What's in your will?

[probablynotthesame]

I'm going to be making my Will very soon and just thinking about what others have?

Obviously apart from the usual money goes to xyz/children get looked after by Mrs A; I was wondering if anybody has anything quirky? Or something I haven't thought about yet!

Ours are a bit fiddly as we're not married, no kids together (and don't expect either to change), so we have to manually leave things "to DP unless both of us got squished in the same road accident in which case 25% each to ww, xx, yy, zz" which gets a bit boring and longwinded.

Nothing very quirky though. Some specific callouts, "All lego to pp", "All computer kit to yy", "All pets to mm".

If you both die, what age do you want the children to get access to money?
Ours do not get automatic access at 18 (or even 21).

What's in your will?

In mine, a BIG surprise for Bro and SIL .... they are not in it

In my great cousin's will I was left 5k with the strict instructions 'to do something bad with it'. We went to Australia😃

I wasn't really sure what age to leave DC(3yo) money too. I'm a lone parent so he would be looked after by my mum/ sister but I want the money to facilitate his looking after so they wouldn't have any financial burden then the rest to go to him. I was thinking 16 is far too young, if I had come into money at that age I know I would have wasted the lot!!

@EastMidsGPs I love that 'do something bad with it' I would like my personality to show through a little like that so it's not so standard!

Get in touch with the poster mumblechum who is Marlow Wills and advertises on here. Fantastic advice and very reasonably priced.

Dh has kids, I don’t. So complicated stuff in his will so I don’t get chucked ou5 the house but they get their share of the inheritance and aren5 waiting for me to die! Mine just to sibling and husband equally and my engagement ring, on,y thing of any real value...to my niece.

Everything to DD apart from my beautiful designer bag which is going to my sister who has long admired it!
Did think about putting a haunted house clause in!

That's where you get advice from the solicitor. Explain what you want (eg Mum/Sister to have access to it for stuff for the DC, to be accessible for driving lessons, uni, whatever) and they can help you arrange what you want. I think even 18 is way too young. If you do it right, the trustees can provide access earlier for sensible reasons, but not to blow it.

Remember, this will be a teen who has had their life turned upside down by losing you. You have no idea how they will have reacted to that. You don't want to give them the opportunity to blow their inheritance whilst still in emotional turmoil.

I'm thinking about changing my will so if I go first the DC inherit their half but in trust so any future partner of DH can't fleece our DC!

Are you getting professional help? Our was straightforward (exactly as yours, kids spouse etc), but the solicitor was trained to ask all the complicated questions we had not thought about - not applicable in our case but might be in yours: step kids, step parents, remarriage all that kind of stuff.
About quirky things: my grandmother had a lot of expensive jewellery and invited her 5 or so best friends (in a specified order) to choose a ring from her collection before everything else was fairly split between the other beneficiaries.
I like @EastMidsGPs inheritance!

We did ours again last week. Our money goes into trust so we appointed 2 trustees who can access it until the kids are 21. They can use it for the living expenses for the girls so they won't be out of pocket for taking them on. Also the Dds can request money ie for University or driving lessons but don't have free access.

@RandomMess exactly - those types of considerations were what I was referring to.

@SelinaMyers definitely put the haunted house clause in 😂

@TeenTimesTwo this is exactly what I was thinking, I would hate for the money to go to waste and him end up living payslip to payslip, which I was doing until about 28 years old! Now I know the value of having savings and being sensible!!

OP- you mention you’re a lone parent, is Dad about or on the scene? I’ve written a letter to be kept with mine saying I think it would be disruptive for DD if she goes to live with him instead of my sister. I’ve also written that I do not want her to go abroad said with him (He’s not British and goes home quite often so still has close links to home) without my mother or sister.

@GlowWine yes I will be getting professional help, I wouldn't risk leaving something so important to chance!

@SelinaMyers so this is where it gets slightly complicated. He's on the birth certificate and was around for 9 months until I finally got rid (DA) he's had- through his own choice, no contact at all with DC since. I get CMS payments that's taken from his wages (no surprises he wasn't forthcoming with paying!!) I really don't want my DC to end up with a man that he has no idea about 😔

You can only appoint guardians you can't dictate who will bring up your DC.

Our DC are adults. We've been married a long time. We are tenants in common of our jointly owned home, so when one of us dies, half is held in trust for DC. On the second death, everything will be split 50:50 between DC with a token amount to each DGC plus a small legacy to a charity whose research we support. Very simple and we felt, very fair.

OP- make sure you include a letter to be stored with the will expressing your wish for DC to go with your mum/sis because though he will have legal rights this should be taken into consideration. I wrote that she did not know him or his family and as we live in different parts of the country she would be taken away from her family. This was on the recommendation of my solicitor.

Thank you @SelinaMyers that's great advice. Did you follow a template? I will certainly include this then.

@RandomMess this is my concern, in theory he could have him legally.

I work in the field and I say get someone experienced to write it, because with things like those will writing kits you can quite easily create partial intestacies (and then people like me have to try and mop it up).

DH and I revisit our wills every 2-3 years. (Like I said, I am in the field and so I am aware of what can go wrong).

We did our latest will in January. It's relatively basic. We have each other as Executors. We have my parents as Executors in Substitution and as Testamentary Guardians. We have some pecuniary bequests, we have our residuary estate divided equally in 3 ways, among our 3 children once they reach 25 years but because one DS is disabled we have his third in a discretionary trust that protects him (from himself and from unmercenary 'friends' who might glom onto him).

I know that people try and avoid solicitors nowadays but I think that wills need to be written by people who know what they are doing.

OP- I wrote it and got my solicitor to check it.

There is often a lot of misunderstanding around wills and money for children. With young children, a good option is usually to put the money in to trust for them to have at a defined age (25 is good - the point at which buying a house is more likely to happen than frittering away). You can then appoint trustees separately from guardians. The trustees ensure that the child - or the guardians and/or people who are looking after them - can have appropriate access to the money before they reach that age. So, for example, the person who is bringing the child up can request money to feed and clothe the child, take them on holiday, extend their house so the child can have their own bedroom etc, etc. The trustees can also agree to the child themselves having a lump sum at, say, 18 if they want a deposit for a house at that time. Using separate trustees adds an extra layer of accountability and reduces the risk of either the child or the guardians inappropriately spending the inheritance that is rightly your child's, whilst also making provision for the costs of the child being raised.

Depending on circumstances, the trustees and guardians can be the same. But in this case you need to be sure that whoever you choose as guardians won't be tempted to spend the money for their own gain - e.g enlarging their house purely for their own benefit. It depends a lot of your family set up and who your trust. Think about the wider circle of these people e.g if your sister was both a trustee and a guardian, does she have a partner who may be a negative influence?

It is also important not to see will writing as a one off. they do need to be reviewed and amended regularly, particularly when you have young children and the situation around what is best for them can easily change. It is absolutely worth getting proper advice rather than using a kit or template as those things can never fully address your personal circumstances.

Thank you everyone for some excellent advice. I am certainly going to a solicitor for my will,it's not something I want to risk going wrong.

There aren't many people I trust, to be honest I would say just my mum and sister, especially with my DC. Regarding the money aspect I thought about having my sister in charge but having to go through a solicitor? And maybe a maximum amount a year she could access for his 'upkeep'?

I want to be able to go to my solicitor with a list of things I want to include and then be guided by them the best way to do it.