Unmarried, no will and if one person dies of coronavirus!

[Thehouseofmarvels]

I surprised my friend the other day by explaining to her what would happen if her boyfriend died of coronavirus. He has a young child from a previous girlfriend. Writing wills is not something that has ever crossed their minds because they are not old. They have not set up any survivor ship (joint tenants) clause when they bought their house. I think a lot of people my age, at least that I know (twenties) do not realise there is any difference between being married or not married when someone dies as its so common for people to describe marriage as just a piece of paper. I even know of parents of my friends, aged 60+ who think like this, even though in at least one case I dread to think of the amount of inheritance tax they would have to pay given their huge house in one of the most expensive areas in the south east.

Even my mum who has done probate so knows about legal paperwork, was gobsmacked when I told her the law does not recognise boyfriend/ girlfriend domestic partnerships when someone dies intestate !

So I said to my friend that if her boyfriend got coronavirus and died intestate, the small child would inherit his half of their house, as her boyfriend's closest blood relative. I explained that my friend would have to work with her partner's ex to sell the house.

My mate found this information useful, I wondered if anyone else would? I tried to discuss with my own boyfriend about writing a will. We live with parents but after all this is over I can afford buy a house but as he has no money he will just be a lodger. I wanted him to have the place if anything happened to me but he said it's upsetting to talk about death and not to do anything or even discuss it. So I hope nobody is offended about me talking about death like he was!

@thatmustbenigelwiththebrie

You must have had a joint tenants with survivor ship clause when you bought the house with his share not being worth more than 325,000 so you did not need to sell to pay inheritance tax.

My friend bought a house with her boyfriend after around a year of knowing him. People in this situation tend to go for tenants in common in case they split. We are mid twenties, at an age where people are more likely to think about what might happen in case of a split foremost.

@Wannabangbang

Excelent point! I've advised my friend of this because I'd not like to see her loose her home if he died. I forget the exact time line I think they have been together about 18 months.

I can see your point that he should value his blood. However I have seen time and time again on here women who are not married to their domestic partner say they should not be considered less than a wife. Most people would say it would be very normal for a wife to inherit her husbands half of the house.

So whether my friend should inherit as a domestic partner above his daughter depends morally on whether people think wives and domestic partners/ girlfriends are any different. 18 months is not a lot of time, but if it was five years from now, he was in a car crash and my mate had a baby herself? Very difficult!

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

DH deals with this area of law. I would recommend using a proper solicitor for this, rather than a DIY one. As a company he can make more money dealing with poorly prepared wills than he ever does from making a simple will in the first place.

Solicitors who work in wills and probate are key workers and are still working in general, albeit from home. DH's department is busier than ever before right now - only one CV related death as yet but many people wanting wills. He isn't doing face to face but most wills can be sorted by telephone or FaceTime, etc. You do still need witnesses, but the solicitor should be able to help come up with a safe plan for that.

So, if at all concerned - now is the time to phone up a solicitor and get one sorted.

I agree with you Aragog. A will in my boyfriend's family had 'plot holes' or rather failed to plan for every circumstance and that was written by a solicitor! It showed me that if writing that will was hard for the solicitor it is a very good idea to get help from someone with legal training.

If the will to which I refer had been attempted by anyone without legal training it would have caused total chaos, given how complicated it is. Don't try this at home ;)