Step children and inheritance

@WineBeforeWhine depends what’s in her will. If both their parents have left everything to their new spouses then SC were at risk of not inheriting anything and their half siblings getting everything

Why? All 4 children were his.

I think you either ring fence the inheritance proportion for your own children assuming it wasn't spent on family holidays and the like. Or essentially divide the estate 50:50, with your own share going to your kids and his share going to all 4. If the inheritance has basically been spent I think this is likely fairest. I agree to give reasons for the split in the will as this will hopefully prevent any costly disputes between them down the line.

I’d say your children together get 1/3 each and the two step kids share 1/3 that seems fair if you put more money in and the step kids have another parent and a grandparent

If there is a big age gap then OP could you give them what they would have got if their dad had been single when he passed, and then your will could leave everything to your children?

This is how I would expect it to be on a general basis. Your step children have another parent and set of grandmother could inherit from too.

I think it depends on whether and how much you were involved in the step children's lives before you married & how much their father bought into the relationship.

I received an unequal inheritance, the testator had the solicitor draft a letter explaining why, 3 very solid reasons.

However, it did not stop a vicious dispute.

Aside, i think its brilliant you are considering inc them in this at all, many would not.

Op how much did you contribute to the relationship financially? Did he already have a house? I think you should try to leave his children his contribution because it always seems unfair when children, not only have the experience of separated parents and then not being considered in a parents will.

Our wills are set up that my half of the estate will be divided between my two DC, DH's half between his four DC. DSCs already had money from their late DM. And have benefitted from my income and support during my marriage to their father.

Your husband has really screwed over his children from his first marriage. If they were adults when you came into their lives and you've since gone on to have your own children, you are probably close in age to them. There's a good chance they may never see any inheritance from you.

My friend lost her older half sister over an inheritance. Dad died left everything to his second wife, his second wife left it all to her DD. She felt her DH had paid out his ex wife a lot of money (he was a very high earner) and steo daughter would have that inheritance.. My friend inherited a house worth over a million, but her older half sister never spoke to her again. Perhaps her half sister was out of order and shouldn't have been so money orientated, or perhaps my friend could have altered the will to give her something. I think the first wife had spent the divorce settlement so there wasn't much to inherit.

Yes 1/4 of his half is fair so 12.5%
Is your inheritance still in savings, I would be tempted to pass this on when your kids are ready to buy a house tbh

And what did Dad have at the point of your marriage? They should get that at least.

Absolutely right and fair to do an unequal split.

I have one step child and we have two DC together.

At present our wills are 2/12 for step dc and 5/12 for our joint DC.

Any inheritance I receive will be ring fenced for my DC and will be split between them 50/50.

Step child has his own mother to inherit from and is an only child on that side so will probably get quite a bit from her.

I suppose one question is, although I know it went into the family pot, has your inheritance been spent and/or is it tangible? I'd think of it differently if in reality you had agreed that you would spend it on "fun" eg travel and the assets left were clearly joint, ie property.

@WineBeforeWhine depends who dies first in their mum’s relationship. If mum dies first the stepdad might ignore them in his will. Legally you could do the same, obviously you are doing the moral thing to include them in your will (assuming you are in England)

Unless your late husband brought considerably more into the marriage than yon did, I think it’s fair to ring fence your separate inheritance for your own children, and then divide the rest amongst all four.

If your late husband did bring in significantly more, I think it’s only fair to reflect that too.

Yes I think it’s totally fair to put your inheritance to one side for your DC.

I would look at your inheritance as a percentage of the estate and put that to one side for your shared children. Your step children and your shared children would then get an equal share each of what is left. I would get the solicitor to make it clear in the will why this is happening so there is no misunderstanding.

Its ok I feel to give unequal shares in this situation. This is inheritance from your dc two parents, but sdc have another parent they have/will inherit from.
You could do something where all 4 children inherit 25% each of dad's share. Then your children inherit 50% each of your share.
What ever you do I think putting an explanation in the will would be bestie its an unequal share.