Is it possible to put a clause in a will to stop someone selling something after you're dead?

[Laiste]

Just that really.

I've always been told that a certain object must stay in my life forever because it's In The Will That It Must Never Be Sold.

This has been told to me since i was a child and i've always grudgingly accepted it - suddenly i'm wondering .... is this even a real thing? i feel a bit daft for asking

Once the item is yours, it’s yours to do with that you want. I think the maker of the will is definitely controlling , or bluffing about what is in their will. It’s not like it’s a house or a vintage car, is it?
Is it an item of furniture, or something like a big ornament?

Maybe your dcs will be 18 when this person pops their clogs and therefore this discussion will perhaps be largely irrelevant. For the moment, just smile and agree.

Some of it.
Yes.
and yes. (already a bit damaged)
and yes.

Sorry that last was to recrudescence

Oh just seen it’s a clock. Historically important to whom? And how can a clock take up that much space?

Is it Big Ben prototype?

If it's historically important perhaps you could donate it to a museum or something similar.
You could still be the owner but would be letting others have the "pleasure" of viewing it rather than just you.
Sadly though you won't be able to turn it into £££.

School rum then swimming.

Shall return.

Ooh is it a big grandfather clock like in Tom's midnight garden?

Oh is it a grandfather clock or a wall clock? At least if it’s a wall clock you could hang it somewhere out the way, so you don’t have to look at it, but a grandfather clock is a different story.

You have the right to refuse ("disclaim") all or part of your inheritance. If you do, it remains in the deceased's estate and is redistributed by the executor according to the terms of the will.

I am not a lawyer, but if it's not explicitly left to you as a life interest in a trust, it's yours absolutely, surely?

www.bequeathed.org/wills/SmallCharity/conditions-in-a-will

I love this kind of thing. The website above echoes what I think I remember of my cursory studies in this area a long time ago. You can put conditions in a will, but it's a minefield. The conditions will not be enforced if they're:

• impossible to perform, e.g. you have to go to the moon before you inherit
• uncertain - wording too vague or unenforceable, e.g. you must give up your unsuitable friends
• against public policy, e.g. you have to agree never to marry
• something the court just doesn't like - so the judge uses her/his discretion and sets it aside, e.g. you had to qualify as a doctor within two years to inherit, you did qualify but not for three years

If it of historical interest, could you lend it to a museum for safekeeping and to share with the community? My grandfathers trains were loaned to a local museum for an exhibition (and then never returned... not sure anyone asked mind)

I’d tell them it’ll be going in the nearest charity bag. You need to nip this sort of thing in the bud.

I've just made my will. I wanted to include a statement about something that I did not want the money inherited from me to be spent on but I was told very clearly by my (UK) solicitor that once the money had been passed down that was that and that I had no control over it whatsoever. Same for assets. So I'd say sell it, if that's what you want to do. Or give it to another member of the family so that they can worry about it

Of historical importance, you say... well in that case you could loan it to a museum and get the hideous thing out of your life without selling it

Since the will-maker isn't dead, you haven't inherited it yet. And if it's only in the will that it must never be SOLD, that doesn't stop you from taking it to the tip or chopping it up for firewood!

Also, you have no duty to accept any bequest. If you don't want the item, simply tell the executors you refuse it. If you are the executor yourself, that's even easier.

Before you do so, double check that there isn't a special reason you aren't aware of for them wanting this item to pass down in perpetuity. No secret drawer with family documents/hidden treasure? Ask the will-maker to tell you the history of the piece, and to write it down if possible (this provenance may add to its value when you sell). Is there a member of the family who loves researching family history, who might grab the item willingly if you don't want it?

beyond.life/help-centre/admin-legal/how-to-get-a-copy-of-a-will/

In my family there are some grandfather clocks and a table that are held in trust. My Dad was due to take the lifetime interest in one of the clocks on the death of my grandfather, but forwent his interest to pass the clock directly on to the next life time interest.
The benefit of doing this that the clock does not form part of the estate because no individual ever owns it.

Take it to the Repair Shop and stress, off camera, that unlike all their other visitors, you want them to find it's damaged beyond repair and has to be chucked in the bin?

My DF has a grandfather clock which he inherited, and has spent a fortune on over the years trying to get it to work. My sister and I both dislike it, and have said for years that we don’t want it!

Just say No!, OP.

The famous "valuable clock" heirloom. 99% are just old worthless shite.

I wonder if you can create a life interest in anything other than real property or a under a trust? Other than an heirloom, legally defined. Lady Eustaces' Diamonds by Trollope had a fasinating legal opinion on the creation of heirlooms in law :)

@Lonecatwithkitten

Where does the clock live?

Prescot on Merseyside has a clock museum. Donate it to them 'for the nation'

Is it this OP? I think you should keep it, it's really very pretty ...

www.redbubble.com/people/arthistorical/works/33459063-the-ugly-duchess-matsys?frame_color=bamboo&hand_color=white&p=clock&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=g.pla+notset&country_code=GB&gclid=CjwKCAjw8ZHsBRA6EiwA7hw_sUWA2WWWJmWJmdegVeEUZNjBqr139Y5O_rGTxGLSubrkWdLG5SnWRRoCQL0QAvD_BwE