Inheritance question

Not true. I am my partners NOK. We name each other. It can be who you nominate.

You will also need tax advice about estate planning as your estate will probably be subject to inheritance tax ( as you have investment properties). Unless you are happy for most of them to be sold to pay 40% inheritance tax.

Depending on the type of SN of your child, you might need to set up a trust to look after his needs and protect his assets.

This is potentially quite misleading/dangerous advice. Next of kin is not a legally defined term as far as hospitals are concerned and even spouses don't have an automatic right to make decisions about their husband/wife in an emergency. The reasons hospitals ask for a next of kin on the records is more about who is the primary liaison point/who gets information shared with them by the doctors - most times these days hospital will totally recognise a long term partner as the 'next of kin' especially if the person is conscious and able to communicate their wishes about this (but even if not).

So I really wouldn't let this point alone decide whether you get married in a case where there's a significant disparity in assets and the OP particularly wants hers to be protected for the DC - marrying for the sake of the very rare event where one of them is unconscious in hospital and blood relatives conspire/hoodwink the medical staff to try and cut the other out of information seems unwise to me, compared to the much more likely scenario of a relationship breakdown or even an early death of the OP and the DP then having a legitimate claim on her estate. Of course if they want to get married then fine but that's not the impression I'm getting (if I'm wrong then the advice about getting a will made now is wrong as wills made before marriage are usually null and void)...

Also, consider that you are not each other's next of kin so in case of a medical emergency, a blood family member takes precedence. I'd get married in a simple registry wedding just to simplify everything.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/living-together-marriage-and-civil-partnership/living-together-and-marriage-legal-differences/

Would you and your DP make provision for each other in wills?
Unless there's a really good reason for leaving nothing to your DP, I think leaving them just the right to stay in your house might not be entirely helpful. What if they don't want to live there when you aren't there any more? What if they need to move somewhere else for very good reasons? If they would simply lose their home without any resources to find a new one, is that really fair on them? Is it fair to effectively settle 100% of your estate on your children and nothing on your life partner?
If they would be financially fine then it's different.

So what you want is:

1. Your partner to be able to live in the house as long as he wishes- possibly until he dies at say 85- but not to inherit the property.
2. The property to be inherited by your children but not be available to them to sell or rent out until he chooses to move out.

Potentially huge issues there.
a) What if the relationship between him and them broke down?
b) What if they needed the money to but their own properties and could not access it because he was living in the house?
c) Who is responsible for upkeep of the house? Decoration/repairs/updating?
d) What if your DP met someone else and moved her and her children into the property?
e) What if your DP was still living there at 85?

See a solicitor and make a will, it really isn't expensive or difficult - your situation is v normal, you can leave the house to the children but with a life interest to your DP or right to live there until the children are 18. If there's substantial money coming to the children you will want to name a trustee, either your DP and/or someone else. Also things to consider like what would you want to happen if your DP remarries, would you want him to still be able to live in the house or should it be sold and the money held for the children then? What about if he wants to relocate for other reasons, e.g
to be near family or for work, do you want him to be able to rehouse himself and the children or is that on him at that point? A solicitor will go through all this with you, it really will be well worth it ...

If you are well off enough to own your house AND investments properties AND you have a child with SN then you are crazy to not have a will and POA.

You nee dot think carefully about your plans eg you say you want your partner to live there was long as he likes . Do you actually mean that ? So if you kids all have their own places, you’re be happy for your now partner and his wife and kids to live in your house ? And presumably for your kids to pay the mortgage and bills, if they own it ?

You really REALLY need legal advice asap. Like next week.

Why are you leaving it to chance when you don’t have to then. Write a will. Problem solved.

You need a will.

You can have a lifetime tenant if that’s what you want to do - so your DP can live in the house until he dies, and is responsible for maintaining it and any associated costs, but he will not have a claim to the house. If he dies, or it’s sold, it goes to your DC.

In your situation, esp with the SEN child you should see a solicitor for a will.

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Then make a will! And sort out some life insurance - you're replying on your dp continuing to pay a mortgage on a property he will never own.

If there's no life insurance and the survivor can't meet affordability for the mortgage on their own then the property has to be sold.

They can't always just stay in the house to look after the kids, no.

It's hard to say exactly as it depends on what the owning partner may have specified in a will or trust but generally:

The house would pass to the children.

The children would own the "benefit" but can't be registered as the legal owners until 18, so the house would need to be held in trust for them by a trustee who would be named the legal owner.

I think the fact of the trust would need to be registered as a notice or caution on the Land Register to stop the trustee disposing of the property without accounting for it to the children.

Who would the trustee be? Quite possibly the unmarried partner/children parent but depends on whether the deceased has specified someone else. If no trust already set up or specified the executor odlf the will/administrator of the estate will have to set up the terms of the trust and appoint trustees as he/ she sees fit.

Would the partner be able to remain living in the property with the children until they are both 18? Quite possibly and particularly likely if appointed trustee but the trust would need to specify how the mortgage will be paid and cost of repairing/maintaining/insuring the house is funded as the children have no income. Possibly this could be a deemed responsibility of the partner/trustee in lieu of paying rent to the children. (I'm speculating here to give you a rough idea of how it might work.) If the costs can't be met in this way then the house might need to be sold and proceeds placed in trust for the children and the surviving parent would need to make other arrangements for housing the children and themself. There will be limits on how much the children's money can be used towards that purpose.

If the house is not sold - Once both children are 18 the trust will be discharged and they will be the registered legal owners of the house and responsible for the upkeep and financing. In theory they could throw out the surviving parent but in reality that is unlikely if relations are good. But the surviving parent would have no financial interest in the property.

That’s a point - does your DP have life insurance that will cover the mortgage? If not, then the house would indeed have to be sold to pay off the mortgage unless you were in a position to buy the house yourself.

It will depend if the mortgage holder has life insurance to pay off the mortgage outstanding. If not the house would have to be sold as the mortgage company would need their 'share' of the property back.the children would then inherit an equal share of any equity in the property.

You need to speak to a family solicitor and may need to get a "declaration of trust" as well as a will. My partner and I got one when we bought our house. Like others have said, the person not named on the deeds has very few rights to live there if the owner dies. However if you have done a declaration of trust you can specify bills covered etc and start to build up a share in that property. Definitely get some legal advice to make sure you're both covered.

It depends on your mortgage and other documentation. We have a joint mortgage and a will leaving the house to the other person. If one of us dies we have the right through our mortgage company to apply the same mortgage as a single application. We also both have life insurance policies which more than cover the amount of the mortgages for for us we would have cash to pay off the mortgage and own the property outright