Potential inheritance

[BoatingDown]

If someone had split their will three ways but then one of those beneficiaries predeceased them, would that persons 'share' go to their next of kin or would it get split back between the two remaining beneficiaries?

Thanks!

My uncle lived longer than most people in his will, most of the estate went to next of kin, although in his case those still alive and listed were gifted set amounts rather than a share of the remainder. Interesting question..

No definite answer - it depends on how the will is written.

Interesting @wonderstuff thank you!

@StCharlotte think you're right. Need to wait to see what will says really but was interested to know if there's a default position...

I agree, it depends how it’s written. I’ve left my money to my kids equally, if one of them dies before me then the money would go to their children, if they had any.

It wouldn’t go to any other next of kin , such as a spouse/ partner. In fact my estate is structured in such a way that it CANT be inherited by anyone else except children, GC, GGC etc

I'm one of 4 siblings. Before DC, my will had the share going to charity - otherwise there was the risk it could ALL have gone to one particularly (in my view) unworthy nephew.

My uncle lived to 98, and no one had any idea that he had any money, I’d say it is really important to keep your will under review and list as many eventualities as possible. I don’t think he would have changed the outcome of the distribution of his estate, but it was really sad to read so few of those he’d intended to leave money to were alive.

As you say it depends on how the will has been drafted.

Very commonly in the case of a parent with three kids a straightforward will would provide for the whole estate to be split between the three of them. In that case by default if one predeceased the testator then the other two would inherit half each. A well-drafted will would anticipate that possibility and might depart from the default. But some people don't like to acknowledge the possibility that their children might die before them.

Actually by default if you leave gifts to your three children and one of them predeceases you then their share will go to their children unless your will states otherwise. That's a specific rule that only applies to your direct blood/adopted descendants - so money left to your sister wouldn't automatically pass to your nieces and nephews if she died before you.

See here

If the person dies without a will in England or Wales then the deceased child’s share goes to the deceased person’s children. If they die with a will then the will stands.

What it definitely won't do, is automatically go to their "next of kin", who might be their spouse or their mother. It all depends on the wording of the will and the nature of the relationships.

Depends on the will. But generally if A left money to B, C and D but D dies well before A, the money just gets split between B and C - it does not go to whoever D left his money to in D's will. You have to be alive to inherit.

However, it's very common to draft a will to say that if your children pre-decease you, your money will go to their children if any.

Worth knowing as well that if beneficiaries are in agreement then a will can be changed up to 2 years after death.

Our wills are written to split money between younger family members if all of us (DH, myself and DC) die together.

One of those family members has since died, I emailed our solicitor and checked that her share would go back into the pot, which she confirmed it would. I didn’t want her NOK - parents - getting any of our money!

I am sure it would only go to their next of kin if the Will was worded specifically to state that. Our solicitor specifically included wording such that if either of our DC predecease us, and have children (worded as ‘issue’ in legal jargon), their share would go to their children. It means we don’t have to update our wills if/when our DC have kids.

@SilverRingahBells

See here

Thank you @SilverRingahBells, I did not know this.

There’s actually no such thing as ‘next of kin’ in law, apart from when you are talking about under eighteen year olds and their parents. People assume that spouses are next-of-kin, but it has no legal standing.

But if someone dies without a will, or with a will where all the beneficiaries have died their estate is passed to closest living relatives which is what most people would term next of kin.