When two families come together, the concept of writing your Will can become confusing and all the more complicated. How a Will is structured depends on the client’s individual circumstances, and ultimately, what they are most comfortable with.
If a couple are married, then this cancels any existing Will they have in place, unless there is a special clause in their Will which stops this from happening.
If someone dies without a Will then the “rules of intestacy” apply If this happens then your children may actually end up inheriting nothing at all from your estate.
If you have been married before, then you may have inherited from your first spouse; and if your deceased spouse or partner was the children’s parent, then chances are they would want their estate to end up with their children and not with your new spouse.
So, how do you balance the provisions you make between your new spouse or partner, and your children?
A lot of clients will opt for the inclusion of a Trust in their Will, so they ring fence all or part of their assets; and leave their spouse or partner the right to live in their property and potentially benefit from any income that may arise from the property or any other assets.
Example: Harry and Sue
Harry and Sue are a married couple. Harry has three children from previous relationships, and Sue has one daughter. Harry’s previous wife passed away and left her estate to Harry. Sue was not married to her daughter’s father and she has no assets of significant value.
Harry wants to provide for Sue and make sure she is not financially bereft, but he also does not want to risk leaving everything to Sue as she could:
(1) Change her Will to leave everything to her daughter and exclude Harry’s children
(2) Gift away the assets in her lifetime and exclude Harry’s children
(3) Remarry and forget to change her Will, meaning her new spouse could take the lion’s share of her estate.
Harry decides the best option is to put a Trust into his Will, so Sue can benefit from Harry’s assets, but does not inherit hem outright; so she cannot gift them to anyone else. If Harry dies first, then the assets pass to the Trust for the rest of Sue’s life or until she remarries, and only after Sue also dies, everything passes equally between his three children.
Potential Issues
By enforcing a Trust, inheritance could be delayed for a significant period of time. If children are under 18 and a parent is paying child maintenance for that child or children, then they may also be left financially bereft. There may also be taxation implications, depending on an individual’s circumstances.
It is therefore vital to discuss these challenges with a specialist. At Keyte Legal, we are experienced in offering advice to blended families. Contact us today for advice on putting a Will in place to meet the challenge of structuring your Will when you are two families who have come together.
The blog postings on this site are accurate at the time that they are written and do not constitute legal advice. All comments are made in good faith, and neither Keyte Legal Limited nor the author will accept liability for them. Please contact us for more information or advice