Question about a Will if beneficiaries die before us

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If any of our beneficiaries die before us, what happens to their share?

We’ve left everything to each other then when we’re both gone my husband has left his half to his parents and my half goes to various members of my family. If PIL die before us does their half just get split between my family members or is it not as simple as that?

Sorry for being so blunt but there’s no other way of putting it

It depends on how its worded. If a solicitor or will writer did it can you give them a quick call and ask?

Thank you, I do need to have a look at the wording don’t I?

Please specify - if x has predeceased me, his/her share should be....

We had a family member die leaving (very substantial) amounts to three named individuals, one of which had predeceased her. The family came to an amicable agreement about what to do with the share which should have gone to the person who was no longer alive, but given the amounts, there could have been some very expensive court battles.

Also, don't assume you'll be able to change your will if one of your beneficiaries dies - you may already have dementia. Sorry to be blunt, but it's what happened to my family member.

Depends on wording.

A usual scenario is:

• If you die, your share is left to your DH. When he dies, whoever he has named as beneficiary gets everything.

• If he dies, his share is left to you. When you die, whoever is your beneficiary gets everything.

• If you both die at the same time, your share is left to whoever you state, and his share is left to whoever he states.

If in the 'both die' scenario the PIL have predeceased your DH, then there can be a clause that states who else it should then go to if he doesn't want it to go to the nearest surviving relative. It wouldn't go automatically to your family unless it was written that way. Because his share is nothing to do with your family if you both die at the same time.

No need to apologise, any opinions welcome. Agree that could have been nasty

It’s talking about trustees and trust funds, what’s that all about?

“I give all my estate to my husband, if that gift fails then to my trustees to hold upon the trusts and with and subject to the powers and provisions contained in this Will my trustees shall hold the trust fund on trust absolutely in two equal parts as follow”

It then goes on to list the beneficiaries of the two ‘pots’

Crossed posts NoSquirrels thank you for that. Looks like we need to rewrite them 😬

It's also not a great idea to name elderly parents as beneficiaries because younger relatives who might inherit from them could ending paying inheritance tax twice

Ah, hang on...

“Provided that if at any time the trusts declared above in respect of the trust fund should fail then from the time of failure that share (and any part or parts of any share which may already have accrued to it under this provision) shall accrue to the other share or shares (and if more then one in the proportions to which they bear to one another) the trusts of which have not at that time failed and be held on the trusts and with and subject to the powers and provisions affecting such other share or shares”

Erm, does that mean it will be split between any surviving beneficiaries?

MissSmiley I totally agree, I didn’t want him to do it but I can’t tell him what to do unfortunately

Trusts sounds more complicated than your average mirror will, which I was referring to. Nothing in our will is written to be held in trust - but we have children and it's all pretty straightforward in terms of split and what would happen in various scenarios. Sounds like your situation is different - and I am definitely not placed to advise!

Interesting NoSquirrels, we certainly didn’t ask for anything to be held in a trust. I don’t even know what one is!

Signing off now because my husband is due home and he absolutely hates talking about these things. Really hope we don’t have to redo them

Hopefully next time I look someone who knows about these things might have been able to help

Thank you to you all 😊

One option is that it can go to the estate of the deceased, eg if parental money is split between three siblings but one is dead too, their share cascades on down to their children. But that may need to be specified.

No siblings BestZebbie, in fact no immediate relatives at all, that’s what I’m bothered about. If it doesn’t pass to the others it’ll either go to some random second cousin 4 times removed that we didn’t even know existed or the government will get it

we certainly didn’t ask for anything to be held in a trust. I don’t even know what one is!

A trust means the beneficiaries don't have direct access to their inheritance. It is managed for them by the trustees. A trust can be used, for example, where the beneficiaries are children so that the trustees can manage their inheritance for them until they are old enough to take responsibility themselves. It can also be used to control what happens to the inheritance when the beneficiary dies. Your wills should specify under what circumstances the trusts end and who benefits when that happens.

😮 blimey prh! Thank you for that, I’ll have another look. This doesn’t sound good

I’ve also noticed that one of our witnesses has spelt their name wrong, does that matter?

I’ve also noticed that one of our witnesses has spelt their name wrong, does that matter?

No, that doesn't matter.

Thanks again prh 😊

I imagine this sounds harsh but seems pointless to leave anything to parents, given that it's so likely they will die before you. If there aren't any younger relatives around, personally I would leave it to a cause or charity I liked.

Not harsh, I totally agree

There are younger relatives but we never see them (even before all this) so I really don’t want to leave it to them to be honest

I’ll make sure we spend it all if we can 😁

Seriously though we need to sort this. I’m going to have to speak to my husband. He absolutely hates talking about things like this but it has to be done

Where’s the best place to find a reputable Will Writer?

It sounds fine to me. Basically you divide your combined estate into two pots, one for his side and one for yours. If your side die before you then their ‘share’ goes to his side and vice versa.

I can’t tell from the extract that you’ve given but in all likelihood the “trusts” only exist to enable the assets to get distributed out the the right people and once that’s done the trusts end, so they’ll probably only last for a few months. You can’t really do it any other way.

I should have said, I write wills.

Mumblechum of this parish is also a will writer. She trades as Marlow Wills.

Sorry if this is obvious but surely if they die first you just change the will?

Is Mumblechum still around? Blimey she’s been on here for years

Mabelann that’s so very helpful thank you so much. That’s exactly what we wanted - pot halved and we leave it whoever we want, I just wanted to make sure that if his parents die first his half doesn’t end up with some distant relative

AnotherVice we may well end up doing that but I’d rather not unless we have to