Will and Life Insurance beneficiaries after divorce with children.

[DKmamma]

I've been separated from my ex-husband for nearly two years now, divorced for 6 months, and am living in the family home with our two children and my new partner.

Now the dust has settled on my divorce and maintenance negotiations, I've decided it's time to get my ducks in line with regard to life insurance and will etc. to reflect my new situation.

Does anybody have any advise on what I need to consider? It's so straightforward when you're married but post-divorce is a complex situation.

My primary objective would be to protect my children and this would naturally mean providing financially for their childhood via my ex who would become their full legal guardian, but a secondary objective is to ensure my new partner is protected in the short term and not instantly made homeless.

The house and mortgage is solely in my name.

In the event of my death, does anyone know what would happen to my home in the immediate aftermath. Could my partner be forced to leave immediately? Is this something I could have some control over by expressing my wishes in a will?

Any advice appreciated! What have other divorcees done to protect their children?

Thank you xxx

How ling do you want your partner to be able to stay in the house? 12 months, 24 months? When making the will you can ask if he can be permitted to stay for up to that time until other accommodation is found. Would he be staying in the property rent free? How would he be removed if he refuses to leave? For example can you evict someone who isn’t a tenant? But if he pays rent then he would be a tenant and your property would need gas certificates etc

Good question. Three months ....just enough to give him time to find somewhere else and move all his stuff. It might be that the ex chooses to live here with the children after that and if that is the case I wouldn't want to hold that up for too long. My partner would be rent-free.

"When making the will you can ask if he can be permitted to stay for up to that time until other accommodation is found. " ...that's great. Thanks for the info.

Hi OP. A provision for your partner to stay in the house can be put in your will. But with probate taking few months it might not be necessary. Obviously I appreciate that putting a provision enabling him to stay there will give you both peace of mind so when it comes to drafting your will i would suggest a right to reside for DP.
With you being divorced everything you own will go to your children (even if you don't have a will and are in UK) if they are under 18 it will be held on trust for them. Which means that if your XH became the only legal guardian of DC's they would all be allowed to live in the house etc. But bottom line the house would go to your DC's.

Thank you for the advice.

Be aware that if you marry your new partner at any point, it will render any Will made prior to that marriage null and void and if you were to marry and not immediately make a new Will and then were to die before making a new will, your new Husband would inherit pretty much everything (intestacy rules would apply).

I would suggest that the sensible thing to do would be that your partner and you acquire a modest buy-to-let property which is to be held jointly between you entirely separately from the main family home. Your DP isn't paying rent so should be putting at least some income into Bricks and Mortar in some other way to create long term financial stability. In the event of your unfortunate demise, it would be reasonable for the tenants to be given notice and he moves in there, and your Will should provide that he can stay in the family home until that is possible (with appropriate wording to ensure there's no deliberate delay). In the event that you both live to a ripe old age and the Will is pretty much irrelevant, then when the kids are all in their 20s or 30s you can both move in to the smaller property and sell off the family home to provide your children with their own first step onto the housing ladder.

Thank you. I would renew the will if I ever married.

We can't afford a buy to let in addition to the family home, but I do see your logic. In reality DP would have to rent somewhere affordable to him, which on his modest income would probably be a room in a shared property. That's his lookout, but I just want to ensure he'd have time to find somewhere and move his belongings.... I can't see the ex sympathising with him (even though it was his adultery which wrecked our marriage).

There is a fantastic will writer on here mumblechum ; Marlowe Wills who did my parents will a few years ago
It was all done over the phone very quickly
its also worth getting life insurance held in trust as well for your kids in case you think your EX might squander the money and slightly morbid but writing out what sort of funeral you would like and a policy to cover that would be useful as well

Thank you.

You can get a Trust Will. Or write a Will and set up a separate Trust.

There is a fantastic will writer on here mumblechum ; Marlowe Wills who did my parents will a few years ago Thank you very much for the recommendation itsjustmee!

OP, the straightforward way to proceed is to make a will giving your estate to your children on trust, with two independent trustees holding their money until the children are 21 or so. This means that your ex doesn't have direct control, but can, if he's struggling, ask the trustees for some of the funds to be released to cover the children's expenses.

The will should include a Right to Reside clause. This is typically two years, but I appreciate that would be too long for you so I'd suggest three months from the date of your death if your children are still under 21. Your trustees could, if your children are still minor, retain the property rather than sell it immediately. This may be particularly important if they're at a crucial exam stage when you die.

Regarding the possibility of remarriage; whilst it is the case that an existing will is automatically revoked on marriage, you can make the will future-proof by including a "contemplation of marriage" clause. This is useful where a couple are likely to marry, but wish to ensure that the wills remain valid even after the wedding day.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info

Thank you very much for your comprehensive and reassuring reply.

I'm in same scenario. Everything I had pre DH is held in trust for my son including house and proceeds of Bank accounts etc. DH and I took out separate life insurance policies when we got married. If I go first he can use that to either buy himself a new place or pay my son the value of our current home.