Help to understand the wording of a will

[HaplessSue]

Hi all,

Can anyone please tell me what happens if a few family members are left a property that is sold before the death of the will writer?

In this case 6 people are left the property and the rest of the estate is split equally between them plus 4 others (10 People).

If the property has already been sold - does the money now get split equally between the 10 people?

"any house that I should occupy at the time of my death as my principle residence in shares as set out below, subject to any changes made on the property having either been paid for from my estate or the sale of the said property"

Thanks for any help

I'm not an expert but if the property was already sold then any money from the sale (if any left) would be included as other assets and split between the 10 people.

This. Unless a clear contrary intention is expressed in the will the gift of the house fails and the whole estate is just split between then ten beneficiaries. The four who were left the house don't get anything extra.

Sorry, the six who were left the house.

I'm not a professional in this area but it seems pretty clear to me that this only applies to a house that is occupied at the time of death. If the house has already been sold then the clause becomes redundant. You can't will something you haven't got.

Was the sale of the property before or after their death?

The first two posters are wrong. If the property was sold before death the gift in the will fails. If that was all the six family members were left, they would get nothing. However, as they are also entitled to a share of the residue, the estate gets split into 10 equal shares.

It is open to the four family members who would not have inherited a share of the house to execute a Deed of Variation to give more to the six if they want to more accurately reflect the deceased's apparent wishes.

I'm assuming that the property was sold before death, by the way.

I think the proceeds would go to whoever has been left the rest of the estate.

Thank you everybody, what a great response!

Just to clarify, the scenario for this was that the house was sold before death of the will writer.

My conclusion from your replies is that the money from the sale of the house goes into the estate and the entire estate is split between the 10 people.

Thanks again

I think that's what the first two posters said as well isn't it? Unless I've misunderstood.

You are right. I misread their posts. My bad.

I misread them too!