Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

If you have no children, have assets and have made a will...

40 replies

bigbluebus · 30/01/2019 10:49

who have you left your estate to?
We need to re-do our wills for various reasons. We have one DS who we will leave everything to - assuming there's anything left - but wondering what to do should he be unfortunate enough to pre-decease us (as our DD has).
We (me and DH) both have nieces and nephews but due to them being spread around the country we have seen them approx once a year for their entire lives (all now adults) and we see them even more rarely now as they have mostly left home and don't live in the same location as their parents, so not sure if we would want to name them (and for one DN it would cause complications due to having a learning disability). Both DH and I have 2 older siblings each - in DH's case they are quite a bit older. One of my siblings has no children but all the other siblings do.

I was wondering what people who have no children and don't intend to have any do when it comes to writing a will - particularly if you are not close to any other wider family members.

OP posts:

DaisyDreaming · 30/01/2019 10:52

In our family should we all go together mine is being split between friends, my dads is going to a friend of mine who is disabled and will never be able to work. I would rather it went to friends than people who happen to be related but aren’t in my life much

Original poster

bigbluebus · 30/01/2019 10:58

Whilst I think friends is a good option if we were unfortunate to die prematurely, most of our close friends are the same age as us, if not older, so if we were to live to a ripe old age, the chances are they may not be around either. It would be a case of last man standing!

OP posts:

thecatneuterer · 30/01/2019 11:41

Everything (and I'm a Landlord in London so that's quite a lot) apart from any personal items which I've left to my Mum if she happens to be alive when I die, I have left to one charity which I am very involved with.

JustMarriedAndLovingIt · 30/01/2019 11:47

Weird, I did my first will yesterday and had these sorts of thoughts. If DS pre-deceases me then his share goes to his descendants (un-named at the moment as he’s 15) If he dies without descendants then it is split between 4 people and I have named them. 2 x bio nieces and 2 x step-children.

dinkydonky · 30/01/2019 12:01

I need to make a will, as currently it would go to my parents but I would want it to go to my brother.

In the future though, I will likely change it so a portion goes to friends, but that comes with a whole new set of problems. I have a few friends I would like to split it between, but some of them are part of a larger circle of friends and I would hate it to cause any divides. Tricky

Original poster

bigbluebus · 30/01/2019 12:12

thecatneuterer Am I correct in assuming from your MN name that you will be leaving it to an animal charity I suspect that my DB and SIL who have no children except for the cat and dog will leave anything they have left to animal charities rather than to wider family - which is fair enough.
We have a number of small charities which are close to us as the moment but as we're not planning on dying for another 30+ years we can't be certain that those charities will still exist in their current format, if at all. Don't want to leave it to big charities as DH doesn't approve of the way most of them spend their money (admin/fat cat salaries rather than spending in the main objective)

OP posts:

thecatneuterer · 30/01/2019 12:42

OP - you are indeed correct. There is something in my will to say that should the charity change it's name, or be amalgamated, then it should go to the new body. Or if it ceases to exist then it should go to any charity which the executors deem to have similar aims. Although I've appointed the charity as the executors so I'm not sure how that would work.

But should I need to change the name of the charity in the future (which I doubt) then I think it would be a small, cheap admin charge.

thecatneuterer · 30/01/2019 12:45

I frequently get called, normally by neighbours, to collect cats that have been dumped on the street/outside by families who have inherited the house from the old person. These people don't even care enough about the person who died to make sure their beloved pets are OK. I often wonder why someone would leave their money to people like that rather than a charity.

MasonJar · 30/01/2019 12:59

I'm thinking of leaving everything to a particular charity and appointing them as executor. Main reason for this is friends and family are reasonably well off and the charity needs funds more than them.
I like the idea that the charity would sell house and possessions etc as I don't want family to be lumbered with all the paperork and sorting things out.
Of course ideally I'll spend everything before I go, just got to work out how to get the timing right .

Original poster

bigbluebus · 30/01/2019 13:02

thecatneuterer Adding a 'similar aims' clause is a good idea. We intend to have solicitors act as executors to save anyone else having the inconvenience, so that is something they could do, I'm sure. My parent's estate was sorted by professional executors and as far as I'm concerned it was worth every penny.

Hard to believe how anyone would just throw an animal out on the street which belonged to a loved one when they have just inherited all their worldly goods. But then money and inheritance does strange things to families - at least if what you read on MN is to be believed.

