Wills & Maintenance (Cross Posted from Step-Parenting)

[littlejosh]

Hello

Hus and I have drawn up wills couple of years ago, but am just rethinking at the moment and making sure all the t's are crossed!

Hus has other children and we have 1 together (2yrs).

We have provided for each other and ensured the house would be paid for, however I wanted to check, as his second youngest child is 15 yrs this year, in the event of anything happening, can his childs mum make a claim on any insurance or monies left in a will for maintenance, does anyone know if such a claims represents a percentage of the estate or would it be calcualted on the monies he has paid her as maintennace the last couple of years and for how long.

They have a private maintenance agreement.

If separate provison is made for other children is this sufficient.

Im sure Ive read something on here before but cannot find it, so any pointers to old listings or info will be good.

I want to be sure that I wouldnt be forced to hand over a lump sum of money that we had intended for our own childrens future (particularly as they (he) are much younger), to be handed to someone else (outside of provisions my hus has already made to them). I have spoken to the guy he helped write our wills, but info given is abit vague.

Many Thanks

Who was the guy who wrote your wills? Speak to a proper solicitor who specialises in wills and probate.

Hi there Littlejosh, I'm a freelance willwriter and also family lawyer.

You say that they have a private maintenance agreement - exactly what does it say in terms of when the maintenance for the 15 year old will stop? It would normally say 18, or completion of secondary education, but they may have specified that it would go on through tertiary education. If your husband died while maintenance was still payable, and he didn't put provision in place either by way of life insurance or a lump sum from his estate, then that child could make an application under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
So let's say he pays £400 per month for the 15 yr old and he dies in a year (let's hope not of course!), then the estate should pay £9,600 plus any normal uplift, eg RPI indexing if that's in the agreement, or he should have decreasing term insurance which will end when the maintenance ends.

All the above is for child mtce.

So far as spousal maintenance is concerned, the same applies if it's in a formal maintenance agreement. Hopefully if it's been properly drawn up, though, it should say that spousal maintenance ends on the first death.

Hope this helps.

When I said private I meant it in the loosest terms, he makes a standing order payment to his sons mum (they were not married), they have nothing written up about its duration, but I had always assumed it would cease once he left education (unless Im advised otherwise).

He has made a specific provision in his will for his other children, though for the second youngest this isnt called maintenance and he will inherit when he turns 21, does my hus need to make another provision for this son?

We were asked orginally asked about making a maintenance provison for this son, but said no, i think we misunderstood its concept.

So when you say he's made specific provision for his other children, you mean apart from the child you have together? What is that specific provision, ie is it a lump sum or a percentage of the estate, and does that differ from what he has in place for the 15 yr old?