The Probate thread just got me thinking – do I need a will?

I suspect I’m not alone in never having given it much thought. I don’t have a massive country pile or a huge share portfolio to leave, nor a bunch of offspring to argue over it. I’ve always figured that most of my property is toys (bikes, outdoor stuff in general etc) and doesn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things. But thinking about it, I realise that between pensions and capital in my property, I’m probably worth a few quid.

I’m late 30’s, live on my own, longish term relationship but no joint account or joint assets (yet!), have no kids, both parents still alive, 1 sibling with 3 nieces/nephews.

What would happen if the worst should happen? Would it all default to my folks or is it more complex? I guess I’m probably at that stage in my life where I need to pull my finger out and get a Will in place really?

Just don’t die, that’s my plan.

Hmmmmm, house, wife, child, perhaps I should pull my finger out.

Not you dashed, just stick to the plan, don’t die.

I think you will find that your longish term partner would not inherit your assets as they would not count as next of kin. I think your family would inherit instead.

It’s really easy and cheap to make a will and it guarantees that the people that you want to inherit your assets actually do so.

We did ours using a kit from Smiths or somewhere – no solicitors were enriched in the making of our wills – but you can probably find the information on the internet somewhere these days.

yeah, get it done, it can be done pretty simply and cheaply if you are in that position. Once I wrote mine, the more I thought about it the more I realised it wasnt as simple as I thought and I ended up having one drawn up and lined a solicitors pockets. Oh, and once written dont forget to update it on occasion if circumstances change.

In mine, my bikes are left to my wife with instruction on how to get the most value from them if she decides she wants to sell them. I wanted to be burried with one of them but the coffin was weird shaped.

In your case your parents would get everything. If you are happy that they’d do the right thing by anyone close to you then fine. If you don’t get on with your parents and they hate your partner and you’d want your estate managed in a way other than you’d expect your parents to do so then thats what a will would be for.

Theres another thing to though: Some things have monetary value, some have sentimental value. Theres possibly risk of ruptions over things that mean something rather than things that are worth something – so a will can recognise that.

When my grandfather died he split has estate between my dad and his sister: His sister got the house and any money, my dad got anything in the house he thought was of sentimental value, which turned out to be photos of ancestors dating back the the 1850s that he’d never seen – that was a very amicable settlement for all concerned and it was probably the only thoughtful thing my grandad ever did.

Something Ms Maccruiskeen’s mum needs to address is she doesn’t have money or assets but she’s an artist and theres hundreds of paintings in her studio, big ones too, they’re not going to fit in anyone’s loft. Theres more than can be shared,stored,displayed between her family members – but whats the right thing to do with them? How do her 4 children agree a correct way to divide, disperse, or dispose of them?

!!SCREAMS!!!

DO have a will and DO Keep it up to date. (Marriage/divorce/house/asset changes/children/stepchildren etc etc).

Otherwise it will default to wife(*legally married) then next of kin (*not stepchildren) and then to Govmt
https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y

Couples, keep some money in a joint account, on death solely owned assets are frozen till will sorted, joint accounts default to person left alive so if money solely all/mainly in ‘wrong’ name could be problems.

*Edit. For those with aging parents please look into power of attorney – hint – it’s cheaper and easier to do whilst person concerned has the legal ability to give it, it’s more difficult and expensive if this is not the case. People with ‘old style parents'(sorry if that is incorrectly put ) please note comment about sole name bank accounts/assets.

What would happen if the worst should happen?

I’d guess your parents would get everything, then share some out with your sibling and nephews/nieces. If they unfortunately died within 7(?) years then the tax man could come sniffing for their pound of flesh as I ‘think’ any money they shared out would be liable to some kind of tax. Obviously as a complete noob at finances like this I may be making all this up, I’d had a bad day when we did our will with the solicitor and didn’t take in some of subtle points she was trying to make.

The pension company should be able to allow you to nominate a preferred beneficiary, as well – I’m pretty sure they can. It’s an expression of wish, but might at least allow partner to get access to pension pot.

Get a will. End of. Even if you leave it all to the cat&dog home. My uncle helped draw up mine, at tender age of 21 – seems odd and bizarre but never regretted that.

Right, will do… Add to the list of new year’s resolutions 😀