Question about dad's will

[ladameauxcamelias]

My dad has written a will leaving his residential property to me and my sister.

He has his name on the mortgages of a couple of other properties that he has got out for his wife (estranged). They are not mentioned on the will.

Does anyone know if the mortgages of these properties would have to be paid off in the event of his death using the profit from the sale of his residential home (our inheritance) first before we were entitled to anything left?

Well, yes, because they are his debts. Is he able to get out of that now?

Is he going to divorce his wife? Sorry to be so blunt but you need to make sure that she isn't going to come along and try to claim them once he's died...

There will be others that can advise better (I'm not a lawyer, just recalling things I've read on here!) but seem to remember that he needs to explicitly state that he doesn't want anything to go to his estranged wife, and why, so that if she does try to claim anything, he has pre-empted whatever reasons she might try to use and you and your sister can easily use the will to show that she has no claim, and that your dad didn't just forget to include her, he actively excluded her.

Sometimes people are advised to leave a token £100 or similar (assuming that's a token amount in relation to being left a property!) so that it shows that he has actively considered the matter.

However if the mortgages are on other properties then it's probably somethign he needs to sort out - not least because yes, they would have a claim on his estate I'd have thought, even if he had an agreement with his estranged wife that he was no longer liable to pay on them and she would pay instead... or whatever - it's something that he needs to sort out sooner rather than later so you don't get the headache and none of the money!

Did he own the properties he had mortgaged? I assume so as mortgage lenders don't generally lend to non-owners. So the mortgaged properties would be the ones that needed to be sold surely.

Thanks for the replies

It's all a bit complicated. She put down the deposits on the properties which are buy to let. She couldn't get the mortgages in her name as she does not have an income. She has all the paperwork. My dad still has 80k outstanding on his mortgage and is retired. Don't know how he's managing his finances.

The 3rd property is the one she now lives in which is round the corner from my dad. They have supposedly split up but without revealing tmi, they still see a lot of each other.

She has mental health issues and in the past has done some awful things, some directed to us. She texted this week to say that perhaps she will get back with my dad as she knows it will annoy us.

My sister and I want nothing to do with her. Even the will writer saw through her within an hour of meeting her but my dad doesn't see it. I'm on the verge of cutting ties with my dad as he's not been a great father anyway and this blinkered view he has of her is the last straw. I'm thinking I would like to be removed from the will as quite frankly, when the time comes, I don't want the hassle of dealing with that deranged woman and overseeing the sale of his house when she's going to end up with the lot anyway. Think my sister feels the same.

This week he's decided he's thinking of changing his will to give to her 25% of his house as well. We have been made power of attorney but he might as well change that too.