Mortgage and Tax Liability

Well back in Florida a lot of people choose to own everything jointly and die intestate - it reduces the tax burden on the surviving spouse. Children are put in a weird spot as they may not have any idea about the true state of finances....with no way to find out without cornering poor old grieving dad...or filing court motions.

New marriages come along with the same plan used. Now you're dealing with a step-parent, and perhaps step-siblings you have never even met.....

I say make wills, and include heirs in the process (at least let them know about the details)...keep it transparent. I see no reason at all that the reading of a will should be like the lottery ball drop.

Sos, you did start a good conversation with me and my husband last night.  We've both agreed that if one of us passes and the other remarries, to protect our child(ren) going into the new marriage.  It's only right!

I'll see your story, and raise you one.

I had a friend, here in the UK, who was divorced. He was about 60. He worked hard at a good job, and bought a very nice top floor flat using 95% of his own money. Shortly thereafter, he met the "latest" woman of his dreams. They married and moved into her house and he sold his flat for a nice profit. They had her house extended and brought up to the latest spec. It took all his profits from the sale of his flat. About two years later, she was diagnosed with cancer and was dead within a year. She had never changed her will to reflect her new circumstances,....and she had 3 children in their 20's and 30's. The existing will, of course, remained valid. According to her will, the children got the house, my friend got nothing, not even the funds he had put into the house for remodelling. The last I heard, he was living with his sister.

Your turn.

This horrifies me.  How do those adults sleep at night?  How could they leave the man that loved their mother and helped improve her home high and dry?  There are some greedy people out there...   

Money brings out the worst in people. Also the children are not related to the guy in the story and might well resent him. There's lots of reasons why they would keep the money, not least being they have the law on their side.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Money brings out the worst in people. Also the children are not related to the guy in the story and might well resent him. There's lots of reasons why they would keep the money, not least being they have the law on their side.

Well wouldn't this be an example  of where a little planning could have at least diffused a bit of the problem? Let the children know that Herbert deserves to at least get out what he put in? And change the will accordingly (if there was a will)? Again, why all the surprises?

Or maybe she was sending Herbert a pretty clear message after all.

I finally frog-marched DH to a solicitor to draw up a will. We are both dual citizens, and were married before, with one child from the former marriage. For various reasons, we both wanted to by-pass the children in favor of grandchildren should we both bite the dust simultaneously.

Even DH admits that the jury is still out whether his grandsons should inherit. I have 3 grand kids, and 2 are total wastrels and never likely to change. So they are specifically out of the inheritance picture, and my granddaughter would inherit. To further complicate things, there may be an inheritance from my father to enter the picture, as he is approaching 90 and obviously could go at any time. To "protect" that potential asset my will stipulates that any monies/property that form any part of my estate that I have received from my father go to my brother. Thankfully, DH agrees with that.

Given our ages, the likelihood of either of us re-marrying is slim, remote and none, but given our (somewhat) complicated family situation, we've just done the best we can for now. DH kept putting it off because he didn't want to make what he considers a 'final decision'. I reminded him that a will can be changed, and the important thing was to protect each other NOW.

Money does often bring out the worst in people. We don't have much, but it's enough to cause problems if no will were in place.

Would love to have a will as simple as one in a joke I once read. When the family gathered to see what they were getting from a very rich relative, they all had dollar signs in their eyes. The lawyer looked at them, and said: "This won't take long, and proceeded to read the will, which was short and sweet. ......"Being of sound mind, I spent it all."

A bit of an update to this post.

We were at lunch this weekend with the inlaws and they said they have just completed updating their wills.  I took the opportunity to ask about their wishes for their property if they pass before my husband's aunt.  And they had answers!  The three of them have talked about it and have a plan in place.  I am so relieved that I asked.  As I said to them, it's one of those conversations no one wants to have, but that needs to happen.

The gist is, if my inlaws pass first (which is likely to happen as they are considerably older), the aunt would be expected to sell the house and buy something with her share of the property.  If she does not have enough money from her share to buy something adequate, my husband and his brother would be expected to contribute from the estate (which they would get back upon the aunt's death).

As we told the aunt, we would never expect her to move out of her home (she did point out that it is a huge house and she wouldn't want to live there alone).

I'm just relieved we know their wishes and everyone knows!

I would like to comment on the tragic situation that OAP outlined in his posting of 12 August.

I assume that the wife of his friend was domiciled in the UK. It will be important to know whether she was domiciled in England and Wales, in Scotland or Northern Ireland as the relevant law is not the same.

I think that there are two matters to further consider. Firstly it is a legal principle that a will ceases to have effect on a marriage. The effect is that the estate falls to be treated as being in intestacy. In turn, OAP’s friend would have rights to part of the estate. Secondly the law in the UK should allow the friend to make a claim on the basis of a trust arising between the friend and his wife. This again would allow the friend to make a claim against the estate.

If these claim can be sustained, the estate should suffer less inheritance tax (assuming that it was liable for some IHT).

Perhaps his friend should consult a good private client solicitor.

Thank you for the input, Dunedin. The domicile was England.

The circumstances occurred roughly 9 or 10 years ago. My friend, and if I remember correctly the deceased wife's children, were all devastated by her untimely death. As I remember, there was no animosity between my friend and the children. I do remember my friend, at the time, had lost all heart and had no wish to contest the situation. Neither I nor any mutual friends have heard from my friend in over 8 or 9 years. I don't know what happened to him, or if there ever was some resolution more favourable to him.

The crux of my story is the responsibility of the living to resolve what they wish to happen upon their death. Your appreciated comments indicates the legal arguments that could be advanced in such a situation by someone seeking redress. When a loved one dies, especially somewhat tragically, not everyone responds in the same manner. Therefore, assuming that "everything will be sorted, everything will come right, or everyone knows I want everyone to benefit (or not)" as one often, mistakenly, thinks, does not guarantee what will in fact happen for bereaved relatives at a time of grief. A large number of those who have died might be greatly surprised by the resulting situations that occurred after their death.