Why don't sole beneficiaries of a will share more?

[malificent7]

I mean in cases where it's clearly unfair. Such as the step mum inheriting all when there are children about or one sibling unexpectedly inheriting everything.
Jusr a bit shocked about inheritance threads ( and concerned about my own stepmum getting everything).

I don’t think it’s that he hasn’t provided for his children in his will it’s more like he hasn’t actually made a will, so the laws of intestacy apply which generally means the second wife gets it all.
Apparently only 60% of over 65’s have made a will.

People are money grabbing shits. My sister keeps arguing against our mum going into sheltered accommodation or moving to a manageable bungalow because it will mean less money for her to inherit.

Well, if the money came from a high-earning first wife, or first wife’s family money, and first wife then dies, leaving everything to husband. Husband then remarries, and then dies himself within a year or two. It is grossly unfair that some random second wife gets all the first wife’s money, and the first wife’s own children get nothing.

Obviously it’s a sliding scale, and hopefully most second marriages are long enough that the second wife has also contributed. But I have known situations where the first wife’s children end up with nothing to even remember her by, due to sheer spite from the second wife.

I think the law needs to change. If someone dies without a will, then their assets should be split equally between the spouse and biological/legally adopted children.

A step parent shouldn't be exploiting their beloved life partner's death to take revenge on their children.

Given that many do, though...always make a will and don't assume your spouse values your children the way you want them to.

When people get married they pool their resources, there is no longer yours and mine. So when first wife died the remaining money already belonged to her husband, when the husband married again all his possessions and assets belonged to him and his second wife. He could have that point given something to his children but on dying surely everything belongs to his widow?

It is hugely unfair in many cases of second marriages where children miss out on their parents' assets because a subsequent spouse house inherited everything. Equally, why should a subsequent spouse potentially lose their home in order to "pay off" children who are not theirs?
Probate must be a horrible area of law to work in, it really can bring out the worst in people. It does show the importance of proper planning and conversations about expectations before the worst happens, and even then relies on trust.

What if that requires selling the house and making the spouse homeless?

currently intestacy rules are first £325k goes to spouse, anything else is split. So the current rules do accommodate spouse and children.

bear in mind spouses also get an inheritance tax exemption. If assets are left to children, bypassing the spouse, a large chunk may go on IHT.

oh gosh.. so my sister had left her husband, had been living with another man of whom she was engaged too, when her 'husband' sadly passed away in a car crash. because there was no will, she was still his next of kin and therefore she got every penny of his insurance, leaving nothing for his new partner or family. He did not write a will

another thing, my ex-husband remarried and he did write a will, sadly he also passed away. turns out his wife had already begun a new relationship before he died (he was in end of life care).. his will left her everything and she handed nothing over to his children.

Legally on both counts, the money was theirs, with or without a will... morally, those women should not have taken the money or should have given something to those you would expect to have benefitted.

With money and wills, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. Money will always cause upset to someone

It’s not just second marriages.

even a first marriage can end up not being passed to the kids. They may spend it all, or need it for care.

no guarantees, even if you leave everything to the child’s other parent. What if they have more kids, splitting the estate further? Even if they leave it to kids rather than a spouse they still may not inherit.

I would like to think that in that situation, I would do the right thing and accept that the will should have been updated but hadn't been. Imagine leaving someone's kids without when you've both moved on! There's legally right, but there's also morally right and sometimes they do differ.

Exactly and I agree rhe original parent shojld consider potential issues and take legal advice. But often you see the stepchildren in these cases just ghost the step parent and not treat them well after their parent has passed but then get pissed off when the step parent too has moved on after a number of years and moan that the step parent has revised their will

I think the law needs to change. If someone dies without a will, then their assets should be split equally between the spouse and biological/legally adopted children.

My auntie had two teenagers when her dh died and the two boys inherited one quarter of the family home each.

As soon as the oldest was eighteen he took her to court for the value of his quarter and she was ordered to give it to him so she had to sell the house and move in to a one bedroom flat with her sixteen year old son who had to sleep on the sofa whilst his brother spent all of the money on Golf GTIs and going to Ibiza.

Twenty years on she never recovered financially and has had a difficult life since then and she and her younger ds have no real relationship with the older one.

I'm fairly sure that is not what her husband would have wanted.

We are in the process of writing wills and it is a minefield. Second marriage 3 children from previous marriages. One SD estranged from DH for over 10 years, DH does not want her included in any will, we have been advised that as important as it is to include beneficiaries its also important to clearly exclude people as well.

That's not, I believe, the approach taken by the courts if a married couple get divorced. Assets are considered pooled in a long marriage, but not in a very short one.

This is very sad… easy to say in hindsight but it would have made sense to say that the money couldn’t be accessed until the child was an adult - 25 or even 30.

What is ‘unfair?’

Wills should be split exactly how the person intended. No one involved can have an objective perspective on what is ‘fair’

Where there’s a will, there’s a relative !.

Your father is entitled to name whom he wants as the sole beneficiary. Has he named you and siblings as contingent beneficiaries? Has your step mom named her stepchildren (you and your siblings and possibly her own children) as contingent beneficiaries to your father?

It's really out of your control, and if I were you I wouldn't say a word of complaint. If stepmom is named, you have no right to the estate. My opinion is that nobody should ever assume they will get an inheritance, but great bonus if they do.

When my father-in-law died, one of his sons got nothing, written quite clearly in the will. The other siblings split the rest. Was this fair to the son who got nothing? Yes, yes it was, because it turned out he had gotten tons of money and support through the years that the other siblings had not. Still he complained, but the executor knew the situation and put his foot down and followed the edicts of the will.

I believe just under 50% of people have wills. It might be less... thing is some people just never get round to it, some have a feeling that whatever is in their head is automatically translated once they have passed and honestly - some are just plain daft and havent got the time, knowledge or energy to sort one out.

With step families it is really really important to get one sorted. Your previous will is invalid if you remarry and you do need to review your will say every 10 years or so. You also need to state you have one in the first place and where it is to lots of people. Would recommend a will register.

My late parent had a funeral plan. Very luckily despite the chaos they lived in they did have the paperwork and told key people. Apparently its rather common for the deseased person's family to arrange the funeral without knowing about any funeral plan!

The step parent can't have loved their partner that much if they are willing to exploit their death and ignore their wishes (which I agree should be put in a will for this very reason) just to cock a snook at the kids for their money. That being the case, I'd think it likely the kids had good reason to dislike them.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001xmd4

You need to listen to today's radio 4 programme on wills and the different types available for different circumstances.

I am talking about situations where years on the stepchildren had decided to cut the step parent out not months later.

But we’re not talking about people who are seeking to break their marriage. That’s a very different situation. We’re talking about people who die whose wives continue to own their joint assets.

The inheritance tax system is skewed towards leaving it to a spouse due to allowances.

A step parent in theory can inherit from their first spouse, their own parents and then also the new spouse and the new spouses deceased family too.

We seem to accept this in the UK, but the rules are different in many Euro countries, dc are protected.

The law needs reforming.