Can I make a will for my child before they are born

[Toastytoes1]

My husband and I are expecting our first child so want to write a will. We haven’t ever bothered before because we’re both the sole benefactor of each others’ life insurance and while I know we probably should care more about what happens to our house and other small assets should we both die... we just never really cared that much frankly.
But anyway, now we’re 4 months pregnant so now everything is much clearer for us; everything left to each other if one of us dies, everything left to the baby if we both die. Obviously we’re not planning on dying but you just never know and for something to happen to both of us at the same time; well odds are you really aren’t going to see that coming so morbid as it is, I really want to get something set up so at least we know our baby will be taken care of. My worry is, once they’re born, we’re likely to be very distracted and I can easily see that we just won’t get around to it and I’d really like to just get it all set up and sorted so I don’t need to think about it anymore. So does anyone know how you go about making a will and if you can make a baby that isn’t actually born yet the sole benefactor should the worst happen to my husband and I?
Thank you

I'm not sure but when I made my will I only had one child and she worded it to cover any further children so its quite probable.

Yes. You can write your will in expectation of your child’s arrival and also any future children. This is not at all uncommon. Eg I have one DC but my estate is split equally between any DC at the time of my death as I anticipate I’ll have more children.

Yes you can do this we did. But got a call from solicitors asking us to update our will and he included our children’s names now they are here.
Another morbid thing to think about is if you both died before your child/children reached 16 who would you want to be guardians. You can also add this to your will.

Seek advice on the wording so you don't inadvertently exclude any subsequent children from inheriting.

Thank you. Thats really good to know.

Also make sure you don’t just leave everything to the surviving spouse if one of you dies and there are children!

What you want to avoid is the scenario where the surviving partner has new partner, then dies & everything goes to the new partner & the children don’t get anything.
Don’t rely on trusting the surviving partner to do ‘the right thing’!
Be very clear on what happens to your assets if one of you dies and there are children.

@pengymum this is exactly what happened to my grandmas estate. Her new husband got everything and her children never saw a penny.

@pengymum
That’s interesting to think about, thank you. I can’t fathom a universe where my husband wouldn’t take care of our (his) child or him me but I suppose I would want him to find someone else if anything happened to me so how much can I trust that person. Do other married couples with no children from other relationships do this also? The thing is as well though we don’t have separate assets; there is no my money and his money to split, its all both our money so how do I specify that I want a certain amount of money to go to our child if only I die when if we didn’t have a will, it would all legally belong to my husband anyway? Interesting.

We did this. DD was 2 and DS was unborn. We just named him 'our second child'.

@Toastytoes1 my parents have just written their will to try and work round this. They have gone with of one of them dies the other inherits, however if that person then remarries the estate is passed to children.

If you have property jointly, you need to make sure the title held as tenants in common rather than joint tenants. I’ve copied this:
If you co-own a property as tenants in common, each co-owner owns a specific share of the property. A tenancy in common agreement is ideal for people who wish to own property jointly with their partner but wish to leave their share of the property to someone else when they die.

Tenants in common have no rights of survivorship. Unless the deceased individual's will specifies that his or her interest in the property is to be divided among the surviving owners, a deceased tenant in common's interest belongs to his or her estate.

You can give the surviving partner a life interest in property or fixed term, eg till children reach adulthood but best take proper legal advice.

Also, what if the surviving partner marries but doesn’t then make another will?

Just don’t rely on people doing the right thing when you are no longer there.

If you’re making the effort to sort things out, do it properly & don’t leave anything to chance. That’s my view on things!

Not so difficult to think that a father wouldn't look after a child...my son's not so df hasn't been in contact for 3 years...explain that one to a 17 year old.. relationships can be shite .