Inheritance question

[Zooeyzo]

If an unmarried couple are living together but one person owns the mortgaged house what happens if that person suddenly dies?
Will it pass on to the kids even though they are children under 18?
Thanks if anybody can help with this.

If there's no life insurance and the survivor can't meet affordability for the mortgage on their own then the property has to be sold.

@Soontobe60 it's me who owns the house and the children will also inherit money and other investment properties from me which will cover any mortgage.
If I should die before our kids are 18 then I want dp to live in the house as long as he wants to and in particular i have a sen child so i don't really know how independent he might be at 18.
My main worry is that I want everything to go to the children.

Then make a will! And sort out some life insurance - you're replying on your dp continuing to pay a mortgage on a property he will never own.

This

In your situation, esp with the SEN child you should see a solicitor for a will.

You need a will.

You can have a lifetime tenant if that’s what you want to do - so your DP can live in the house until he dies, and is responsible for maintaining it and any associated costs, but he will not have a claim to the house. If he dies, or it’s sold, it goes to your DC.

Why are you leaving it to chance when you don’t have to then. Write a will. Problem solved.

If you are well off enough to own your house AND investments properties AND you have a child with SN then you are crazy to not have a will and POA.

You nee dot think carefully about your plans eg you say you want your partner to live there was long as he likes . Do you actually mean that ? So if you kids all have their own places, you’re be happy for your now partner and his wife and kids to live in your house ? And presumably for your kids to pay the mortgage and bills, if they own it ?

You really REALLY need legal advice asap. Like next week.

See a solicitor and make a will, it really isn't expensive or difficult - your situation is v normal, you can leave the house to the children but with a life interest to your DP or right to live there until the children are 18. If there's substantial money coming to the children you will want to name a trustee, either your DP and/or someone else. Also things to consider like what would you want to happen if your DP remarries, would you want him to still be able to live in the house or should it be sold and the money held for the children then? What about if he wants to relocate for other reasons, e.g
to be near family or for work, do you want him to be able to rehouse himself and the children or is that on him at that point? A solicitor will go through all this with you, it really will be well worth it ...

So what you want is:

1. Your partner to be able to live in the house as long as he wishes- possibly until he dies at say 85- but not to inherit the property.
2. The property to be inherited by your children but not be available to them to sell or rent out until he chooses to move out.

Potentially huge issues there.
a) What if the relationship between him and them broke down?
b) What if they needed the money to but their own properties and could not access it because he was living in the house?
c) Who is responsible for upkeep of the house? Decoration/repairs/updating?
d) What if your DP met someone else and moved her and her children into the property?
e) What if your DP was still living there at 85?

Thank you for listing the scenarios above. I'm going to see a solicitor ASAP and get a will sorted. My children are quite young and it was only this morning when I was thinking about ehcps and what would happen to my sen child if I got hit by a bus that I suddenly thought of inheritance.

Would you and your DP make provision for each other in wills?
Unless there's a really good reason for leaving nothing to your DP, I think leaving them just the right to stay in your house might not be entirely helpful. What if they don't want to live there when you aren't there any more? What if they need to move somewhere else for very good reasons? If they would simply lose their home without any resources to find a new one, is that really fair on them? Is it fair to effectively settle 100% of your estate on your children and nothing on your life partner?
If they would be financially fine then it's different.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/living-together-marriage-and-civil-partnership/living-together-and-marriage-legal-differences/

Also, consider that you are not each other's next of kin so in case of a medical emergency, a blood family member takes precedence. I'd get married in a simple registry wedding just to simplify everything.

This is potentially quite misleading/dangerous advice. Next of kin is not a legally defined term as far as hospitals are concerned and even spouses don't have an automatic right to make decisions about their husband/wife in an emergency. The reasons hospitals ask for a next of kin on the records is more about who is the primary liaison point/who gets information shared with them by the doctors - most times these days hospital will totally recognise a long term partner as the 'next of kin' especially if the person is conscious and able to communicate their wishes about this (but even if not).

So I really wouldn't let this point alone decide whether you get married in a case where there's a significant disparity in assets and the OP particularly wants hers to be protected for the DC - marrying for the sake of the very rare event where one of them is unconscious in hospital and blood relatives conspire/hoodwink the medical staff to try and cut the other out of information seems unwise to me, compared to the much more likely scenario of a relationship breakdown or even an early death of the OP and the DP then having a legitimate claim on her estate. Of course if they want to get married then fine but that's not the impression I'm getting (if I'm wrong then the advice about getting a will made now is wrong as wills made before marriage are usually null and void)...

You will also need tax advice about estate planning as your estate will probably be subject to inheritance tax ( as you have investment properties). Unless you are happy for most of them to be sold to pay 40% inheritance tax.

Depending on the type of SN of your child, you might need to set up a trust to look after his needs and protect his assets.

@maxelly that's right I don't want to get married. We refer to each other as husband wife and most people just assume we're married and we share all finances as a married couple. He has his own money and I honestly don't trust him with finances so want to "ring fence" money for our kids.

@INTERNETEXPL0RER he's too young for me to really know. Part of the reason I suddenly panicked about the what if scenario this morning.

Not true. I am my partners NOK. We name each other. It can be who you nominate.