is DH died...

[cjt110]

what would happen to his stuff?

I have a Will. Made before we married, in contemplation of marriage and basically covers each eventuality with/without children, if i die before him etc.

I have said to DH he needs to get his shit together and sort one out. Been saying it for a few years and DS is almost 5.

So. What would happen to his stuff car, house, personal effects if he died before me? or after me?

A friend of mine was widowed a few years ago. They jointly owned their house, car etc but she said it was still a nightmare to get everything sorted because he didn't have a will. It took a lot longer to get probate sorted, their accounts were frozen, and it was all a lot of stress for her at the time she didn't need extra stress.

We got wills drawn up by a company who came to our house in the evening, discussed our assets and wishes, and then sent a copy in the post a few days later for us to sign, have witnessed and then post back to them.

Can you just make an appointment like that and get it sorted for both of you? For the sake of a few hundred quid, it's a huge risk to take

But Guardianship isn't covered if you die first - it might even make a difference if you die immediately and he takes his time to die/is incapacitated from the same incident.

It's better to get him to make a will, as nobody wants Social Services making decisions that could become permanent whilst he's in hospital. (Not that they are inherently bad, but they might think an alternative would be better for them and, without instructions from him, your wishes, being the one who had died at that point, become irrelevant).

This is who we used
I think it was about £300 for them to come to the house, take our instructions and then send us draft mirror wills
www.ewltd.com/

The local solicitor wanted over a grand

Who will be their Guardian, mind their inheritance in the event that both parents die. This is already covered in my will.

Not much use if you predecease your husband by eg 3 months, God forbid. Then your Will won’t be in effect. So he does need one.

Dying intestate (without a will) is really inconsiderate. It’s a lot more hassle & paperwork for the bereaved to deal with and drags out longer.

Tell him to stop being such a lazy, thoughtless, selfish dick and get one sorted out. Best you go together and get his done and yours refreshed.

It doesn’t take that long & it isn’t that expensive.

Is he always this selfish?

Agree, he needs to appoint guardians if he's the surviving parent.

You are right, he doesn’t need to make a will. However it really does make things simpler in the event of an untimely death. My husband died at 37 leaving me and two children. Having a will meant that everything went where he wanted it to and I knew what he wanted to happen. It also prevented disputes about money etc.

@ssd I think op is saying quite clearly that they don’t.

What would happen if you died within days of each other? You first and then dh in the same car accident? Would your will re guardian for dc apply as on your death it goes to him then no guardian for dc as he has no will?

Are you younger than dh because if you die together and it's not clear who died first ie in car crash both dead when ambulances arrive then the younger person is deamed to of survived longest.

Surely as there is a child you both need to make a will together in case you both die at the same time (potentially a car accident) what would happen to you DS.

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y/england-and-wales/yes/yes/yes

If he doesn’t care and is happy for everything he has to go to you and/or his child(ren) why is that a problem? If he has no strong feelings on in then surely that frees you from worrying about it. In which case if it ever happened you can do as you will with it, knowing that he has no specific wishes.

I'd be more worried about your parents not having a will. If your DM dies first it all goes to your stepfather if they're married. Once he goes, the roles of intestacy say everything is inherited by blood relatives only, so would go to his bio son. Unless your stepfather adopted you of course, then you'd have rights too.

it proves his bloody point that he doesn't need to make a Will

Yes he does. It's far easier to deal with the estate when there's a will. Yes, there are rules on what should happen if someone dies intestate, but having a will is much kinder and considerate on those left behind, and will make the time taken to deal with it all far easier; even with a simple will and a small estate, there's a hell of a lot of paperwork around death. Dying intestate just makes everything a lot more drawn out.

It's even more important if you have children under 18.

Good luck with persuading him. We'd been asking my father to make one for over a decade. It eventually took a terminal cancer diagnosis to persuade him, and he still delayed it to the point the solicitor had to come out to the car because he could manage to get into the office any more. He died about a month later.

It depends whether you are joint tennants (automatically inherit) or tennants in common (only inherent up to 250k of his share). If you died in an accident together (say a plane crash) it might also be important who was younger. If he is younger then I think you would be considered to have died first so unless you have a surviourship clause that he needs to outlive you by 30 days then he would inherit your estate and then your will could fail. Or if he is older you would inherit everything and say if your ds had died too it would all go to your next of kin - presumably your parents - his in-laws. Not a legal expert but these are some of the arguments I have tried having with dh!

Sorry, just re-read and seen your DM and SF are not married. It will make things just as complicated as you will inherit everything of hers, so could make things difficult for your SF.

Right OP.

1. If you made your Will "in contemplation of marriage" then you have a Will.
2. How are your assets held? If you own a house as joint tenants or have any joint bank accounts then these would pass to the survivor automatically on the production of a death certificate (you would need to submit a DJP application to the Land Registry for the house), irrespective of any Will either of you have made/will make.
3. Does your husband have any assets in his sole name? Depending on the level of those assets a Grant of Letters of Administration may be required if he dies before you.
4. You do not get everything just because you are his wife. Read up on the intestacy rules (assuming that you are in England/Wales).
5. Your husband should make a Will in any event to cover what would happen to your minor child in the event that you are both dead. There would need to be Trustees to manage any trust fund for that minor child until they attain the vesting age (usually 18, 21 or 25).
6. You should both see a solicitor to get this sorted out.

Time to give them all a telling off and to get their shit together!

Thanks all and thanks to those who shared their experiences too

Who will be their Guardian, mind their inheritance in the event that both parents die. This is already covered in my will.
Correct me if I’m wrong but if you were let’s say involved in a car crash and you were to die first, then it would all go to your DH and then to whoever he said it should go to.

So the result might be different than what you would expect to see. I would double check that.

PS The firm I work for charges £150.00 plus VAT for mirror Wills, which are either simple family Wills (everything to each other and then to the children) or a more structured Will (ie property trust).

For the more complex discretionary trust Wills we charge £250.00 plus VAT for both Wills and then £90.00 plus VAT to sever the joint tenancy in relation to the house.

I believe ( & I am not a solicitor ) that if a DH & DW die together then the youngest has the proceeds from the will. I also believe marriage invalidates any previous will but as Pps have said that may not be the case if "in contemplation of marriage" Surely just easier to make a proper will. I know this is motherhood and apple pie but not that hard to make one & yes - apart from money - guardianship of children. - I agree with @Increiblysadtoo and others - dying without a will makes life so much harder for those left - at a time when they do not need it. I do think your Mum should make one. Making a will does not mean you are going to die next week.

I couldn't even get our joint bank account sorted without showing the bank my husband's will.

Wherever your husband's estate eventually goes, it's VASTLY easier to cope with such a traumatic time, with a will to show to the various agencies one has to deal with.

Most importantly it is NOT CORRECT that if he dies intestate to say you inherit everything.

Hi @cjt110 My DH died without a Will - when he got sick he was still DP and we had an emergency ICU wedding as I was pregnant at the time and wanted to be able to put his name on birth certificate.

Our house was owned as joint tenants so it passed to me regardless of marriage. He had no significant estate otherwise as all bank accounts were joint so also just passed to me. His personal possessions passed to me as his spouse. I was also entitled to the first 250k of any remaining assets which was zero, as everything joint.

My solicitor advised us that marriage was quicker and more effective in our circumstances than a Will.

However, he should still have one!!

The local solicitor wanted over a grand

Blimey, that's steep! I think I paid about £100 a few years ago. There's also Will Aid when you can get a basic will done and donate what you like (though they do suggest £95) - google who does this locally and when.