Does my dying need a will?

[PRFarmer]

Hi everyone, I'm a young guy and need some advice as I'm trying to help my mum and dad.

The back story is that my dad has always sorted everything financially in the household for my mum for the past 40 years they have been together. He has now been told he has months to live and is too unwell to sort his affairs. So I am trying my best to get everything sorted for him to put his mind at rest. All he wants is for everything to be left to my mum.
They have joint bank accounts, the house is in both their names, all his pensions now have mum down as the beneficiary to them and his car has been sold.
My question is does he also need to have a will made? I'm unsure if its worth getting one because surely everything would just go to my mum anyway now? Or would probate cost a lot more without a will. I have zero experience with anything like this and feel a lot of pressure to sort everything for my dad and make sure my mum is taken care of.

Thanks for reading.

I'm so sorry about your situation. I would strongly suggest your Dad make a will. That way his wishes are in writing. The interstate rules can be complicated (especially if it's a big estate) and things move very slowly.

I hope you're getting bags of real life support as this must be really hard for you x

Definitely see a solicitor about power of attorney for you or your mum. Then create a will to get his wishes in writing. This must be very hard for you, so whilst you're caring for your dad, make sure you have IRL support too.

Bless you, I would get a will, one less thing for you to worry about, I’m sorry to hear about your dad.

I'm so sorry your dad is so ill.

A will would make things much easier. His instructions are so simple though that it should be very easy to arrange.

Just one thing - ask your mum to make sure that all bills are in joint names, too - electricity/gas, water, internet, phones etc, so that she can deal with everything later. My dad had all the bills in his name and this was more difficult later.

You sound like a great son, but do accept help from anyone who offers. It's such a difficult time for all of you.

I would get a will sorted. Doesn't have to cost much. Intestacy can mean that some of the estate may come to you rather than your mum. I assume they are married. May also depend where you live too.

You don't need a solicitor to sort out POA, they can charge a large fee for a relatively simple form, but it is a good idea to have both finance and health one.

Yes, he does. And I agree about all the bills in joint names. Also, make sure you know all the passwords to things like mobile phones - you don’t want them to be thumbprint protected and not be able to get into them!

It’s so hard for you. A power of attorney may not be of any use at this stage - is your father expected to live more than a few months? It took us 6 months to sort out my mother in law’s POA. If all their finances and house is owned jointly, a POA wouldn’t be necessary as your mum can deal with all the banks etc, or can give them permission to speak to you. It would be beneficial to organise a POA for your mum though.
Again, with completely joint finances, a will is also unnecessary unless he wanted to leave something to my one else other than your mum.
If you wish, they could both have a mirror will drawn up - here’s a link to Age UKs advice on writing wills. You don’t need to engage expensive solicitors if it’s straightforward.
www.ageuk.org.uk/get-involved/donate/leave-legacy/will-writing-guide-request/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn5vc-abK8gIVSoBQBh0YrQihEAAYAiAAEgKXWfD_BwE

I’m sorry for your situation- well done for taking practical steps.

Are your mum and dad married? If so (and you’re in England), your mum will inherit everything without a will.

As PPs say, you can have a simple will drawn up. Best to get your mum to do one at the same time.

Just be aware that the financial and health powers of attorney have to be registered. I did some recently and it took about 8 weeks to get them registered. Some third parties will allow you to rely on a copy of them before registration but others will not.

The only other thing I can think of is cars - my dads car tax got cancelled off after DVLA were informed he had died because of the new way they had done it and then we had to re-tax the car before my mum could drive it! It would have been easier if it was hers.

She also struggled with her credit card: it was dads account and she had a card in her name off that account (which I suspect was fairly normal in the 70’s when they got married and they never changed it). Then when dad died it was frozen and thus so was mums card. And funeral costs to pay etc.

Sorry you’re going through this. From experience get power of attorney and wills drawn up. The POA means you can tie up a lot of paperwork while he’s still alive, it’s a lot easier than once he dies. I did this with my dad’s shares and accounts and it was way easier to do while he was still alive.
Joint names on utilities etc makes life a lot easier if you can do that, it means you don’t have to do anything immediately with these.
The POA dies with the person, hence the need for a will which will name an executor, presumably you? Which will allow you to deal with banking etc

@HollowTalk yes all the bills are in my dad's name. I've made a little note book with all the bills and once I've sorted the bill to be put into my mum's name I'm ticking it off the list.

@NoSquirrels Hi, yes they are married and we are in the UK. There is a local solicitors nearby I think I'm going to ask for them to come to the house if it's possible.

I'd suggest that your mum and dad put some money into an account in only your mums name now - my mums joint account was frozen when my dad died.

Sorry you are dealing with this.

@OnceTheyDid all the bills come out of the joint account as direct debits, does that mean the bills wouldn't get paid?

The only real way to ensure that your dads wishes does actually work happen is for him to make a will. Intestacy, which is what dying without a will is called, has specific rules which may mean that if the estate is over £270k then part of it will have to pass to your and any siblings you have.

And don’t assume that’ll because you have are young you shouldn’t sort a will out for yourself. I’m 33 and have just done a will to ensure that if I go under a bus my assets go to the right people.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/who-can-inherit-if-there-is-no-will-the-rules-of-intestacy/