If I die before my husband...

[JackieBritneyWeaver]

Getting our wills drawn up. It’s just me and husband, no children. I am 13 years older than him and not in the greatest health.

Obviously if I die before him, he will have sole ownership of our house. We are close to my sister and nieces, and while we do have a niece and nephew on his side we rarely see his side of the family due to distance - they’re perfectly lovely people.

Is there any way I can ensure that, if I die first, when my husband dies - if he still owns the house and it’s not needed to pay care fees - at least something will pass to my nieces? Or is that entirely his decision at this point?

But Badger2021 you & your DH have children together it’s a different situation.

Yeah but its all his on my death and vice versa. The kids can wait til we're both dead!!!

I think your attitude is a bit naive tbh. I’ve known several people who have inherited nothing because one parent died, the other parent remarried & the estate was left to the second spouse. Would that feel great to you Badger because it all belongs to you equally, or would you want to plan to leave something to your kids?

It is really, really important to get proper advice from an IHT specialist. Definitely tenants in common and setting up a trust for the nephews and nieces would be the minimum I think.

We have taken legal advice and our wills have been written. We're sorted. He won't be giving half of my assets away to a family member. We are decent people who will obviously do right by our children.

It is quite amazing how often a widowed man marries again within 2 years after his wife dies, even the most loving of husbands. It seems that many men just can't cope alone. Of course, a marriage invalidates a will and many people don't realise this, so if a man marries again and then dies, he dies intestate and everything passes automatically to his family.

I have been doing some estate and IHT planning recently and according to my advisor, the above situation is very, very common. I have told DH he can have as many girlfriends as he likes, but he mustn't get married.

Sorry - to his second wife's family, not HIS family.

@Badger2021

Yeah but its all his on my death and vice versa. The kids can wait til we're both dead!!!

And if he remarries, gets run over on the way to the honeymoon, all your hard earned, slogged all your life for, assets go to Mrs Badger the second in your scenario!

@Badger2021

We have taken legal advice and our wills have been written. We're sorted. He won't be giving half of my assets away to a family member. We are decent people who will obviously do right by our children.

You can't guarantee that once you've died though.

Do you have children tho Badger? If you do the very real issue is you die first, he marries again and then dies before his second wife and all your assets go to her - leaving your children with nothing. Lots of husbands do this! Some just die without thinking of the consequences and others do so in thrall of the second wife and do it deliberately. It was one of the main things I took away from my nhs retirement course. We changed our wills and although dh (or I) would have a lifetime interest in the property, on the death of the second person ds gets half of it (at least). So if I die first ds can not spend my share on a fancy woman so short changing ds!

You can leave your share of the house to your neices, with your husband retaining a life interest while he is alive.
But you have to change the house ownership to tenants in common, rather than joint tenants. If you don't do this, then the clause in the will will fail, and your husband will automatically be the sole owner (if owned as joint tenants).
I would advise spending a few hundred pounds on getting s solicitor to draw up your will to ensure it is correct and watertight.

Also any wills he has made leaving it to the children now Badger become invalid if he remarries. Marriage negates any will.

if somebody dies intestate in England/Wales, this is the position according to the government's website. So if the house and other assets are worth more than £270k the children will get something, but nothing like half unless the estate is worth a huge amount. So yes, if spouse 1 dies, spouse 2 remarries but dies before getting round to making a new will, the children of spouse 1 and 2 will end up with very little in most cases, and spouse 2's new spouse scoops the pool. There are posts about this pretty regularly. Sad.

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y/england-and-wales/yes/yes/yes.

Intestacy - who inherits if someone dies without a will?

The husband, wife or civil partner keeps all the assets (including property), up to £270,000, and all the personal possessions, whatever their value.

The remainder of the estate will be shared as follows:

The husband, wife or civil partner gets an absolute interest in half of the remainder.

The other half is then divided equally between the surviving children. If a son or daughter (or other child where the deceased had a parental role) has already died, their children will inherit in their place.

My parents have done this. They wanted to leave us something and were worried if one remaining person needed care the whole lot would be eaten up. So they have each left their half to us with a lifetime interest for the surviving person.
Its sensible estate planning. Obviously they might both need care but that's life.

@Badger2021 I really think you should speak to a solicitor. Leaving it to your spouse might mean your children end up with diddly either through care fees a remarriage.

