Wills/Tenancy in common

[adawson]

Hi,

In the process of getting my first property and its a Tenancy In common. Me, my partner and Aunty.

Recently my solicitor contacted me and informed me we would need a will since we had a tenancy in common and would charge £200.

One of my family members who works in property said that since at this point in our lives we don't have any assets other then the house, no children etc it would be a very simple will. She advised on templates you can pick up and have signed and witnessed.

Now another family member has told me no will is really needed since in the event something happened to me my Partner can claim common law wife and get my 1/3 of the property and vice versa. In the event something happened to both of us my share would go to next of kin, i.e. parents, siblings and my partners share to her family.

If the latter is correct, I see no point in creating a will as this is how I'd outline it anyway.

Thanks for the help.

[Inca]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

Hi,,I don't know how the law stands on this one but I can tell you from personal experience that it's better to have a Will than not to where property etc is concerned.Laws are always subject to misinterpretation which can cause chaos,,it's best to have things in writing to keep things in order.
My own experiences of a person dying 'intestate' were pretty horrendous and caused a huge rift in the family.

[Sapphire]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

We were happily living together and didn't have a will, then one day our financial advisor told us to get our wills sorted, it turned out there there is no such thing as 'Common Law' husband or wife, in the end we got married and made our wills, its a much better feeling knowing that everything is sorted.

[adawson]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

Thanks guys, my solicitor has now mentioned Common Law is a myth.

Guess my next question is anyone know any good will templates? I'm too anal to pay £200 for a basic will as mine.

Regards

[Sapphire]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

Seriously, you are better off getting it professionally done, its a one off cost and they will store it for you, we actually paid £186 for both of our wills and we pay £25 per year which entitles both of us to update or make any changes once a year, plus its professionally done and if anyone wants to contest anything they will not be able to.
Well worth it in my opinion.

[adawson]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

Do you think? I don't really have any assets other then the house we will be getting. The will should simply state if I die, my partner should get my share. And if something should happen to both of us, next of kin.

Perhaps if I had lots of assets, children etc it would make sense? or am I being stupid and should go with the safer option.

Cheers

[Sapphire]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

Personally I think its best to let the experts do it, but that's just my opinion and remember its not just a house that's 'assets' what about things like Jewellery, Pictures, a car, its all those bits and bobs you need to take into account, you can state who you want to receive what if that makes sense.

[Nic]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

I tend to agree with sapphire here and would definayely get a professional will its something I need to do myself and your thread has just reminded me x

[seduraed]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

also if you want to leave someone money then look at leaving them a proportion say 1/64th of the value of the estate so its not etean away by inflation .

[Inca]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

I agree totally,,get it done by a solicitor.We are getting married soon because we want to but also because it tidies up our finances etc.And next of kin can be a very grey area too, I'm one of 6 kids and we were all equally treated as NOK for our parents as they hadn't nominated one of us in particular,when it came to a DNR on Mum 5 of us agreed and 1 didn't,but if it had been a 50/50 split we would have had problems.Their house was left solely to me for no apparent reason so I sold it and split the money 6 ways but it could have been totally different.

[adawson]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

well thanks for the advise you all seem strong advocates of using a solicitor.

[Inca]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

well thanks for the advise you all seem strong advocates of using a solicitor.

Yep,,we seem to all agree. it's just worth it in the long term,for peace of mind. Good Luck with your new home.

[enquirer]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

Generally, a solicitor is better. They should store the will securely free of charge too. Depending on where you live, reckon on about £80 for a simple will for one person (joint wills are to be avoided).

[Nikolai]

Re: Wills/Tenancy in common

Just for the record:-
1. No such thing as "common law" inheritance, intestacy law is only concerned with marriage, civil partnership and blood relations.
2. No such thing as a joint Will - the closest you can get is a "mirror Will" - usually made by husband & wife, civil partners, co-habiting couples.
3. From my experience £80 per Will is about right, but you should hold out for a discount if two of you are making Wills (prices vary & big firms charge more).
4. Get your Will done professionally unless you're sure of what you're doing and confident you can do it yourself. I've seen first-hand the consequences of wrongly done homemade Wills. There are strict procedures which must be followed for a Will to be valid, and solicitors can be sued if they get things wrong. This is one area where doing it yourself is false economy. No matter how simple your estate, get your Will done properly! And it doesn't matter how much you've got either.
5. If you die without a valid Will your estate is frozen until someone applies to the Court for a Grant of Letters of Administration. If there's Inheritance Tax to pay, or any other complication, getting the Grant can be a lengthy process and frankly the loved ones left behind don't need any unnecessary hassle.
Sorry for the lecture, but this is serious stuff and (you might have gathered) something I feel strongly about.