To suggest all couples, especially those with children

[gk6277]

Should make sure they each have life insurance, and ideally a will, as I am worried some of the people dying from coronavirus could be leaving behind a financial nightmare for their loved ones.

Agree 100%
Get wills, power of attorney and life insurance.
If you're healthy and mid 40s, you should be able to get at least £1million of cover for £65 a month.
Don't bother with less than half a mill - that won't replace a lot of salaries for a long time.

@BeNiceToYourSister Thank you, you got it, just wanted to remind folks 🙂

You wont know if it's a good deal or not until one of you dies Saigon! Honestly, you could likely get simple mirror wills for maybe £70 more than that, which is frankly a much better deal. And if your affairs are sufficiently complex that a will would be towards the expensive end, all the more reason to avoid DIY.

Your partner doesn’t get your assets if you die without a will.
That is one very good reason to protect those you love by getting married.

Although you won't be able to get married right now.

A couple of questions about taking out life insurance right now...

1. Wouldn't insurance companies exclude COVID-19 as something they'd pay out for? (If I were them, I'd be writing that into my terms and conditions at the first sniff of a pandemic)

1. Even if COVID-19 isn't included, is there a minimum term you'd have to pay premiums for in order to receive a pay out? For instance, if you took out a policy tomorrow and died a month later?

Sorry - 2nd question should read "Even if COVID-19 isn't excluded"

Last year I made a will. It's a mirror one with my husband. We'd been intending to do this for a long time. He's in his fifties (I'm slightly :) older). Although a mirror will, it wasn't particularly straightforward. Using a solicitor, they pointed out things I'd never have thought of. It was about who I didn't want to get my estate/money, as well as who I did. As in; if me, my husband, and my only child died at the (estimated) same time, where would the money go? So, within our mirror wills, we've named five charities (all local, none national) if we and our child dies at the same time.

Well timed post , we haven’t got wills either. Will be prioritising when all of this is over.

Why do you only suggest that its only important for couples? A bit narrow minded. What about lone parents and divorced parents? Dont we count? Might even be more important than couples.

One thing to remember - you can't will your children. You can say who you'd like to go to, but if there is a specific reason that an obvious candidate isn't your choice it's well worth noting your reasons for that.

For example I have a letter with my will detailing the reasons I'd never want my brother or sister being guardians for my children.

It doesn't guarantee that they wouldn't put up a fight against BIL (should DH and I die together), but it would add weight to BIL's case.

I have no idea what to do about our wills. My SIL is probably the only option but not really happy about it. I don't know what people with limited family do.

So my situation is unmarried with two children, own a house as joint tenants, no savings to speak of but my children are beneficiaries of life insurance and pension. Do I need to make a will as nothing would change?

@Tempnamelady
will be prioritising when all of this is over
I think doing it now would be a good idea.

I had my Will written by a Mumsnetter who has a Will-writing company called Marlowe Wills. She phoned me and we arranged what would go in my Will, then she emailed the Will to me and I got my neighbours to sign it. It was very straightforward.

This is the website.

The Mumsnetter's name is @mumblechum1. I can highly recommend her and have no connection to her apart from her writing my Will.

@underneaththeash
A 0.1 % chance of dying is quite high for an otherwise healthy 44 year old woman. That means if 1000 catch it, one will die. It's not what I would consider a low risk anyway.

@HollowTalk, thanks for your kind recommendation 💐💐💐
I'm currently sending out wills for signing with suggestions for witnessing with no direct contact.

The 1837 Wills Act rules still apply (2 independent witnesses watching the testator sign at the same time). It's challenging but not impossible.

@Rosebel do you mean for who to have your children?
We're asking friends.

@mynamesmrdiggety Are your children adults?

Have you nominated a NOK? Who’ll control the money for your children?

You’d be much better making a will and nominating your partner as executor if you want them to be able to do all of those things (especially if you have parents or siblings who may want to be involved)

You're welcome, @Mumblechum0! It was a real relief during this crisis to know that I had a Will all sorted.

Bustergonad a solicitor would NEVER advise you not to make a will.
And if you did die intestate anyone could make a claim on your will, slowing up the whole process of obtaining Grant of Administration.

Why do you only suggest that its only important for couples?What about lone parents and divorced parents? Dont we count?

Apparently not. Par for the course, really. Nothing changes, eh?

Sadly most policies now will exclude Corona.

If you have a pension with death benefits, make sure your nominations are in order. For civil service pensions, ongoing pensions will go automatically to a spouse or civil partner, and to qualifying children. But they won’t automatically go to a partner, you need to nominate that person (the oldest scheme doesn’t allow for partners at all). And the lump sum doesn’t have to go to the same person - your spouse might get the annual pension, while the lump sum goes to your dad who you nominated when you were 22 and never got round to changing. Divorce automatically nullifies a nomination to your former spouse/civil partner, which is fine as long as it’s what you want ...

The other public sector schemes at least have pretty similar rules.

You mean existing life insurance won't pay out for Covid? Or do you mean new policies?