Wills - Who are you leaving your estate to?

[Cosmication]

I need to create a will but I'm not sure who to leave my money to. If I died now, it wouldn't be much, but if I died in older age then it might be a lot more. I have several siblings, and 2 nieces and my mum is still alive too. I have a partner that doesn't live with me who is much wealthier than I am but it would be strange to leave him out. Also keen to leave at least some to charity. Do I just leave it all to the nieces? Or shall I split it equally between my siblings? Do I include my mum and partner or is that unusual? I'm also considering friends. I'm not sure what percentage to allocate to each. As you can tell I'm just confused. I want it to feel fair and reasonable. Any inspiration welcome.

My plan is to give my nieces and nephews a chunk of money when my mother dies as the house is only left to me. I wont go into the reasons for this.
That way they'll benefit at a better age than waiting for me to croak it. I don't need my mother's inheritance either.

Agree - it is, and looking around will get you lower - however, that is what our bank quoted - clearly I am doing it myself - but I was amazed at how expensive it can be - and I suspect that most people won't have an instinctive grasp of what it should be...

Mine is to my niece and nephew and if they die before or with me (i.e. in an accident) to my brother. I actually have a few “layers” to avoid having to update (and because we do travel together). They are both still minors so there are stipulations about when they can access the money if I die while they are young.

I should add that my brother knows about my will (only sibling) and, unlike some it seems (from other threads), his only comment was to tell me to spend my money on myself and not worry about leaving his kids anything.

Thanks for the reminder about executers.

I am splitting my estate to 60% to people\family members, 40% to charities (which are listed).

I am going to list the people\family members who are eligible. 2 people are listed as executors and then I am just going to let them fight it out between them based on needs. So if one needs to pay off student debt do it. Someone needs a deposit for a house, another fancies a once in a lifetime holiday, etc use it for that.

I do have exceptions in place on what the money should not be spent on.

I am undecided and keep putting off making one. Ridiculous as my pension will be worth a fair amount, plus I have property. I'm in Scotland so without a will, my estranged parents get part of it under Scots law, and even if I do have a will, I think they are still able to claim their share.
It's complicated and easier to ignore and hope it goes away!
In an ideal world, I would leave my work flat to my niece so she can get on the property ladder. I would leave small bequests to charities that are close to my heart, and the rest would go to my spouse.
I would like to leave a small token to godchildren too, but their parents dropped me after I split up with their friend and I have no clue how to find them...

The cat charity I'm part of. Everything is going there.

My friends.

Most of it to my niece. I've bypassed my sister completely. There's a set sum going to my local cat rescue on condition that they take care of my cats and a set sum to my friend and her husband for the welfare of any pets they have at the time of my death.

It's a difficult one. Not that I have much to leave, just a small flat with a mortgage. My parents are long since gone. I have a sibling but we have been NC for decades. My DP is better off than me and will probably get a decent inheritance from his DM when she passes, which sadly probably won't be too long in the future. I've discussed this with a childfree friend and we sort of agreed that we would leave whatever we have to each other but her circumstances have changed which will leave her more stable in the future. But I do have a sort of close friend who is in rented accommodation which she knows she can only afford while she is working. I'm thinking of leaving my flat to her, because even though we're not that close she is objectively the one who is most in need.

Everything to DH if I go first, with a few specific items to certain friends (jewellery mostly) and strict instructions not to cremate me with any jewellery at all, as even my cartilage piercings are fucking expensive Maria Tash, don't waste them!

If he goes first, I'm leaving it all to be split between the nieces and nephews. I've asked him to do the same.

Although we're slightly dithering about leaving it to our siblings instead, as maybe the kids would benefit more if we sorted out their parents first?

My brother said the same thing.

I work in wills and it’s entirely normal to leave your estate to an unmarried partner, regardless of wealth. We see many childfree clients leaving their estates to charities and nieces and nephews, often a combination of the two. Other family members are often included, even parents.

Your will is whatever you want it to be.

(But I have children so maybe my input will be disregarded).

To my DH initially and then what we have left will be distributed to charities and other beneficiaries, all outside of the UK.

My husband died a few years ago now, and we have no children. I'm mid 50s and I had my will re-written after he died; for context it'll probably be a low 7 figures sort of sum, and there should be sufficient liquid assets to pay any tax due, though unless something changes (either in tax terms or my residency) by then it will be outside the remit of UK IHT. At present the executors are my siblings, although I will amend to include a local firm of lawyers and my tax advisor now I am not UK resident. I also need to have my will reviewed again to ensure it still works based on where I now live - so thanks to the OP for starting this thread as it's a timely reminder / nudge in that direction!!

If I die before I am 70 its split equally between my siblings, after some smaller bequests to a close friend and their children, to whom I am 'godparent'. In the (hopefully...) more likely event that I live to be older than 70 then instead of being split between my siblings, my estate (after the same bequests) is spilt between my nieces / nephews. My siblings are all aware and supportive of this approach, as are my parents who are also still alive.

I am also likely, with my siblings buy-in (which we can discuss at the time), to vary the terms of my parents will when whichever is the second of them to die does so, so that anything due to me is diverted to my nieces / nephews (their grand children).

Having seen first hand on a couple of occasions how demanding charities can be when they are the beneficiary of an estate, and how much of a burden it can put on the executors at a time when it's least wanted, I have not included any charities in my will. Now my estate and beneficiaries cross national boundaries the simpler I can make it the better I think!

To my husband and if not him, my brother.

House to DH. Two thirds of liquid assets to four small charities, remainjng third split between sibling, stepson and stepgrandaughter.

Although we don't have wills yet my husband and I have discussed this at length. In the event of one dying first everything is left to the spouse. If we both go together, purely based on who i am closest to at this point i time would probably leave the majority of my estate to my cousins children on my Dads side. There are one or two choice pieces that should go to a cousin on my Mums side as family heirlooms and somethings to my brother if he lives longer than me (he is also child free) but most will be left the children of a particular cousin who i am close to. I may also leave a sum to the Muscular Dystrophy Support Centre as they take good care of me. My husband has said he would also like to leave something to his cousins children so that will be set out in his will when we make them. I do hope the need for such things will be a long way off now.

The cat rescue I'm connected to. Every last penny.

Everything to my Neice. She is the only descendant in our very small family. Hopefully it will be enough to pay off future Student loans and get her on the housing ladder. She deserves free Uni and the ability to buy a house like my generation did.

My house and belongings, savings etc go to my best friend. My death in service benefit is split between her son and my younger cousins.

Me & DH have mirror wills, everything left to the other & then when the 2nd dies split 50/50 between our 2 nieces.

Am interested in this as want to leave some money to charity. Could you say what problems there have been with charity lawyers? Thanks.

Following with interest about executors as have no remaining family and DH is only child with no wider family except his cousins abroad. My good friends, all similar age to me, are nearly all single and have no DC, so we have not found an executor (ideally younger than us). My DH has a very good old friend same age as him, but he and his wife have already dealt with two or three wills of older relatives, and are busy with care of elderly parents, so we don't feel we can ask them. Any ideas would be very welcome.