Parents have no will- complicated estate, help!

@SBHon if he is then maybe the OP needs to explain to him that situation- also he is putting his wife's home at risk if she doesn't have the money to give them and no will and the house was worth a substantial amount ( may or may not be the case)

@SBHon but it doesn't sound as if he's bothered about them-so maybe he isn't bothered about leaving them anything anyway?

That’s a very cruel way about things.

The dad knows that the mum would leave his children nothing if he died first. If he did the wills as you suggest he would be actively and purposefully disinheriting them. But with a constant air of ‘maybe I will consider you and maybe I won’t’ hanging over them.

I think at the moment with the kids complication they should both just have one leaving the whole estate to each other - it's then up to the remaining person to decide as they choose and make a will accordingly - even if they didn't it would then be shared equally to the children of that person , unless of course your dad wants to make sure his kids who aren't your mothers benefit - you of course should benefit either way unless either of them 'cuts you out' for whatever reason which is unlikely

When either of them dies without a will, the rules of intestacy will be followed. How it works out will vary depending on if they are married to each other.

In short though, your father's other children are entitled to just as much/little from HIS estate as you. You do not get more, unless your parents are married and your father either doesn't have a will or doesn't leave them anything in a will, AND your mother then doesn't leave them anything either.

It only goes to the state if there are absolutely no relatives, usually people with no relatives would do a will leaving it to their friends or a charity but if there is no will and no relatives the state then would have it, not sure though if the state means the government or the king

Your parents are bloody stupid and going to leave behind total carnage when they die.

They need a will pronto and to both suck it up and accept all children need a share.

Its hard to understand the mentality, I think such parents are irresponsible, but what can you do?

What I would do is :

1. See a lawyer on my own. Get the advice. Should be fairly clear and straightforward.
2. Report this back to parents to encourage them to make a Will. Tell them it could cause all sorts of problems and litigation down the line (costing £££££ in court, which lawyers will get) if they don’t make clear Wills. I’d have a “go” at DF for being a jerk tbh, being happy to leave a messy estate which could destroy sibling and other relationships and cause unnecessary stress (happens all the time).
3. After that I’m not sure what else you can do. It’s like you do everything you reasonably can, but then have to let it go? If they want to pretend they’re not going to die or don’t care what money goes to their children (if any) - nice eh - what can you realistically do?

If no will, if your dad dies your mum gets everything. Then when she does it gets split equally between her biological kids.

If your mum dies, your dad gets everything and when he does it gets splits between his biological kids

If they die together then it gets split between all their combined biological kids.

Men usually die first so you have a good chance of missing out your dad's kids.

But yes they are idiots not making a will and it's very frustrating for you

Book them an appt with a will lawyer and offer to pay.
They can both discuss their wishes in confidence with the lawyer.
Tell them it will make it easier after their deaths and they can leave to who they like but it will make the process easier for all.

Generally one will die before the other (in fact in law even if both killed in an accident one has to die first) the person who dies first will pass everything to the other. How that money is distributed on the second death will depend which parent it is because only their biological children inherit. If they want something different they need to write wills, ideally get them written by a will writer as it's not straightforward but they can just write themselves and ask a non relative to witness

I really have no patience with people who can't face reality and prefer to be selfish. We're all going to die. The last act of kindness we can do for our families is to leave a reasonably tidy estate, a valid will and instructions for the funeral. My parents had wills drawn up years ago, and their solicitor suggested power of attorney as well. Thank goodness he did. Since my Dad died it's been invaluable in helping me support my Mum sort things out. They have also both left clear instructions about funerals. We followed that for Dad's funeral and it saved us having to think and make decisions at a very difficult time when we had plenty of other things to sort out.

Wow your parents sound horrible. Your dad is happy to risk disinheriting his children by not making a will and dying first. And your mum actively wants to disinherit them.

I have been through this myself OP there was 4 of us all illegitimate 1 dad all had different mothers. Because he died intestate (without a will) we all inherited equally .
If your dad dies first your mum will inheritance everything and then his children won't inherit if your mum dies first they will.
In scotland you are not allowed to disinherit a child
I hope that helps

Actually - are your parents married to each other? You don't actually say. This could change the position somewhat!

The children of the spouse who dies first will probably miss out as (if the estate is modest) it, as well as any joint property will go to the other spouse. The children (of the deceased spouse only) only inherit anything at that point if there's more than 325k in non joint assets.

If the surviving spouse still doesn't make a will and doesn't remarry then their estate is split between their children in equal shares. Any non shared children of the first spouse get nothing.

So yes if they want to ensure they don't disinherit the kids from their first marriages they need wills, but you can't make them do it.

From an inheritance perspective you're in the best position as the child of both spouses, but I know that wasn't what you asked.

There was a man outside Tesco a few years ago promoting wills week and I stopped for a chat. (I'm a solicitor so already have a will!) He said most of the people he'd spoken to didn't have a will. When he asked why the most common answer was "it makes me think I might die". Well, duh, yes!

Just let's say Mum departs first. Everything goes to Dad.
Dad passes intestate so everything goes to his 3 children, split equally.

Your Dad can put what he wants in his Will but if he dies first, and he leaves everything to your Mum, she gets to decide who gets the money when she goes ... or it goes to her 3 kids if no will.

^^ This is really important. The OP's Dad may be banking on dying first and therefore disinheriting the children of his first marriage without ever actually putting that in writing, but it could easily go the other way and it would be the children of OP's Mum's first marriage who lose out. There might be some mileage in pointing that out to her. It doesn't seem at all likely that the estranged pair would agree to a deed of variation so that the estate is split five ways, not three.

Also, it is absolutely essential to know if they are married or not. So much more complicated if they're not, as the surviving partner would not have an automatic right to inherit anything that wasn't in joint names. There might be ways for the partner to get something, but it wouldn't be straightforward or quick.

Also, if there's any chance that inheritance tax might be payable, it's a huge advantage to be married. Tax would basically only be payable after both partners' allowances have been taken off, and it's very rare indeed for anything to be left at that point.

[Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and probably very few posters here are lawyers. OP shouldn't rely on anything any of us say. Real legal advice is needed!]

And write her own will.

Leaving her assets to her children.

She can leave a life interest in the house to your Dad so that he doesn’t have to sell.

She would need to endure the house was owned as tenants in common , though. And change it if they are joint tenants.

It seems harsh for your Dad’s sons to be disinherited.

Of course it doesn't. There would be an absolute outcry if people who didn't leave wills had their entire estates confiscated by the state. On the other hand, it might finally motivate people to take this seriously.

It sounds as if your DF would be fine with the status quo, where if he dies first then the children of his first marriage get (at a guess) almost nothing, and if he dies second then they get a third each of the marital assets. Doesn't seem very fair to me, but you shouldn't interfere.

Your mother OTOH doesn't sound as if she'd be happy with the status quo: if she died first then the children of her first marriage would be more or less disinherited. She should get legal advice.

Without a will you will get a share on both deaths. Your half siblings will each inherit on the death of their parent, so which ever parent dues top first it's their children that will lose out as they will only get the share from that parent whereas the surviving parent will inherit a share from their spouse and will then pass that on to their children inc you.

I suspect your dad doesn't want to disinherit his kids and doesn't want to have a row about it, that's why he's not doing it.

No

Agreed.
But 30 day survivorship for everyone else.

Married couples wills don't actually say that last bit any more, because it plays havoc with the inheritable IHT bands. I only just found out, and really ought to redo my own will to take it out.