To ask about the point of a will in this situation?

[WillConfusion]

I'm sorry I'm a bit naive about all this and will obviously speak with a solicitor about it.

I am 28, don't have a will yet. I am married with one DC, my husband has 2 older children as well. We own our home.

If I were to make a will now, what would I even put in it?!

Our house is owned as joint tenants so that means I can't leave a "share" of it to anyone in particular as it passed to DH on my death, we don't have any substantial savings.

I guess the only thing is I would like to make sure if if I ever do have any of my own assets, that they will go to my DC and not be split between all 3 children. The only thing I can think of is that I will receive an inheritance from my parents, in the form of both funds and a property which is in trust and worth quite a lot (I know about the trust because I needed to sign the paperwork). My DC is covered in the trust so if I die before my parents, it transfers to them.

Can you make a will for future assets? How would I even separate it anyway, our accounts are joint so any money I did inherit from parents or the property would go into a joint account anyway. Or would you make a solo savings account with this in mind to be used one day for this?

Sorry it's all a bit daunting, I've never done anything like this before. The only asset I really have now is our house, which DH would get anyway on my death.

Basically if I went into a solicitors now and they asked me what I wanted to put in my will I wouldn't know as I don't really have anything!

@Crocky

Think about what you would want to happen in the event you both die at the same time and while your child is still young. You can make your wishes known for their ongoing care and put money into trust for their needs.

This is the most important thing to think about.

remember that the will you write now needs to last about 10 years (or longer) because people don't update them often. So try to anticipate what might happen (e.g. more children). you can write the will to give gifts to 'all my children' rather than 'DS1' because the latter option would leave out a potential DS2 born later.

There was a case of one DD not inheriting because the will didn't cover if they died together. The mother had died minutes before the father, so only his daughter inherited. If you are both killed in a car accident, what happens next could be determined by who died first.
You need to speak to the solicitor because they are used to different scenarios happening.

What would happen to your DC, worst case scenario, should you and DH both die in an accident tomorrow?

*'m sorry I'm a bit naive about all this and will obviously speak with a solicitor about it.

I am 28, don't have a will yet. I am married with one DC, my husband has 2 older children as well. We own our home.

If I were to make a will now, what would I even put in it?!*

That if you die first, you leave the house to DH. But he might die first, so your will should cover the scenario where you are the sole owner and your child is left an orphan.

We changed our house to 'tenants in common' and in the event of one of our deaths the other could stay in the house in their death or until it was sold then each half went to our respective families (no children)
This was to avoid the situation where one dies the other remarries and then they die and the 'new' spouse gets the whole property having poisoned them

@Popitdontstopit

I would not pay the inheritance you are expecting into a joint account. Get it paid somewhere else (not hard to open another account) and then you can transfer all or part to your dc straight away.

Exactly this. I would never have all our money in joint accounts. We each have sole accounts and one joint account. Once bills are paid we spend/save our own money. Keep your inheritance money in your name and then put whatever you wish into a savings account for your dc - maybe a joint savings account in yours and dc names so that they can't access it without your signature until they are older.

I can only agree with everyone that it makes matters a lot simpler when you die if you’ve left a will. I’ve seen both situations and intestacy is a headache all round.

@WillConfusion

I thought if we were joint tenants though that we didn't really have his share and my share and it just meant the other gets the house on the others death.

I think we'd probably be better off as tenants in common thinking about it now. I'd prefer to have a "share" to leave to my DC solely really.

I would certainly change to tenents in common then you can specify what happens to half the house on the first death.

I was told that if there's no woill, and then both both me and my DH die at exactly the same time...eg both flattened by a 20 tonne weight falling on us. Then the order if death is oldest died first, everything is passed to the younger spouse, then the younger spouse died,and then it would go down the line to our DC.

In your case, what would happen in that event? If you're younger, your child would automatically inherit everything.

@WillConfusion Can you make a will for future assets?

No, but you should change your will when there's a significant change in circumstances, such as when you receive an inheritance. Wills don't last forever and it's pretty normal to update your will a few times during your life as your circumstances change.

He does not have to agree. You could leave a life interest to him, remainder to your children (or anyone else). So he could remain in the property until his death, upon which your share reverts to your beneficiaries. Definitely see a solicitor.

Imagine this scenario:
You die
DH inherits everything
He remarries
He dies
New wife and her kids get everything if there is still no will.

There are ways to ensure your assets can only go to the 'bloodline', but you need professional advice and it is not cheap.

Another one here who used Mumblechum/Marlow Wills. Our affairs were quite straightforward but we wanted to make sure that our children went to the right guardian if the worst happened and that the guardian would be able to spend capital if necessary to raise our children adequately.

In your case, what would happen in that event? If you're younger, your child would automatically inherit everything

I am younger yes.

I think I will go with the tenants in common route with life interest to DH then my 50% to our joint child.

I'll have the conversation with DH but I think I'll probably go ahead either way. It seems the best way to ensure DS is secure.

I don't imagine he'll be in any rush to sort one out himself but I'll try to encourage it.

Please make sure you make sure any life insurance and pensions have the correct beneficiary as usually they pay out on the person nominated when you took them out and So if you want to change who that is, then you should contact the companies separately to your will.