Will when you're married - how important is it

[ChildcareIsBroken]

I'm married with two children. We don't have wills, but thinking of sorting that. How important is it? We're planning to leave everything to each other and then once we're gone, our children which I guess it's a default? I know we will also set guardians for our children, but are there other things we should consider?

I have some assets left directly to my children, nothing that would make my husband homeless or suffer. Just something significant from me to my sons.

To many horror stories about dads remarrying quickly and the assets also going to the new wife and her children. It's not a risk I'm willing to take.

That makes sense, I also don't want that to happen. If I leave my share of assets in my will to my husband and then to our children after his death (naming them specifically), does that prevent it from happening? I.e. if he has more children after I die, would my inheritance go to just our children or his children/wife as well?

i would check the intestancy laws of where you live because that is not necessarily the default.

also if you both died so you have an idea of who the guardian should be as that needs allocating in the will otherwise social services can kick in

so yes you need a will

You could leave 'lifetime interest' eg in your share of the house.

You should also think what happens if your family unit is wiped out.
eg Your half goes to your siblings, his half to them.
Important as otherwise intestacy rules have interesting effects.

get a will done

There are issues with IHT if you are over the threshold. Everyone should write a will with DC. Also if you die, another woman might well be the kindest person on earth to them. Trust your DH: unless he’s a cheating git of course! Also don’t die intestate. Go with DH to a solicitor and talk it through. What you leave to DH goes to DH. Free of IHT. It’s then his money. Ask about trusts for Dc. Are you expecting your house to be sold so DH cannot live in it? Are you leaving part of it to DC so they control part of it? Ask about the ramifications of what you want within your family setting and finances.

Also consider if DH dies. What would you expect from his estate? All of it, or a portion of it and no security over your home? Works both ways.

Once an asset belongs to another person, it is theirs to do with as they please (hence the scenario of surviving spouse remarrying then leave assets to “new” family).
you might want get advice on the “life interest” option on property, and / or leaving money “in trust” to your children.
if you have specific ideas on how to look after your children in the event of your death, and / or not wanting your assets to “leak” out to a second family, you need to write your will accordingly. If you’re happy with the default legislation in place in your country, a will might be less important.

Thanks, these are very good points. I love my husband and trust him and wouldn't want to leave him struggling.
We talked about different scenarios and we are on the same page.

Thanks everyone for your advice, just booked an appointment with a solicitor.

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

You can check out what would happen if you die without a will here. I think a spouse gets the first 250k and it is then split between them and the children so if you have more wealth/assets could be more of an issue.

Anything you leave to your husband is his and he can will it/give it away as he wishes unless there is a trust or he only has a right to reside but doesn't own a property for example.

If your parents might leave an inheritance it might give you peace of mind for your children if you ask if your share of any inheritance will go straight to your kids if you had died before they pass away.

Definitely get a will. DH had one and it made things a lot easier. Also talk to him about what you would want to happen after your death – buried or cremated, ashes scattered or interred etc etc. Ideally write it down so his family can't argue. Ahem.

Lots to think about. I read about lifetime trust and I wouldn't want that to happen to me, so that's not something I want to do.

We're also saving quite a bit of money for our children in their names, so that's one way to ensure their financial security.

Thanks, that's good to know about inheritance from my parents.
I live in the UK and all my assets are currently here but I moved here from abroad. Once I inherit from my parents the situation will be more complicated.

We talked about it but I'll write it down too. Definitely don't want anyone to fight over such details.

I hate to think about it all but I know we have to make our wills as soon as possible.

Think hard about this too.
If saving in their names, it becomes theirs at 18.
They my be sensible, or they may have fallen into the wrong crowd at 6th form / fallen in lurve. Too much at 18 can throw them off and you would have no recourse.

I accept that, we only save what we can afford and not feel resentment if it's not spent the way we'd hoped. Both husband and I are quite sensible and so are our siblings and parents so hopefully our children will be too, but I know there are no guarantees.

When dh and I made our wills it was primarily everything going to each other and if we were the second one to go then to our DC's. The bit we did need to give some thought to was the scenario of all of us going together in an accident. Not a nice thought but a possibility to consider. It's likely a solicitor will ask that if you are planning to go to one to draw the documents up.