OP posts:

drspouse · 30/01/2019 13:04

Before we had DCs, it was to each other, family members, and charity.

dudsville · 30/01/2019 13:05

I'm sorry about the loss of your daughter and hope you don't ever experience that again and that this thread will be of no use to you.

We have nieces and nephews as well as charities we support.

Original poster

bigbluebus · 30/01/2019 13:10

MasonJar I too would like to blow it all - assuming I'm the surviving spouse! I intend to give DS some money for a house deposit in the next few years (using money my DP's left to me) so hopefully he won't be expecting anything else! Getting the timing right is the issue though. I have told DS that I have no desire to carry on living once I am no longer capable of caring for myself but sadly the law does not allow us to bow out in that easily so making sure there is some money to cover care costs is still a consideration.

OP posts:

Elfinablender · 30/01/2019 13:16

At the risk of being morbid, if the charity are the executors cat, are they the ones in charge of arranging and providing fees for your funeral if everything is to go to them?

CreativeMumma · 30/01/2019 13:17

I read in another thread that if you're leaving you estate to charity you should put a clause in saying funeraly costs need to be paid out of the estate first. Someone had a case where they couldn't afford a family members funeral and the charity wouldn't help because the money had been left to them.

Original poster

bigbluebus · 30/01/2019 13:17

Thank you Dudsville. DD had a life limiting condition which meant that we always expected that she would pre-decease us. However, we had made provision so that if we both died whilst she was still alive, all the money went into trust so that she and DS would be provided for and in the event that we all died then just about every living relative was also named as a beneficiary. However, now that DD is no longer with us we need to look at changing it so that either DS gets it all directly or in the event he is not around then it goes to exactly where we want it to go (it's just that last bit I'm unsure of at the moment)

OP posts:

ScreamingValenta · 30/01/2019 13:21

My sister.

If it gets to the stage where I am 'last man standing' in my family it will go to animal charities. Having said that, I will do my utmost to leave nothing behind me! I'll equity-release my house and live the high life once I start getting old.

BatsAreCool · 30/01/2019 13:21

If I die before DH it all goes to him. If I survive him then it all goes to charity.

thecatneuterer · 30/01/2019 13:21

@Elfinablender Yes indeed they are and I've left instructions in the will for that too (as cheap and environmentally friendly as possible and religion-free). I don't want them spending money on a pointless funeral that could go to helping cats, but it's very hard to find truly cheap ways of being dispatched.

CountFosco · 30/01/2019 13:22

Before we had DC our wills left everything to each other and if we died to our siblings.

DBro is childless and is splitting everything between our siblings. If we all make it to old age I'll probably ask for my share to go to my kids.

Seniorschoolmum · 30/01/2019 13:29

If my ds and I go together, my nieces and nephew will receive equal shares.

DogMamma · 30/01/2019 13:31

Dh and i dont own our house so it would be more possessions and ehat money there is we really need to sit down and duscuss it, dh watches would go to dss my jewellery would probably go to my nieces or any grandchildren if there is any apart from engagement ring and wedding band those would go to dss. How awful I've never really thought about it!

cstaff · 30/01/2019 13:32

Mine is divided equally between my two bros and sis and a small amount left to my 7 nieces and nephews and also a small amount left to a charity i used to be involved in.

DogMamma · 30/01/2019 13:34

I have life insurance and a separate fund for my funeral, but I really need to consider this....thanks op...guess what I am doing this weekend. Have yo think of my dogs too.... who would care for them if anything happened to us both. Dss would go live back at his mum's but my dogs...oh shit!

Fluffymule · 30/01/2019 14:04

This is a timely thread of interest for me. I am childless and single and had been meaning to get round to writing a will for many years now, but never made it a priority and actually did it.

Having been diagnosed with Cancer within the last year it is definitely something I am now prioritising for obvious reasons.
I’m a pretty pragmatic person so I’m not overly emotional/distressed by the now more urgent nature of the need to get the job done, but I am still delaying the actual meeting with a solicitor because of this same dilemma.

As well as no children I have no close relatives to leave anything to. I have a couple of nephews, but haven’t seen or spoken to them since they were young children (they are now adults).

I’ve been considering splitting things between my two best friends, along with picking a couple of charities who do work that is important to me. I just need to decide what that split would be.

I’m also aware I know very little about how the whole will/storage/executor/execution/probate process works, so I need to educate myself. I think this will also help me in terms of actually getting the will drawn up, signed and sorted.

Flip

1 2