Unmarried - do children inherit over me?

[Wishingaway]

DP and I have been together over 10 years and have two DC's under 5yrs.

He wrote a will prior to the birth of the children which indicated that it was our intention to get married but we never have, and as of yet have no plans to do so. I'm unsure if the will did/didn't mention an intention to have children.

In his will the house we jointly lived in, but he solely owned, was to be passed to me.

He is now about to purchase a much more expensive house, solely in his name. Can anyone clarify what the situation is if he were to die? (Prior to having children the "what ifs" never bothered me but everything becomes much more serious once little ones are involved.) As blood relatives would his whole estate, including the house pass to his children?

What would my position be? Prior to having children I helped finance household bills etc but with the new property I would only have helped DP by giving him some savings to pay for moving costs etc.

I assume that DP should write another will - but another issue is inheritance tax. If I was to be the sole beneficiary of his estate and never married to him would I be liable for inheritance tax?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I guess the only way to sort things out would be to get married!

His will remains valid until such time as he marries you or writes another will. So his estate will be distributed in accordance with the existing will. However, his children may be able to challenge his will on the grounds that he hasn't made adequate provision for them if they are still dependents at the time of death.

Marrying him could reduce or remove any inheritance tax liability when he dies.

Hi, I'm a willwriter, will try to help but need to ask a few questions:

1. Did the Will say that, in the event that you don't marry, the gift to you still stands? (it should).

1. Did the Will specify the particular property he owned at the time? It should have said "xx road, or any property which I own and live in as my primary residence at the date of my death" or words to that effect.

Potentially, if the answer to question 2 is yes (ie only that specific property), then you will receive nothing.

The most sensible thing would be for him to write another will. I'd suggest that he at least grants you a life interest or right to reside, if not an outright gift. If he goes down the life interest/right to reside route, then when you die, remarry, voluntarily sell the property, or at the end of the right to reside period (say 5 or 10 years), then the house would be sold and the money paid to the children.

Another (and this would be the usual option where there are children) would be to gift you the house outright. If the total value of his estate exceeds £325,000 ignoring any death in service benefits he may get through work, which come under a separate trust, then inheritance tax is payable at 40%. If he doesn't give you the house but it goes into trust for the children then less IHT is payable, depending on when they inherit.

If the trust to the children ends at 18, no IHT is payable. At a later age, some will be payable (it's a slightly complicated formula, but it'll be around 10%).

If you marry, then your and his IHT are rolled up together, so tax is only payable on the joint estate over £650,000.

If you want more info, or a quote for Wills, my email address is [email protected].

Why is your name not going on the deeds of hte new house along with his? Just curious, have no expertise.