Will Question - Fathers Will was written when mother was alive is it still valid

[Inanun2]

I have a few questions about my Fathers will. It was written with my Mother prob about 50 years ago (Mother since died a long time ago) he inherited everything when she passed away as joint tenancy etc.. Will was written when my sibling and I were babies. I know he wishes everything to be 50/50 between us, no new wife or partner.
I know where Will is but not read it, it will have elderly relatives as executors some of whom are probably dead themselves.
Is this Will still valid and will it be assumed that as sibling and I are adults that we are executors now or What happens ?

He'll need to do an updated will if the last one was 50 years ago.

Hi, Why, just because it is so old ? Or because executors may have since died too ? He just can not be bothered about stuff like this we have only just sorted POA despite talking about it for about 10 years

Yes it will still be valid as he never remarried
Whether or not it makes any sense or reflects his current wishes of course is a another matter entirely.

Mostly because of the executors, yes. And he might want to make some other bequests e.g to charity.

If it's a relatively simple will, then I think it won't need updating if you and your brother are NOK. If some of the executors have died then it may slow down the process.

The will is still valid, but wills can be challenged, and the fact that it is so out of date would make that more of a risk.

I know someone who died without a will. Both children wanted to be executors. The youngest child wrote to the court the day of the death, said that X has died with no will and I am her child and want to be executor. The court said fine, the child was appointed executor and got full control of all bank accounts. The other (older) sibling who was bush dealing with the body etc found out a week later and said hey hang on why aren’t I an executor too? Younger sibling told them to get lost and there was nothing they could do.

A lot of money went missing. Then younger sibling sent the funeral bill to older sibling.

You may be close with your sibling now but deaths make people mad and weird. Strongly suggest you both get made executors in the will.

Making a simple will takes 30 minutes, you can copy stuff from internet and get neighbours to witness it. Just make such you don’t witness it as if you do you cannot also inherit.

It's still valid yes but whether it makes sense now that your mother has passed and possibly executors too is another matter. It probably needs to be updated to reflect those changes, maybe any property updates and appoint you or sibling as executor and any other wishes. Is your father compos mentis to update it? If so then broach the conversation about it. If not then I'd leave it as is.

Please ignore MrsDanversGlidesAgain. The will is still valid. Executors dying does not invalidate a will, nor is it invalid just because it may not reflect his current wishes.

The executors are the people named in the will as executors. If any of them are dead, the remaining executors carry out the role. If they are all dead, the main beneficiaries of the will are the executors.

If any of the beneficiaries of the will are dead, the gift to them can be ignored. Different rules apply if you or your sibling die before your father.

This is bad advice, I’m afraid. A professionally-drawn up will, even an old one (as long as not invalidated by an intervening event like a marriage) is a safer bet than a DIY job. Having no living executors is a common problem and easily solved. A DIY will may create far more intractable problems than that.

An anecdote about someone dying intestate isn’t germane to the OP’s situation. If there are no executors or trustees alive when her DF dies, the beneficiaries will jointly appoint them.

Interesting. I too can't understand why it wouldn't still be valid.

MIL died in 2019. DH as sole executor proved her Will made in 1972. No problem.

In practical terms there were issues though. DH was the sole executor because he was the only DC over 18 when the Will was made and he did find it very stressful. Also, there were no legacies for the DGC because none of them were born when the Will was made.

I'm sure @mumblechum would agree that Wills should be reviewed every five years or so and after a major family event.

There's no earthly reason to pay a professional to draw up a will that leaves the estate in equal shares to two children, when there is no partner/spouse and no other children.

Yes, for complex family situations, but not for this.

If any of the beneficiaries of the will are dead...

Surely their gift goes to their descendants or if none, relatives? I am no expert either, and am not sure what happens when there are none at all.

You COULD, if you already have a copy of the Will which your father has given you, go and ask a solicitor how this would play out in practice? If the answer is "not very well at all" then you can feed that back to him for his consideration. If he still refuses to write another one (preferably with a professional), then at least you will know what is coming.

People like this annoy me. Just get your affairs in order in a timely manner, and stop making your children's or other relatives' lives difficult (and expensive), especially when they have to try and sort out your care and finances when you suffer a stroke with no POA, or an out of date Will or intestacy when they should be getting on with grieving and sorting out your things.

You're missing the point. There is already a (by the sounds of it) professionally drawn-up will. I am advising the OP not to replace that perfectly valid will with a DIY job.

I dont think the dad has died so OP shouldnt just read the Will, it has to be the dad who reads it, makes any changes or updates it, it might be easier for him to just do a codicil and appoint a firm of solicitors or bank to be executors, many firms offer free Will service in exchange for charity donations.

Thank you all.
It was written by a solicitor originally.
I think over next few months we (the 3 of us) will have to chat all together and check the Will to ensure everything is in order and then hopefully will not need to think of it again for a long time.

I am thinking about it as my DH and I need to update our Will which was written before children.

Surely their gift goes to their descendants or if none, relatives? I am no expert either, and am not sure what happens when there are none at all.

No, it doesn't.

Imagine A makes a will, leaving their estate to be split between B (A's child) and C (A's sibling).

If B dies before A, their share of A's estate will go to their children, grandchildren or other direct descendants, if they have any. If they don't have any direct descendants, the gift to B fails and C inherits everything.

If C dies before A, the gift fails regardless of whether they have children or relatives. B will inherit everything.

If either of them dies after A but before A's estate is distributed, their inheritance goes into their estate and is dealt with according to their will.

If both B and C die before A and A's will doesn't say what happens in that situation, A is intestate and their estate must be distributed in accordance with the intestacy rules.