What happens if I don’t make a will?

[Ffiffime]

I’m happily married with 2 small children.
If anything happens to me or my husband we would want everything just passed on to each other, or to our children if we both die.

Is this what’dd likely to happen? If so, is there any point in us making a will at this time?

I don’t really understand much about this so need educating!

Thanks :)

Who would look after your children if you both died? Who would sort out the financials? That is part of a will too

You both really need to make wills in case you both die together.
You would nominate someone to be the guardian and set up trusts for the money until they are grown up.
You also need to keep the wills under review every few years.

Everything passing to your husband is what would happen under the rules of intestacy, but with a LOT more delay and hassle for your husband than if you had a will.

Do you own a house, if so, do you own it jointly?

It is not quite correct to say it all goes to the remaining spouse, depends on whether assets are jointly owned and the value of the estate.

Also it is a good idea to set up POAs at the same time as the will.

if one of you dies, everythign goes to the remianing spouse.

If you both died at exactly the same time, all asset go to the youngest persons next of kin.

So say you're older than DH and you both got squished by an elephant and died. THe money would go to your DH (who died "after" you) and then he died a second later, so they would look at his situation 100% of everything would go to any children split equally.
If no children, they would look "up" the family line, are there parents? If so they get the assets. No parents? eldest sibling?
No siblings? they;d look to aunt/uncle...cousins... etc until they find some bloody person to give it to!

So best to assume you will both die at exactly the same time ,and decide what you want to happen in that eventuality!

also, go for % not figures (eg 50% to X, 25% to Y, 20% to Z, and 5% to CharityA) otherwise if your assest dont add up to (or exceed) the amount you say (eg £50k/£25k/£20k/£5k) then it causes issues!

Please please make a will. What happens if you both dies? Who will look after the DC?

If you die intestate all your personal possessions will go to your spouse, then the first £250,000 of the estate (including property), then half the remaining estate and the rest will be split between your children.

Therefore, it is important whether you own assets jointly, as they will be excluded from the estate as they will go directly to the surviving spouse.

Please make a will. It’s a lot of hassle for those you leave behind without a will. I even have a death file, that’s what it’s actually labelled. Has all life insurances details, bank details, latest will copy, POAs, savings, pensions etc etc.

Who will look after DC? And what happens if DH remarries, then god forbid dies, it will go to his widow, then what about your DC?? Yes it’s far fetched, but all sorts of things happen. Protect your DC.

To take the thread one step further... what's the best or common way to set up a will correctly? I asked a solicitor (firm in town) but they wanted £600! That seems like a lot?

Please make a will. It will make things much simpler for those left behind.

My parents' wills were pretty simple, and mirrored each other - they basically said, "everything to my spouse; if they predecease me, everything to be split equally between our two children." We were adults by the time they got round to it, so they didn't have to take account of guardians or keeping things in trust for us, which made it simpler.

Go to the library and get the Which book of Wills and Probate - it also tells you what happens if you die intestate, and the difference between England & Wales and Scotland (can't remember if it includes NI.)

Another voice echoing advise from lots of PPs saying that it really is not fair to those left behind, to not have left a will. With a will, however simple, everything is much easier to sort out. At a time of heightened emotion, in the aftermath of a death, the last thing anyone needs is to deal with the absence of a will. Anyone who has been in that position will say the same, make a will

The wording bear gives above, 'everything to spouse, if they have predeceased, everything split equally between the children' covers it.

MN's very own @mumblechum did ours, after a phone conversation about what we wanted, simples.

Thanks for the mention, Finallyhere.

OP, as others have said, it makes sense to make a will appointing Executors to deal with the money, and a Guardian to care for any minor children.

The procedure is a lot simpler with a Will in place.

Feel free to PM me for any further info