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

[Allaboutwork]

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.

www.advicenow.org.uk/living-together

Read this.

I know just living together gives you no rights, but surely being tenants in common and having wills does?

According to those websites, a will covers you.

We are tenants in common with a deed of trust in place which protects our shares (he covered the deposit, I covered stamp duty and pay more of the mortgage). This is also reflected in our will

I've heard so many horror stories. Where a will gets overturned by a family member who feels they deserve some money but weren't left anything?

Depends what you mean by 'covers'. It doesn't give you the same legal rights and obligations as marriage does, but then you may not want them.

The thing with wills is that while they certainly are worth the paper they're written on, people are allowed to change them, without mentioning it to the initial beneficiaries. So for example if you're tenants in common and make wills leaving your share to the other on death, either of you can make another will leaving your share to someone else any time you feel like it. It will be much easier to challenge that will, once the person dies, if you're married to them.

OP if you're buying a house, you'll have a solicitor. Ask them about wills. They should ask you if you have one really, it's good practice. And in your situation, as you'll probably not buy as joint tenants if you have a deposit you want to protect, you really need one.

Sorry meant to say this is also reflected in our will, along with what happens to DP share if something happens to him - his passes to his kids but I have the right to remain in the house until I sell it/die/get re-married

I've heard so many horror stories. Where a will gets overturned by a family member who feels they deserve some money but weren't left anything?

Yes definitely, that's a good reason not to make a will. Heard a couple of headlines about specific cases with unusual circumstances, and decided that your great aunt Muriel will challenge the will and win, despite you never having met her, so it's not worth bothering.

Get the deed of trust drawn up to protect your deposit - wills only cover death, but you should also consider what happens if the relationship were to break down in the future. It's much easier to sort out who gets what when you still like each other

If there's someone you want not to benefit from your will but who you think might try and challenge it, tell the solicitor. It's possible to include clauses explaining why you're choosing not to, which in turn potentially makes it harder for a challenge to succeed.

If you are an adult who owns property and /or has children you should have a will. Would be if anyone in that position didn't have one.

Make a will.

If op is putting in a whacking great deposit and is now and likely to be in the future, a higher earner, she’s better off not getting married. Don’t assume it’s the partner with the money.

So instead of doing your own research in relation to what will probably be the biggest purchase of your lifetime your solution is to ask on here??