To leave my house to my children and not my husband

Ah that makes a lot more sense now!

I feel terrible for this guy. Why did you ever bother getting married?

Ahh so if she lives until say 85 and husband is still living she'd leave the house for the husband?

Is he going to be left anything at all in the event of your death? What about pensions, savings, investments etc.?

Of course it was. Marriage is very important if you are reaching retirement age with no home to your name.

Watching what happened in my friends family, there is no way I would marry again if something happened to DH. My friend could understand that her Dad wanted his new wife looked after, she never forgave him for allowing a situation whereby her children (who he had only known as adults and didn’t particularly have a relationship with) then inherited everything.

Don’t rely on people saying they will do the right thing. Make it watertight for your kids.

The OP has clarified multiple times that she’s talking about if she dies before her children are adults.

Poor man, he could be left homeless when elderly.

That is a common scenario. It happens all the time when people who already have children remarry in later life.

Its not quite that simple, OPs DH already has a legal claim on a beneficial interest in the property, as it is a marital asset.

The best way forward is to get DH formally put on the title, as tenants in common. The OP then leaves her share to him in an IPDI held in trust for the children.

At the same time, they draw up mutual wills with the children as the final beneficiaries in both cases - whichever party dies first has the effect of setting in stone the terms of the remaining mutual will, which cannot then be revoked or voided, even by re-marriage.

Therefore both the surviving partner and the children are protected as to their inheritance, and no re-marriage can impact that.

He's paying half the mortgage! I hope you've told him your intentions

You could release some equity in your house (reflecting rent payments) to add to deposit for his own property and in exchange he relinquishes any rights over your house ?

Yes, if he is aware and in agreement it would make sense for him to invest in a property of his own now. Can rent it out but it avoids a situation where it's harder for him to get a mortgage/rent in future.

As long as you have a will and it was made after you married then yes you can leave it to your children. You may want to give your husband a set amount of time that he can live in the house after your death. You also really need to talk it over with your husband so he knows what’s in the will.

My DH and I are currently considering changing the house to tenants in common so that we can each leave our halves to the kids, with a lifetime interest to allow the remaining spouse to stay living in the house until certain conditions are met. That way the house is protected for the kids even if one of us later remarries.

So if you want the kids to have the house & he agrees, even though he pays towards the mortgage, he is surely making plans now whilst he earns well to house himself in the future if necessary?

Inheritance Act 1975. My mum died leaving her estate, including the house which she bought outright after divorcing my dad, to my sister and I. Our step father was excluded. He was a gambler and she didn’t want him to gamble her house away. Long story short, he contested the Will and after a year and about £10K in legal fees, he was awarded more than a third of the value of her estate. Beware!

I have only read the OP, not the full thread, so apologies if this repeats previous responses.

Contrary to what some on here seem to think, being married does not affect the ownership of your property. It is still 100% yours. However, he has a claim on your property if you divorce.

You can put whatever you want in your will. However, if you don't make adequate provision for him he can challenge your will under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. In broad terms, he would be entitled to as much as he would have received if the marriage had ended in divorce.

One option you could consider is leaving him a life interest in the house with it passing to your children when you die. That would allow him to carry on living in the house and would not prevent him moving to another property. It would guarantee that your children will ultimately inherit whatever he does after you die. However, that will not work if the house is your only significant asset.

You need to consult a solicitor.

Not terribly helpful I know, but there's no world in which i would have married him if I were you. It sounds like there's enough income for you to each provide a home of your own (even if you cohabit and rent one out) to each be provided for in the event of a split/death without risking your kids' inheritance.

The other thing I can't understand is people talking about your kids being cared for by him if anything happens to you when you've said they have a father who would be prepared (and presumably expect/want) to do that.