WILLS & WHERE IT GOES!!!

[lozzawoo]

My father married three years ago but has never made a will since 1997. He included his children in this but now he has remarried does this will still apply if none other has been made?? Sorry bit confusing lol...it confuses me!!!

No it doesn't Zippi - something many people don't realise, and sometimes not until it is too late!

Zippi - divorce does NOT revoke a Will. All parties getting divorced should be advised to make a new will - often before the divorce is finalised.

but if it was a joint will presumably it is defunct completely

Yes, sorry...will not revoked BUT the person who is being divorces is essentially airbrushed out of the will. And children, etc. remain included in the will.

Yes, if the spouse was the sole beneficiary, it would effectively be defunct, although provisions regarding funerals, etc. would still hold.

Freckle - whilst I don't agree with you on the divorce issue - on the other matter (LGJ's one)I do agree provided probate was granted and the Will in LGJ's attic is a copy rather than the original.

Joint wills are, IIRR, two individual wills but mirror images of each other, not one joint document. So the divorced parties on each side will be deleted from the wills.

So, Woman X divorces from Man Y:

Woman X's will will no longer include Man Y, but would include any children they have had
Man Y's will will no longer include Man Y, but would include any children they have had

Does that kind of make sense?

I really must make a will I say this every time this comes up and never do it..jus another complexity of life

I did confirm with DH a few seconds ago.

Indignatio, which bit do you disagree with?

I'd definitely recommend getting one done Zippi. You can even do them via e-mail and telephone, so don't have a visit an actual solicitor's firm. Just make sure you have a decent one written up, ideally using a lawyer who specialises in this area.

Totally agree with Hulababy. Do not, whatever you do, use a will-writing kit or other DIY documents.

It is relatively inexpensive to have simple wills done by a specialist solicitor, but it is worth its weight in gold when the time comes to process the will. And it will probably be your children dealing with it so have some thought for them.

If it is a complicated will, where there are children from previous marriages or complex tax issues, it is absolutely essential that you use a specialist lawyer.

Freckle - Sorry I was wrong, you were right on the divorce issue - just checked around the net - I can't believe that my brain is so addled - I used to know this stuff like the back of my hand

DH makes more money from sorting our badly drafted DIY and will-writer type wills than he does from writing a decent will in the first place.

Don't worry, indignatio. When you said that, I just assumed it was my brain that was addled .

Hulababy, I apologise profusely for urging people to use solicitors to write their wills as I am clearly doing your dh out of business!

Thanks Freckle - I would love you to be able to tell me that this is a new law (within the last 5 years) but thinking back, it was always people in the throws of divorce who were v v strongly encouraged to write wills as - presumably their current will (leaving everything to not so DSpouse) would be valid if they died before the decree absolute came through.

Yes, remarriage revokes the will.

i didn't read it like that F. I thought the father's mother's will didn't leave a life interest. That should be checked.

Also I thought the father had remarried so his will is revoked and therefore the father's estate etc is left under the intestacy rules. Obviously someone needs to check both wills - the father's and the father's mother's etc. Also he might have made a new will and not told anyone and sometimes there are disputes about whether a new wife has faked a will -one was over turned the other week so it's wise to ask for a copy. My father had his lawyer send us all a copy of his new will 18 months ago.

No, it's not entirely clear from LGJ's initial post how the mother expressed her wish that 50% of the house should go to her children.

I was working on the assumption that she left it in her will with a life interest to her dh, but did say that the wording of the will needs to be checked.

Yes, I agree.
On husband's mother will :
"Portfolio to DH and Sis. Then on the demise of her DH her 50% of the house to go her children and his 50% of the house and his portfolio to go his children. However he remarried and sold his marital home as did his new wife."
I took that to mean that on his mother's husband's death 50% of mother's house to the husband (lozz's father) so he got the 50% outright and can leave it where he likes and he has no will so it goes in the intestacy pot unless he ploughed it all into the house he owns in joint names with his new wife.

I thought the mother's will was fairly simple - once her new husband was dead her 50% of house to her son (lozz's father) and other 50% to the new husband's children so no life interests at all but I might be wrong.

LOL Freckle. Think DH manages just fine Just been offered equity partnership too [proud wife emotion]

And you are definitely right - a solicitor should be used for writing a will. It is DIY wills and will writing services that drive me mad!

Actually, yes - maybe we should let people do their own - he would pick up more work I guess! Mind you, he hates that type of messing about. Prefers to be able to do decent probate work from a proper will.