Stepfamily Inheritance help please?

[Raspberryflavour]

DFIL is retired and we thought owns his own home and assets from his business (which he has run and contributed to as normal) all jointly with much younger DstepMIL. we also assumed that he would have made a will.

It came up in conversation on his part that he hasn’t made a will and thought he would to leave everything to StepMIL to sort out in her will as she is younger. Pretty certain he’ll have taken no legal advice on that. He isn’t a legally minded person.

Also it came up that their home and his business are only in stepMIL’s name going back decades since they got married.
I don’t know how that works legally but OK.

FIL has two adult kids with first wife, and one adult child with stepMIL. StepMIL has no other children. FIL has good relationships with all three children and doesn’t want to disinherit anyone.

If FIL predeceases stepMIL then is it true that she doesn’t need to leave his two children anything? Everything of the marriage can go to stepMIL’s child?

And if stepMIL predeceases FIL, then what happens? If her Will says she wants everything to go to her child? And since FIL doesn’t legally own anything?

Things have gone a bit tense since this came out with stepMIL just saying it’s what they agreed because she wants to ‘protect’ her adult child. It sounds like she wants to leave everything to her own child. Can she legally do it?

Lots of people don’t write wills. Scared of lawyers, don’t want to contemplate dying, believe that the laws of intestacy will do the “common sense” thing. That’s three reasons off the top of my head, without any unpleasant misogyny.

And, for the third and final time - because this thread is too unpleasant to stay on - it is entirely possible that the SM who has been in their lives for 18+ years and who gets on well with them will leave the assets between the three children.

Goodnight and goodbye.

I agree. I think the tax efficient issue as highlighted above is the reason he’s done this, but still, anyone would feel hurt in the shoes of his kids. Realistically, what are the chances of the stepMIL splitting her estate three ways in her will? I think slim given she wants to “protect her child”.

Also if dies and she remarries it will - with no will - go to her new husband!

It’s similar for us tbh.

the house is in my sole name because, well it’s my house. Dh moved in with me.

his divorce left him with nothing. He did have a central London house, but the kids were young and obviously there was no way to sell a tiny 3 bed terrace and provide two homes. The house was worth a fortune and she couldn’t afford to buy him out so a judge just awarded it to her.

his kids should get that house when their mum dies.

my kids will get my house, dh has a life interest.

so both sets of children should end up roughly equal, with half a house each.

i am sure his kids would be surprised to find out the house is in my sole name and they will inherit only their share of dh’s savings.

the new wife may have brought her own assets and savings into the marriage, so you know their circumstances when they married? Maybe she’s been keeping him and it’s her money.

will his first two children inherit from their mum? If he left her wit a lot of his assets he may consider that their inheritance.

If everything's in HER name there's no point him making a Will as he's got nothing to leave.