Grandparent wills.Have you done this?

Grannygranbe the trust with MENCAP is called a Discretionary Trust, in that the money is left to MENCAP for whoever you name. This does mean and I am sure I will have a few grannetters jump on me, that money as it’s in MENCAPS name is not included in any financial assessment, social or otherwise.

Thank you barmyoldbat I will look at mencap. I have a will recently drawn up by a solicitor but he offered no advice really just did what I asked. It was three years ago and since then the disabled baby has been born and so much more has been found out. It’s so easy to put it aside.. but when the pandemic is over and I can visit a solicitor‘normally’ I will try again with a different solicitor whether to start from scratch or amend the other I have no idea.

Hello, I'm going to answer the questions, and then bow out. I don't want to appear to be pushing DiY wills, it's just that I think they can, on occasions, be useful.
The definition of 'necessary' has been in my case, when being guided through the LawPack questions - although on both occasions I thought it would be needed.

On 2 occasions I have done a DiY will. Should I have become incapacitated and unable to alter it, it really wouldn't have been too awful. The first said 'everything to my spouse' and the second ' everything divided equally between my (named) children'.
On the occasions I have used solicitors, it has been about the guardianship of my young children, and now, setting up a trust for the grandchildren, and also leaving money to my children's partners.

The wills I have been involved in executing - the DiY was kept up-to-date, was straightforward and simple. The other 2 were allowed to get old. No, there wasn't any negligence or poor practice, and neither were they complicated.
One will stand as an example: after fifty years it had passed through the hands of 4 solicitors' firms as they merged / were bought up etc. The employees of the solicitor who were named as executors, along with myself and another family member, were now 'unknown'.
The solicitor now holding the will quoted for executing, but also admitted to having a lot of work on. Having previously executed the simple DiY will, I realised that the bulk of the work was basic admin / detective. I might not be as efficient as a solicitor, but I had time and motivation to get it done. So I tracked down surviving relatives, found death certificates, made declarations etc. It cost me a few bunches of flowers along the way. Having established that I was now the only executor, the rest was simple.
I will add that Probate Office were extremely helpful in all cases.

I did my last will and its last alteration with my husband, and am happy with our solicitor. I am not going to put how much we paid because it wouldn't be helpful.

I hope that this debate has been helpful, and would again point out that the MSE site has a lot of helpful advice and discussion.

I wouldn't even contemplate making a will without using a solicitor.

It's not expensive to have a solicitor draw up a will and it potentially saves a lot of money and heartache fwiw a beneficiary can use a deed of variation to pass money on to their children if they don't need it themselves eg My MIL, who lived to a very great age, left money to her three children but they all either passed it on to their children/grandchildren as they didn't feel they needed it themselves.

I can only say, as a retired solicitor, that it’s easy to think a situation is simple when a ‘what if…’ prompt from a solicitor shows you it may not be. It’s definitely not the case that the more you plan for a scenario the more it costs. And Nannarose, when in your opinion does it become ‘necessary’? I’m not trying to be rude or offensive but we just don’t know what’s round the corner. We put off doing a will, or make one which for any of a multitude of reasons isn’t valid or is only partially valid, die wholly or partly intestate and our assets are divided up between our blood relatives (nothing to partners or step-family) according to statutory rules, in which grandchildren don’t feature if their parent, our child, is still alive. My and my husband’s wills (made by another solicitor, that wasn’t my area of practice) and powers of attorney (please do them!) set out our wishes and give us peace of mind. And Nannarose if you are suggesting there was negligence on the part of the solicitors you mention you should ask another solicitor for advice - we don’t all close ranks and stick together! Or was it just that the solicitors had done a proper job on less than simple estates, which perhaps you should have got some help with administering if you were the executrix?

The issue is that the more you prepare for any eventual scenario, the more the will costs.
That's why I think it sensible to be aware of the issues, but not pay too much until necessary.
I am not advocating DiY wills in anything but the simplest circumstances. I do take the point about DiY wills, but I have also ended up doing the bulk of the work in sorting out 2 wills prepared by solicitors.

My recent will cost £180 plus vat. Not a lot to ensure everything is legal and not open to question.
It covers what should happen if anyone dies before me and simply specifies a sum to be divided between my grandchildren so any new babies will be covered.

Thank you.
You've spurred me on to have a look about.

You can and should make provision in a will for what is to happen to a beneficiary’s share if he/she dies before receiving their inheritance. You should also stipulate the age at which a child is to receive his/her inheritance. The will can appoint trustees to hold the inheritance until then, who can also be given power to release some of the money before the child comes of age, e.g. for uni costs. But do ask a solicitor to prepare the will and do it soon. Solicitors make far more from sorting out diy wills than from writing them and many a distant relation has benefitted from the intestacy of someone who put off making a will then died unexpectedly or for instance suffered a sudden massive stroke which robbed them of the capacity to make a will.

We used these:
www.lawpack.co.uk/

I thought them very good, as they take you through every point and tell you if you should stop and consult a solicitor.

