Can anyone advise as a LP best way to go about life insurance and will please?

[Purplerainbow]

I don't want to put too much info on here but I'm a LP and my children currently don't see their father (current court case to prevent access) my parents have agreed they would care for my children if I died although I know it's not that simple. I need to get a will, and also life insurance but I'm not sure where to start.

Can you get life insurance so that your children get the money or it goes to a trust/toward their care until adults? Do I need to see someone to go through it all or can I do it online? I don't want to pay out for costs unnecessarily but I obviously want to make sure I've sorted this out?

Tia

I have been through similar myself recently. My ds father passed away a couple of months ago and not only have I been dealing with this I've had to get myself sorted out legally pretty quick ( been burying head in sand before). I used my own lawyer who drew up my will will guardianship clearly written into it. I have made provisions for the guardian to have funds until my ds reached the age of 18 . I also have life insurance
Obviously hoping that nothing happens to me for a very long time but I now realise that life really is too short.
You could get a lawyer to sort things out , the will was £ 120 which included the first visit to discuss my wishes and a return visit for signing.

It's quite a simple process but I found it difficult due to grief so I'd definitely recommend doing it before you are ever in the position that you have to if you know what I mean

If the court case does not succeed then their father will be the person who gets them if you die. I remember asking my solicitor about this on the divorce as my younger children would prefer t obe with their older siblings who have virtually been a coparent with me (as their father chooses not to see them or pay anything) yet the law is that the absent uninvolved father once the mother dies has the children. However assuming he is denied access then your will can specify your parents as guardian and perhaps say why not the father.

Life insurance is easy to buy. Write it in trust for your children so if y our other assets eventually are over inheritance tax limits those proceeds are not taxed at 40%. If you have a work pension do the same. The life companies have simple forms to do this - you don't need a solicitor for that.

My solicitor drew up a simple discretionary trust that my pension funds would go into were I to die. It is nto always a good idea to have your parents rather than asibling as trustees however as it is much more likely your parents will die before your children are 18 than that your siblings will.

If the court case does not succeed then their father will be the person who gets them if you die

That is not necessarily true. It is likely but not certain. If there is a dispute it will be up to the courts to decide what is in the child's best interests. The OP should specify her parents as guardians in her will and leave a statement with her will specifying why. She should do this regardless of the outcome of the court case.

Not sure where my reply disappeared to last night!!

So would a financial advisor be able to help or is that pointless? Just a solicitor for the will? With the life insurance I want it solely to provide money for my children if I die.. so under 18 money for their upbringing etc? Can you specify that? Where is the best place to get a policy?

Get in touch with @mumblechum0

link to her ad on MN

She's a solicitor who has done wills for lots of MNetters (including me). I'm sure she will be able to answer questions about life insurance trusts.

I think MoneySavingExpert will have advice on life insurance - you might want a product which includes critical illness cover and other such cheery matters.

Thanks for the plug Deidre.

When you buy your insurance policy OP, you need to make sure that it is written into a discretionary trust to avoid IHT.

You will be asked to nominate your beneficiaries who would of course be your children.

The will is a separate issue and can be made either before or after you buy your insurance policy. You can appoint a guardian in the will but that doesn't override the father's parental responsibility in the event of a dispute. If that happened and it went to court, the judge would take account of the fact that a guardian had been appointed, and any statement which you left with your will setting out your reasons for that appointment, but ultimately, the court has the power to make an order which it deems to be in the child's best interests. This will include things like the child's wishes and feelings, the strength of the bonds between the child and its father and other family members, any harm likely to occur if the child is uprooted, the child's emotional, social, educational, physical and mental needs etc etc.

Thanks mumble. They don't see him... and yes I know it would definitely end up in court if I died. Do you just do wills not life insurance? I'm a bit concerned just buying a life insurance policy off the internet..

Hi, yes I only write wills, trusts and Lasting Powers of Attorney.

So far as buying insurance on the internet, so long as you use a reputable company I don't think there's an issue, but of course you could always go into a high street insurance company or bank.

And make sure it is straight term (life) insurance or at least that you know what kind of life insurance product you are buying. You probably want it to last until your children are about 21 and out of university - so go for that kind of "term" length of the policy and make sure when you take out you get the insurer's standard form of trust. I got theirs a few years after I took my policy out and did the trust later and it was really easy - I just contacted them for the form and I filled it out saying who the policy would go to if I died.

You can also buy life insurance where you also pay more and might get a lump sum back at the end. I have not bothered with that as I have always just wanted the cheapest cover there is.