After a few months she demanded I left but dad spoke up first and said it was not going to happen.
She then left slamming the door behind her.
I don't know if she understood the legal situation with the house but if Dad had all of the house in his name he could have willed it all to her.
The other advantage is if one of you have to go into care the council can not take the childrens half of the house towards the care fees.
In my case as I was living in the house the council could have not sold any of it if my father had been taken in to care but hapily this never happened.
I think if you want to in effect leave your half of your house direct to your children it will be best to see a solicitor.

Frank

yes wisewoman that is what we did, made our wills about 10 years ago, since then so much changed in our family we had to pay to have them ammended, but it is so much easier with a solicitor as they think of stuff you don`t it can be a minefield.

My husband and I don't have a will. It is something we seem to put off and put off.

Our family situation is quite complicated (to say the least) and we have our business to consider too. As you say celebgran we probably should do it properly through a solicitor who will know doubt "keep us right".

Hi Celebgran

I do know somebody who has had to change their will at least 4 times in 10 years due to family changes.

When my parents drew up their will my mothers half of the house was going to be left half to me and half to my late wife.
There was a clause if my wife pre deceased me I got the full half and if I pre deceased her she would have got the full half so it did not have to be amended as a result of my mother passing away.
As it happenes Dad made another will after Mum passed away and the house I am in now is half owned by my daughters.
Dad did not want me to get re married and for my daughters to lose their inheritance.
Some of my wife's money was left to them as well.
I will not get married again.
As far as I am concerned the house was built up through the efforts of my grandparents, parents, and to some extent myself.
I would not want any of it to go to another family and we are doing as much as possible to protect it if I have to go in to care.

Frank

Cor! Another eligible bachelor gone!

Hi Galen

I really think late in life marriages do cause problems to the families.
I did hear a conversation a couple of weeks a go when an elderly lady said she had met this marvelous rich man who had a very nice house but his daughter was living in it and she owned half of it.
Another lady replied that if she married her father the daughter would have to return her share of the house to him and she would have to leave the house.
I know the situation could have been difficult for the daughter but legally she owns half the house and she would be entitled to live in it.

Frank

DH1 and I tried to do a DIY will yonks ago but because we had owned property in Scotland and were then in England, we couldn't. DH2 and I asked the lawyer who did our house conveyancing if it was worth making a will and she said that if everything went to the surviving partner on the death of one, and if everything was split equally between offspring on the death of both, then there was no need because that's what would happen anyway.

So I don't really understand all these hypothetical problems for families when people die intestate.

You need to be married to your partner for that to work, of course. I know you are, Bags, just saying...

Hi Bags / Ana

Normally most of an estate would go to a surviving parent and then the children if a parent dies intestate.

What my mother objected to was the possibility of her passing away and Dad getting married again and all of the estate going to his second wife.
That is why my parents split the house to a Tennants in Common ownership and Mum left her part of the house to me.

Also I was able to move in to the house when my wife passed away secure in the knowledge that the council could not take the house for any care home fees.
I know Dad could have willed his half of the house to somebody else which could have caused problems but as it is worth about £500,000 I knew I had £250,000 secure.

There is a downside however.
I did hear of a case where a father told a lady he married he owned the house where as his children owned half of it.
When he passed away the children wanted their share of the house immediately.
I don't know what happened in the end but I noticed the house was sold a few months later.
The new wife should have checked the title to the house before she married him and some agreement should have been made between her and his children so she could have lived in the house for the rest of her life.

Frank