Making a will regarding a house

AnRothar

Hi All,

just looking for some pointers.

Father in law left certain instructions in their will regarding the house.

The mother in law has now drafted a new will which will result in some fun and games when she passes away.

We want do do out wills simply to split everything 50/50.

We are planning to make an appointment for next month.

Since all that we currently have is a house with a mortgage.

How should it be worded so we don't stuff up?:

endofrainbow

A competent solicitor would advise.

Spanish Eyes

If you are married you would normally leave everything to your spouse and vice versa. On both your deaths to any children equally. But you can do what you like except the surviving spouse has a right to a legal share if you leave them out, the share depends on whether you have children or not, and if the surviving spouse decides to pursue his/her legal right share.

If your property is held as joint tenants, the survivor will inherit the deceased person's half automatically.

If you are not married, and co habiting, there more than likely will be tax to pay as you are treated for inheritance tax as strangers to each other with the lowest tax free threshold. However if you own a house together there may be an exemption for that subject to certain rules such as having lived in it for a certain period and not owning any other property.

That's the free bit! Good to see you will be checking things out with a solicitor, as there may be issues to consider that you may not be aware of.