How secure am I if my husband dies?
(Note – all these queries on Last Wills etc are genuine, but the details are changed so no one could possibly recognise who they came from!)
Please could you help me, my husband and I purchased our home in 2000 in Eastbourne and we are tenants in common as we were not married until 2002. My husband has a daughter and I have a son from previous marriages.
My husband owns another house in Polegate his sole name from which he receives a rent each month which we live on. My husband has not made a will, please could you tell me where I would stand regarding his half of the house and his other property and rent if he should die. His first wife died 15 years ago so the only will my husband has made is the one he made with his first wife which were mirror wills and if they both died everything would go to their son, these wills were made twenty plus years ago.
Answer
Assuming we are talking about English and Welsh Law:
You would receive the first £250,000 and a lifetime interest in half the rest – which means the income from half of the balance, though the rental property would almost certainly have to be sold to raise the cash for his son. This would probably result in unnecessary Inheritance Tax being paid (their would be none if it was all left to you), though it might be possible to claim the Inheritance Tax allowance of his deceased wife, depending on her Will at the time, and on records being available.
As far as your home is concerned, you would inherit this automatically.
Your husbands old Will was automatically cancelled by his marriage to you, as would any Will you had previously made UNLESS it was made (and recorded) as being made with the intention of marrying you/ your husband. (Do tell your married friends – most of them have no idea that
Marriage cancels any former Will in most cases!)
Ideally, you should organise your Wills so that the children on both sides are guaranteed to receive their share in due course, otherwise it is at the whim of the surviving partner and or THEIR new partner should they remarry later. This can be done whilst protecting everyone.
I enclose the guide to Intestacy and the 2 minute Guide to Legal Planning. It is likely that a Protective Property Trust Will, or Lifetime Interest Will would be most appropriate, but do bear in mind that legal plans develop and change over the years, which is why our ongoing
Peace of Mind Service is so crucial!
Steve
Allied Professional Will Writers Eastbourne