Where to leave money if I/we die

[Orangessunshine]

myself and DP have 3 DD and we need to write a will etc

We don’t have many requests other than DD would go to my brother. We’ve agreed this with him. We both 100% agree on this and other family members know this but feel it’s the sort of thing that should be wrote down officially.

money-wise- we have a mortgage If I was to die, my life insurance would pay my half of the mortgage.
DP would get my widowers pension.
and would split pension payout to DD and nephews.

if something was to happen to us both.
DD would live with brother and then we were thinking DD would inherit our house once 21 and his guardian (my brother) would receive a rental income until then?

does this sound fair?
any better ideas?
also any ideas where we can get a low cost will?
we don’t really have processions other than the house.

thanks for help!

I really do not recommend getting a low cost Will. Property is involved and you have a potential minor in play, so the assets will need to go into a trust. That trust can pay out income to meet the education, maintenance or benefit of your DD. The Will creates that trust and will be supplemented by a Letter of Wishes. What a solicitor who specialises in this area will do is also guide you in writing the Letter of Wishes. I always advocate running the trust on until DD is 35. That way it will give more protection over the capital. Find a law firm with a STEP member in a private client team - they will have TEP after their name (Trust & Estate Practitioner). It will cost about £600 to £1,200 but for that you will get a proper job done with a supporting advice letter that you can keep for reference. Your DD will thank you later should the worst happen.

Im interested in this too but the previous post is confusing me

Why 35?

Would you not want your brother to have access to money to help him raise your dd? Should he not have some discretion in accessing some of her inheritance for her benefit if necessary? Who will be responsible for the maintenance of the house if you intend for it to be kept? You need a solicitor.

I would be happy to be a guardian to my nieces and nephews if we lost a sibling. I would be less keen to be a landlord. I think it would be better if house was sold and funds left in trust for your DD - the provision is normally that trustees can access the funds to spend on your daughters upbringing if needed.

You can get a cheaper will in November through will aid, we used this service. Think it was about £300 for mirror wills. Your case is really not that complicated.

https://www.willaid.org.uk/

Also I would advice you to get married. Any will you have now will be invalid once you get married even to each other. Why does DP not have life insurance? If he dies in a year how will you pay the mortgage?

Thank you all so much.
I deffo need to have a look at solicitors and get the ball rolling.

DP does have lift insurance too, we had to get it with the mortgage and just carried on so at least that’s done 😊

Guidance on your Letter of Wishes is important. Research and pay for good advice.

Don't gamble your DD future on a low-balled fee of £300 which is the price of 30 x 10" pizzas, just to save money now. Your DD will thank you later.

35 years of age - this means the capital is not hers until she has made a few mistakes. Business creditors, personal mistakes, failed marriages, all these things and more can lead to her losing the capital. Whatever you think now, is not the reality of the future. I see this every day in my professional decisions.

@ssd See above.

Interestingly, I have some clients who do insure lives and lifts. But I suspect you meant 'life insurance' 😁

Sound reasonable.

Just for a bit more detail, is holding in trust until 35 years old more applicable to high value estates due to the cost of maintaining the trust over a long period?

No. It is totally due to relationships, whether business, personal or with the State. We make bargains all the time. Someone stronger will want to take a part of that.

Trusts are real. They are a product of European culture. Set them up properly and maintain them diligently and you can protect chancers. This generation is the domain of chancers, scammers and fakers.

Don't build your houses on a pizzas.

With a child I don’t think it is enough to just have life insurance for the mortgage. We wanted to have enough cover that if something happened to one of us there was money for childcare and to mitigate loss of one person’s earnings. I also feel if you are going to ask a relative to take on a child, there should be money that comes along with that to provide for them .

In planning this, you need to be really practical. You say your DD will go to your brother. Is your brother married? Does he have DC? Where do they live?
Might he need a bigger home if your DD lives with him/them? How will childcare work... it is difficult (and expensive) to find wraparound plus holiday childcare and this will be a grieving child so is unlikely to be the best scenario anyway. Might your brother or his partner have to give up work or reduce their hours? If so, how will that be financed?
What about schooling? Would you have ever considered private and, if so, is that still an option? What about if your brother privately educates his children? Would you expect your DD to be privately educated too?l
What about more mundane stuff like after school activities, days out, holidays and even clothes and Christmas presents.
Whilst I completely understand why you'd want your DD to inherit your home when she's older, you also need to consider the day to day costs of raising a child when you are no longer generating an income to support that child.

And why are you splitting your pension payout between your nephews and your DD?

You need to get advice from a professional. Why does your life insurance only pay half the mortgage and what happens if your partner dies or you both die? Is only half still covered?
If your brother is taking on three children he will need presumably a larger home so I doubt the rental income will facilitate that. You need to get some life cover to finance their expenses or give part of the property to your brother.

Is your brother in a position to take on three daughters? Does he have enough space, or would he need to purchase a larger home? How would he fund this?

You've said 3 daughters but then said 'his'. Also why would you split things with your nephews?

It’s one DD who is 3.

Why are you leaving anything to the nephews when you have a DD?

You need professional advice from a solicitor/will writer so that you don't end up wittering it away in small bequests/inheritance tax.

I wouldn’t leave any money or pension etc to my nephews/nieces if I had my own children. Not unless there were some really specific circumstances and their own parents weren’t going to provide for them or something.

Why are you leaving anything to your nephews when you have a dp that will need that financial support to raise your dd into adulthood?

When ds(19) was young enough be left with someone, my Dbro/SIL, everything would have been handed over to them and they would have had the freedom to make the best decisions in ds's interests.

Putting conditions such as expecting someone to manage renting out and the up keep of your property for the next decade or more is very unreasonable, blocking your ds getting the house until he is 21 could cause problems if he needs access to the money sooner (perhaps for uni?). You won't be here, you don't know what changes might be brought in that might make renting in the future unwise or what your ds might need.

Where is money coming to support your brother raising your child? - childcare costs are enormous and a rental income won't fund them.

You are trusting them to raise your child and make the best decisions you need to trust them to make the best financial decisions too and not try to control too much from the grave.

Oooh I was hoping the rental income would cover most of DD costs and leave them with some.
our childcare costs are about £300 a month and would only get less with her growing up. DD would still be supported by both grandparents etc but love with DB.
lots to think about though - thank you.
Ive always seen the nephew as almost my own we’re so close and would’ve liked to have left them a little something too.
a lot to think about on points raised thank you x

Childcare grandparents would still be able to look after her for next couple of years before school plus with the government changes not expecting it to go higher - thankfully.

OP I think what you had planned was reasonable. The income from letting out your house who help your brother to pay any additional expenses he would need to cover as your dc grows up. I'm a LL and it really is not hard if you pay an agent to let the house and manage the rental for you. They charge about 15 Percent of the total rent each month. That would free your brother, of dealing with the constantly changing rules and regulations. I would state your child got your house when they were 26 years old, but got half income from it from 18 years old, with your brother keeping the remaining half after the agent paid. I think if you put this clearly in a will and make your brother one of the executors that would be ok. You obviously trust your brother or you would not be leaving your DC to live with them.