Inheritance

1Appleby Wed 12-Feb-20 09:51:25
Thank you for all of your comments . I saw a solicitor yesterday - who has given me the advice I needed
Sparkling .

See a solicitor, it is so complicated, it is a mine field.

You dont have to of course if its identifying, but if you feel able to share generally what they advised it might come in useful for the rest of us (not instead of our own legal advice)

Thank you for all of your comments . I saw a solicitor yesterday - who has given me the advice I needed.

Go and talk to an independent( independent of your DH) solicitor, he will know all the pros and cons of every possible way of dealing with this.

Asking unqualified people like us to advise is like making the decision on the throw of a dice and I am sure you would not dream of doing that.

I’d be careful on this. My brother in laws father remarried and, unfortunately, died not long after. The new wife got everything and left the lot to her own children. My brother in law got nothing despite trying to challenge the will.
There was also the situation when Linda Bellingham died and her new husband inherited the lot and her two sons were left with nothing. He’s now married again I believe. I’d take independent legal advice to protect you and your own children.

Legal advice is imperative. Look after yourself and YOUR offspring. There are too many stories about late remarriage where children of wife or husband find themselves with no inheritance because whichever died last passed everything to his/her own flesh & blood. Take advice!

This seems like quite a complicated matter and I think you should see a solicitor before making any decisions. You have to be sure that any actions you take will hold up in law.

Oh, just reread and see you have already sold-a bad decision, in my opinion. Owning a house is better than money in the bank.

Why not just continue to rent out your house, as you do now, to provide you with an income. If you die first, your house goes to your family-no hassle. If he dies first, his house goes to his children (or just his wife's share, if he wants you to have half) and you move back into your old house or sell your old house then to buy out his family's share.

Why complicate the matter of buying a stake in his home now! What if, in the future, something happened and you divorced. You may think it unlikely but you never know. Or, what if one of his family wanted to live with you if their circumstances changed and it didn't work out too well for you. If it was me, I would keep my finances separate to ensure my children inherited all my previous wealth and I would just contribute a fair amount to your husband's household expenses.

You are the one shouldering all of the financial insecurity/risk

Im not as concerned about inheritance as I am about your own future needs and wants.

I think you need to ring fence your own security somehow, which is harder done with your property sold

You'll have 1/4 unless you outlive DH.

You need to make sure that your property money is protected for yourself and not soaked into benefiting the other 75% of the property

You cant have joint if 50% is earmarked for step kids.

You could have at most half, with you paying for ALL the upkeep on 100% of the property which could drain your sale proceeds dry over time

Notanan2 - I have no intention of not having joint ownership of the property. If I choose to do it - it would be in both me and my husband’s name

Its a recurring theme

Woman moves into mans property. Woman sells own property. Couple's available funds increase. Funds get depleted on home improvements on the home that is in the mans name...

Its not a good scenario for a woman to be in.

"Paddyanne but what if OPs equity money is being used for upkeep etc of the partners property

Sorry meant property not bills

Paddyanne but what if OPs equity money is being used for upkeep etc of the partners bills

Or as their joint spending money so all of his income gets to go on maintaining the property.

In both of those circumstances she is basically investing in the step childrens inheritance

I would leave things as they are ,his house goes to his child your proceeds from your house goes to your children ,he can change his will to give you life tenancy so you have security .I know families who were gutted that a "new" wife walked away with everything their mother had worked for when their dad died just weeks after marrying her .I wouldn't do that to someones children .At this stage in your life you need to see the whole picture

A different solicitor

"We"? A solicitor that also sees your husband cannot advise you on your own best interests with regards to the relationship.
You need to see your own solicitor.

Thank you all so much for your input. We have got a solicitor and are due to make our wills. The house will be jointly owned.
The tenancy in common is mentioned in the will and obviously I want to honour the wishes of our deceased spouses. If I put half into the house I don’t have another half to give to my children but my husband is nearly 10 years older than me and if he did die before me - the home that I have called ‘home’ wouldn’t be any more. I will book an appointment to see a solicitor on my own.

There is always risk that is why you spread the risk, at 70 or so life expectancy is good unless there is a existing health issue.
The 7yrs means tax free, before that it tapers off year by year.

I agree with the others - give some to your children now and leave the rest to them in your will, if there is any.

You might need the money yourself, you never know what is around the corner, and if your money is tied up your DHs house you won’t have any spare.

Davidhs - apologies - my post should read

Give them more than £3000 per year and you're OK

Give them £3000 or less per year and you're OK

I agree there is no point altering the house arrangements. It is too complicated.
Give some of your money to your children now if you can / wish, but keep the bulk for them to inherit when you die.
Don’t over complicate things for the future.
Make sure you write a new will if you haven’t already done so.