Money Saving Expert site has a lot of information on this as well.

Of course, you shouldn't take advice from me! I am simply putting a personal view based on my own experience. The usual advice is that you can DiY a simple will such as 'everything to my spouse' or 'everything divided equally between my children Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail'.

You do have to keep on top of it, for example, if Flopsy dies before you, you need to alter your will so her share is divided out between Mopsy and Cottontail, or goes to her spouse, partner or children.
But whilst you are fit and healthy, you can stay on top of this.
Every January when we clear out old receipts and bank statements, we review our wills as well.

Nannarose
That is my issue, really.
The thought of having to pay several times to update a will.
Perhaps I could get a DIY one and update it myself, until I find out if I'm dead before my boy's 18th?

MissAdventure, it is a good idea to have a will anyway, and then change it. Occasionally difficulties arrive if you make a will, then become incapacitated, so you can't alter it, but more difficulties arrive is you don't make a will.

I know that DiY wills get a bad press, but if they are simple, they really are OK. I find that if folk have paid a lot for a solicitor's will, they may then be unwilling to pay to change it.

I have made 2 DiY wills at points in my life when they were simple. I have made 2 wills with solicitors when the situation was more complicated.
I have been involved in probate with a simple DiY will that was kept up-to-date and was easy to administer. The other probate I was involved in was drawn up by a solicitor, but was left to get very old and took a lot of untangling!

Granny granbe, Mencap have a great scheme that I have used for my daughter. The money goes into a trust with Mencap and the will and then they will manage for daughter, they will work with her and help her to budget etc. Worth a try. And Monica as I have always done paid and still paying my taxes. Y ou might not be happy about subsidising those on SS and so have taken steps to avoid it it, I on the other hand object to subsidising the Governments expenses, subsidised food and housing that is immoral especially when people are using food banks.. each to their own.

I will add that I think it immoral to have a house that can be used to finance your long-term care and then expect poorer people who cannot even afford to buy a house to pay for your care instead.

I have always paid all the tax I am due to pay and I will willingly pay for my care. My sticking point is being expected to subsidise the fees of SS financed residents in the same home through my care fees ad I have told my DC that should I need care I am to go into a home which only takes full fee paying residents. There are plenty of them about.

I haven't got a will, because it will depend when I die.
If my grandson is an adult, obviously it would be different than if I popped off now.

This is where trust funds work. Any money I give my disabled niece goes into a trust fund and the trustees decide how it should be used to benefit her.

I’m finding this very difficult as one of my grandchildren is diagnosed as autistic and has limited planning ability whilst the youngest has been born with severe physical and mental handicap (rare genetic disorder) feel stuck. Should I just leave extra money for my son their father? Should the one other granddaughter not affected only get an inheritance directly? Any experience gratefully received.

Aveline,, when this government sorts out and caps social care then I will have a change of mind. Also you could argue why do MPs expenses include things we have to pay for, why can’t they be happy to pay their way. And then we have tax evasion, so if you are happy that’s ok but I am. Not

Try not to make a will complicated, if you want to leave money to the GC give them a modest sum each outright, then leave the bulk of the estate to their parents to use as they think fit. If you don’t trust the parents you might set up a trust

Why should everyone else's local rates subsidise your care costs? I'm happy to pay my way while I can.

We have a trust. Both of us are tenants in common with the house which means we can leave our share of the house, (half) to whoever we like when we die. We have left it to our son and should he not be around then to be divided between the three gc. That share of the house will be held in trust but still allows the survivor to live in for their life time or sell it and move. This means that eventually when both of us have gone the house is with my son or gc and the Council have not been able to snatchaway the whole value of the house for care fees.

I know trusts can be difficult, but the more you try to simplify them, the more you risk unintended outcomes.
I am not sure if Franbern is leaving £40k to each of 8 grandchildren, or between them. But for example (hope you don't mind Franbern):
If £40k is invested for them, does the first get £5k, or 1/8 of what granny left? Does the last get £5k, in which case, is the interest accumulated then shared between the 8? And does the last get £5k + accumulated interest? It may buy a lot less than the eldest grandchild's £5k!
Are there caveats around investing? Our children who will be the administrators, know our views on ethical investments.

My lovely grandfather made a will in the 50s and left me enough money to buy 50% of a small house in the village we lived in. By the time he died it bought me a nice print to hang on the wall and remind me of him. I didn't mind - his love and support helped me to have a good job and not need his money.

Our trust is simple, and can be administered by people we trust (and I can hear solicitors laughing!) but it is really the only way to leave money directly to grandchildren who are under 18. Also, I'm sure that Franbern and I were on the same page when we hit on 25 as the date to get the money! If left directly, they can get it at 18.

Also, I know that I am fortunate in having money to leave (if care costs don't eat it up!)

I have good reason to agree with your cousin Liz46!

I don't know much about trusts but my aunt died recently and my cousin had a dreadful, very expensive time sorting out the trust that my aunt and uncle had arranged.
She reckons the only people who benefitted from the trust were the solicitor and the bank.