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Original poster

Do I need a will?

27 replies

frogbollock · 02/12/2010 10:07

I'm living with my dp and have two dcs aged 9 and 6. DP has an older child who stays with us every other weekend.

Am I right in thinking that if either of us dies, the other inherits the house and all the other assets because we're common law h&w?

Should dp make a will so his daughter gets a share?

OP posts:

Katz · 02/12/2010 10:08

common law h&W doesn't exist - either get married or get a will

pagwatch · 02/12/2010 10:08

You need a will

Everyone needs a will

Indith · 02/12/2010 10:21

YOu need a will. Common law doesn't exist, you have no rights to the property, it would go to his next of kin. Also, if you both die and leave the children then with no will it would be up to the courts, not your family, who the children live with.

Indith · 02/12/2010 10:22

Sorry, you have not rights to any propert in his name that is.

pagwatch · 02/12/2010 10:25

Can we just keep bumping this thread for all eternity.
It frightens the bejesus out of me that people who are not married and have children don 't know this.

It is the reason I want to scream when people unthinkingly promote the ' marriage is just a bit of paper' line.

It is if you have and adequately protected your legal position

shelscrape · 02/12/2010 10:25

Yep, no such notion of common law wife or husband exists. You would only inherit the house from your DP if you own it as joint tennants (as oposed to tennants in common). Get a will, save loads of complications and hassle, and if you both do wills at the same time which are both pretty much "I leave everything to you", they don't costs huge amounts. Most decent solicitors do these type of wills for a basic fixed fee.

Indith · 02/12/2010 10:32

I have actually been on at dh for quite a while to get wills. I finally just booked an appointment last month with someone who was taking part in will aid month and told him to be there

maktaitai · 02/12/2010 10:34

Scary. Make that appointment and make it today.

weepingbeech · 02/12/2010 10:34

We had our wills done recently by a lovely Mumsnetter who is a will writer.

She has an ad on the Small Ads section.

www.searchwill.co.uk/Client/Slough/Marlow-wills.html

She was very efficient, friendly and it only cost £140 for both wills.

weepingbeech · 02/12/2010 10:35

We did it all by phone/email/post btw

RamblingRosa · 02/12/2010 10:37

You need a will

maktaitai · 02/12/2010 10:46

God almighty, the first google page from 'common-law husband' is the Wikipedia page which, while not factually incorrect as far as I know, is HIGHLY misleading in this country

AvengingGerbil · 02/12/2010 10:49

Agree pag with the need to keep bumping.

Ironically, OP, you need to get the will not so his daughter will get a share but so that you do.

Who inherits the house depends on who owns it now, and how it is owned. If only one name is on the title, then it will go to that person's next of kin. If you are both on the title, it depends on whether you are Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common. If you are JT, then the survivor will get the house. If you are TiC, then it will go to the next of kin of the deceased. Most unmarried couples own as TiC.

All the other property (except joint bank accounts)would go to the next of kin.

You are not the next of kin; the children are.

His children are most likely to inherit all the property, not you (or him, depending on which way round you die).

prh47bridge · 02/12/2010 10:55

If your partner dies without making a will his estate will be split equally between his children. You won't be entitled to a single penny.

If you die without making a will your estate will be split equally between your children. Your partner won't be entitled to a single penny.

What happens to the house depends on how it is owned. If it is in joint names and you are joint tenants the surviving partner will inherit the house but not any other assets. If the house is jointly owned and you are tenants in common the surviving partner would own half the house but the other half would be split between dead partner's children. If the house is only in your partners name it will form part of his estate and you wouldn't get any of it if he died.

As others have said, there is no such thing as common law husband and wife. It doesn't matter how long you live together, you will not gain any rights in each other's estates. Equally, if you split up you do not have the same rights to a financial settlement as you would have if you were married.

You need to make wills. You should think seriously about getting married, but note that marrying will invalidate any will you have made.

marlowwills · 02/12/2010 10:55

Hi there, I'm the MNer who writes Wills.

The other posters are absolutely right. At the moment, if the house is held as joint tenants, then you'd inherit your dp's share and vice versa, however if it's held as tenants in common then you won't get his share, it'll pass under intestacy rules to be held on trust for his children, which could well mean that the house would have to be sold so that his half was divided equally between the three children and you'd just keep your half of the sale proceeds.

Any other assets, eg shares, savings etc would go to the children.

If you'd like to email me on [email protected], we can talk offline and if you would like to make a will, I can give you a quote. So long as you're in England and Wales, I can arrange everything remotely, initially with a phone interview.

My standard charge is £140 for couple, £80 for single wills.

It would be a good idea to check what the position is so far as how you hold the house. I can do a land registry search which costs £5 plus the LR fee of £4. If it turns out that the house is held as tenants in common then it's essential that you both make wills.

marlowwills · 02/12/2010 10:56

Crossed with Prh47 there.

I'm a qualified lawyer btw with 20 years experience.

marantha · 02/12/2010 14:18

Common-law-spouses do not exist. To be blunt, the government cannot marry two people just because they've lived together (and nor should they).
Think about it- if this were the case, what would be the point of getting married and signing the marriage register?

I can only echo what others have said here and I think your options are:
1, Get married which would make other wills made prior to marriage null and void.
2, Make a will.

Think you've got to get your around the fact that cohabitation in itself does NOT bestow rights and responsibilities on the couple as regards one another.
Child maintenance is given regardless of parents' marital status as the view is that the child should not suffer because of their parents decisions.

marlowwills · 02/12/2010 15:03

By the way, you can get around the problem of marriage invalidating a will by inserting a clause to say that the will is made in contemplation of the marriage (though not dependent on it taking place), and state that the will will remain in force after the marriage.

I use this clause quite a lot for people who already have children and are planning to get married in, say, a year. This way, they have protection before and after the wedding.

lalalonglegs · 02/12/2010 15:12

Can I just add that even if you are married, you should get a will, it is horribly complicated otherwise. My cousin spent the best part of a year sorting out her husband's estate when he died suddenly without a will .

shelscrape · 02/12/2010 17:51

Yes, make a will even if you are married. It's even more important if you have children. You really should have a clause in the will appointing guardians for your children in the event that both parents died.

mumblechum · 09/12/2010 14:05

bump

marantha · 10/12/2010 09:43

Agree that it is still important to make will even if married because if a spouse dies intestate I do not think that it is the case now that they get everything of the deceased spouse's estate. I think the intestacy rules are that they get first 250k and then the rest goes to children (if any) then parents (if any) and so down the intestacy list.
Obviously, if someone is not worth that amount it would not matter but if they are, then it obviously would.
I am prepared to be corrected because, although I think I have got the gist of this, I do not think I am 100% accurate with the above.

marlowwills · 10/12/2010 10:05

Marantha, you're basically right, in that just because you're married doesn't mean that the survivor of you automatically inherits everything.

Lots of married couples own their homes as tenants in common rather than joint tenants, so the deceased's share doesn't automatically pass to the survivor unless provided for by will.

As mentioned, I'm a lawyer with over twenty years experience and run a freelance will writing business. If anyone would like to make a will, the webpage is http.searchwill.co.uk/Client/Slough/Marlow-wills.html.

I cover all of England and Wales and have done lots of wills for fellow Mumsnetters, all of whom have said that they've been very happy with the service.

marlowwills · 10/12/2010 10:07

searchwill.co.uk/Client/Slough/Marlow-wills.html

FourFingeredKitkat · 19/02/2011 14:36

Bump

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