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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU.. are wills not worth the paper they are written on?

39 replies

Allaboutwork · 07/04/2018 06:59

Buying a house with my DP. Not married. No kids.
How do we protect our selves in the (hopefully, very very) distant future that something happens to one of us?

I am guessing without a will if one of us were to die the half of the house that person owns would go to their next of kin? (Parents?)

One of us is putting all of the substantial deposit into the house purchase. Is there a way to protect this?
For example.. person A puts in deposit. If person B dies, currently their 50% of the house would go to next of kin (parents?) so meaning person A would have to sell the house and would get 50% of the equity, therefore giving persons B's parents 50% of original deposit plus half of the equity.

I want to find a way of making sure if something dreadful happened, neither of us would be left in a situation were we have lost of the love of our life, and then to go on and lose the home we shared together.

OP posts:
overmydeadbody · 07/04/2018 07:00

You definitely need a will.

whoareyoukidding · 07/04/2018 07:02

Get legal advice and draw the appropriate will up - this is what I did. It is much more complicated than i thought it would be.

Brendaofbeechhouse · 07/04/2018 07:02

Are you buying as joint tenants or tenants in common?

thirstyformore · 07/04/2018 07:05

Your solicitor can advise you. You need to ensure you're owning the property in the correct manner (tenants in common), and then have a will which deals with your assets in the event of death.

Your conveyancer can advise on the property ownership, and you should be able to get a decent wills lawyer for a few hundred pounds.

GeekyBlinders · 07/04/2018 07:05

If you buy as joint-tenants, it will go to the survivor automatically as both parties own all the house. If you buy as tenants-in-common, each of you owns a defined share (e.g. The partner with the big deposit could own 75% and the other person 25%) and when one person dies, their share would go to their next of kin. You should get a Will though - because this is just referring to the house, all other assets go to next of kin if there's no will.

I think the contents of a joint account would go to the surviving party too but not positive about that.

Sirzy · 07/04/2018 07:05

I find it a bit odd your buying a house with someone you would happily make homeless if you died (or vice Verca)

But yes you need a will without doubt.

TheBlueDot · 07/04/2018 07:06

Talk to a solicitor, you can draw up an agreement to protect the deposit.

However if you are planning DC, consider how the agreement would affect the person who would live with DC if you split. Would that person have enough money to house the DC?

TheBlueDot · 07/04/2018 07:07

The advice about joint tenants above....

It’s not water tight as you can serve notice on someone to move to tenants-in-common.

PancakeBum · 07/04/2018 07:07

Aren't you buying as joint tenants? If so the house automatically goes to whoever survives.

ISpentTheDayInBed · 07/04/2018 07:07

If you purchase as 'joint tenants' then the other partner would automatically get the whole property in the event of a death. However you still need to make a will, even if you eventually get married.

Fleurchamp · 07/04/2018 07:07

You definitely need a will and possibly a declaration of trust if you are buying uneven shares of the property.

PancakeBum · 07/04/2018 07:08

But yes that also means you need life insurance to cover mortgage payments.

GeekyBlinders · 07/04/2018 07:08

See here for more details and explanations: www.gov.uk/joint-property-ownership

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 07/04/2018 07:10

You could give a life interest in the house to the survivor and then on their death have your share go to your family. You need to decide what you want to happen and own the house and make a will accordingly.

Uniglo18 · 07/04/2018 07:11

Wills are worth the paper they're written on providing you get sound legal advice. See a solicitor as soon as you can. How long have you been with your partner?

Buy as tenants in common and then leave your half to your named beneficiary in your will. Remember, there is no such thing as common law marriage so if you die or split your assets will be treated as if you're a single person.

The one thing that will protect you both if things don't go to plan is marriage. I would get married quietly at the registry office and that £200 & piece of paper will protect you legally. Forget the fancy do and flower arrangements, just get the legals done first before you exchange contracts.

Read this [[https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/living-together-marriage-and-civil-partnership/living-together-and-marriage-legal-differences/ article]] by the Citizens Advice Bureau

Northumberlandlass · 07/04/2018 07:13

A Will will sort this out.
I live with my DP, I have DS. The house is mine.
DS is to inherit the house. But if I die DP would be homeless - so our Will is set up so that after my death DP can live in the house/ pay for up keep until he dies (or cohabits/ gets remarried) & then it passes to DS. It’s called a Life Interest Trust (or something similar).
If we DO get married (pensions etc) then we’ll have to go back to solicitor to ensure that the house is protected for DS. Because as soon as we get married it becomes a marital asset. A pre nup essientially. Solicitor has advised it’s all possible.

In your situation a deal is a necessity.
Ours have cost £375 plus VAT for both

HTH

Fengshui · 07/04/2018 07:16

Wills are definitely worth the paper they are written on. Google 'what happens if you die without a will' and see.

Most solicitors can draw up a will for a modest amount of money- mine did ours for £150.00 and we had peace of mind that it was a solicitor who specialised in wills drawing it up. We thought it would be simple- just a mirror will but they see the nuances and implications of things we did not.

When you are buying a house it is not the time to save some pennies by ignoring the need for a will.

Arapaima · 07/04/2018 07:16

A will is definitely worth the paper it's written on! In this situation you need a will.

PancakeBum · 07/04/2018 07:19

Why do you have to get married if you are tenants in common and have a will?

TheBlueDot · 07/04/2018 07:24

Because a new Will can be written at any time.

Prestonsflowers · 07/04/2018 07:25

@sirzy
I find it a bit odd that you didn’t bother to read the full post before replying.

OP, you should contact a Solicitor and get a will drawn up

PancakeBum · 07/04/2018 07:26

Can't imagine my DP would be arsed to write a new will tbh, took him long enough to do the first one.

BoomBoomsCousin · 07/04/2018 07:26

YABVU - wills and other legal instruments can definitely make a difference in the situation you're describing. Get proper legal advice for your situation, but it sounds like you simply need to ensure your property is bought as a joint tenancy (I would also ensure you are both insured for the cost of the mortgage).

VickieCherry · 07/04/2018 07:27

Why would wills not be worth the paper they're written on? No-one would pay to make them if that were the case.

We're not married, we bought a house a couple of years ago and took legal advice and made a will to ensure we're both protected. We did put in equal amounts of deposit, but obviously we want the other person to keep the house if one of us dies. Our life insurance, pensions and death in service awards are also all set up to go to each other.

Something you do need to be aware of is inheritance. If one or both of you has significant assets (I think it's about 400k but don't quote me on that) and you're not married, even with a will the other will have to pay inheritance tax on anything over that amount.

We have nowhere near that much money, but if we ever do or if we get to a point where we've paid off the mortgage and the house is worth that we'll have to look again at the legal situation.

Making a will involves a few hundred £££ and a few hours will a solicitor going over the worst possible scenarios of life. It's not exactly fun, but we did feel much more secure and sorted once it was done.

Uniglo18 · 07/04/2018 07:41

PancakeBum legal protection of marriage v cohabitation. There are added legal benefits of marriage that just living together doesn't cover such as widows/ers benefit, single parent benefit paid for 18 months after death of spouse for parent left with children under 18. Read the CAB link. Getting married isn't for everyone but I certainly wouldn't have had kids or bought a house before being married. You only have to read the horror stories on the MN relationship board.

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