@Northernsoullover

My parents have done this. They wanted to leave us something and were worried if one remaining person needed care the whole lot would be eaten up. So they have each left their half to us with a lifetime interest for the surviving person. Its sensible estate planning. Obviously they might both need care but that's life.

Very sensible. This is what my husband and I did. My children now effectively own a half share of the house (though I have a life interest until my death).

Yes you can. You either will it to them on your death and your husband has no use of it/ items.

Or you put whatever it is in your will to your niece but give your husband his lifetimes use of it.

So if you wanted to leave her 25% of the value of your home for instance, you'd gift it in your will but have it drawn up in away that your husband was unaffected by this during his lifetime. Once he passes it would come to her.

It's the only way to insure your wishes are lawful I believe.

OP I think (!!!) if you are or become tenants in common with your house rather than joint tenants then you can bequeath your share of the property to whomever you like. Speak to a solicitor about it.

@Badger2021

We have taken legal advice and our wills have been written. We're sorted. He won't be giving half of my assets away to a family member. We are decent people who will obviously do right by our children.

It doesn't take too much digging to find situations where someone left all their assets to their spouse, expecting them to pass it on to their children when they died, only for the spouse to remarry and cut their children out of their will completely. The deceased thought their spouses were decent people who would never do anything like this too.

You may be right. It may be that your husband will stick to what you have agreed and leave it to your children when he dies. But you can't guarantee it. If you die first, it is possible your children will end up with no inheritance.

We severed tenancy and drew up mirror wills leaving our half of house to our children with spouse having lifetime interest fir precisely the reason prh47bridge states
This exact same scenario happened to my mother - her mother died and left everything to her dad who subsequently remarried to a lady with adult children. He then died without changing his will and his new wife inherited the Lot including sentimental items. When his new wife died a few years later her children inherited what was originally my mums fathers estate . We vowed never to allow that to happen ! My mother never received a penny nor got any items from her family home ( inc pictures etc) if great sentimental value

My dad remarried. He didn't write a new will.
When he was married to mum, there was lots of provision for my siblings and I. All named in the will.

They divorced and he remarried. No will.

He died. My siblings and I got £10k from an estate worth well over £1m. His new wife got the lot.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

if somebody dies intestate in England/Wales, this is the position according to the government's website. So if the house and other assets are worth more than £270k the children will get something, but nothing like half unless the estate is worth a huge amount. So yes, if spouse 1 dies, spouse 2 remarries but dies before getting round to making a new will, the children of spouse 1 and 2 will end up with very little in most cases, and spouse 2's new spouse scoops the pool. There are posts about this pretty regularly. Sad.

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y/england-and-wales/yes/yes/yes.

Intestacy - who inherits if someone dies without a will?

The husband, wife or civil partner keeps all the assets (including property), up to £270,000, and all the personal possessions, whatever their value.

The remainder of the estate will be shared as follows:

The husband, wife or civil partner gets an absolute interest in half of the remainder.

The other half is then divided equally between the surviving children. If a son or daughter (or other child where the deceased had a parental role) has already died, their children will inherit in their place.

It might well say this in law but it is not the reality.

New wife got the lot. We spent a fair whack in legal fees between us. We got nowhere near the intestate figures quoted.

Sorry to hear that, @pipsqueakbollock. Was there some jiggery pokery over valuing assets? If the law got involved, I'm struggling to see how your stepmother could hang on to nearly £1m when the law is so clear. Was this in England or Wales? I know it's different in Scotland and I assume in Northern Ireland too.

It doesn't take too much digging to find situations where someone left all their assets to their spouse, expecting them to pass it on to their children when they died, only for the spouse to remarry and cut their children out of their will completely.
This was one of the catalysts for our wills. I had just read about the situation with Lynda Bellingham's sons, where she had left everything to her husband (the kids' stepdad) and nothing to her children. They are now estranged. I know it's not exactly the same situation, but an example of someone assuming the other person will do the right thing.

To be fair, very few people know that a marriage invalidates a will and they simply don't bother to check. I know of so many cases where a widower has married a younger woman, only to die within a few years. Invariably the whole estate, perfectly legally, goes to the new wife's family. It is a really awful law IMO. Sadly, where money is involved, very few people have any morals.