Wording of a will

[SaveFerris]

Hi,

My mother changed her will some 9 years ago, two years after her initial will was written. ..

There is an item which reads as follows:

"subject thereto I give devise and bequeath and appoint all the real and personal estate not hereby or by any codicil hereto otherwise specifically disposed of and which I can dispose of in my will in any manner I think proper unto my trustees upon trust to sell call in and convert the same into money with express power to postpone the sale and conversion and to retain unconverted all or any part thereof for so long as my trustees without liability to account may think fit".

Could someone please tell me, in layman's terms, what this means please. For clarification, myself and my two siblings are the appointed trustees

Thanks in advance.

[des8]

Hi & welcome

Basically it means that all possessions (including real property [land] ) not left to individuals should be collected in and sold by the executors when they think appropriate.

Peridot could probably give a better explanation

[SaveFerris]

Thanks for the reply.

So the trustees (us) gather all property and monies, sell anything of value and distribute it to the beneficiaries (us)?
Seems a very convoluted way of saying I leave everything to my children. Although she has stipulated in another item that all jewellery is left to my sister.

[des8]

But a lawyer would argue she is not leaving it to you children.
She is leaving it to you her trustees on trust to distribute according to her wishes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is possible, and there are guides available, to write a will in plain English, but there are pitfalls into which the unwary might fall.

[SaveFerris]

I should've added that the item after the one I posted says "my trustees (us) shall hold residual estate upon trust for such as my children (us) as shall survive for their own use absolutely"
Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[des8]

That clause would indicate that if any of her children should predecease her, the share of the residual estate due to that child(ren) would be inherited by your mother's children. It would not become part of the deceased child's estate.

[SaveFerris]

Actually, she's stipulated that if one of us does indeed predecease her then our children will get our share, not that it will go to the surviving siblings.

Anyway, we're digressing somewhat as it was the first clause which had me scratching my head.

Many thanks for your replies.

[Peridot]

Hi Saveferris,

Don't panic basically anything that is left in the estate that hasn't been left as a legacy is to be dealt with by the executors who become the trustees (if she hasn't named anyone specifically to be trustees).

So if for example she left a sum of money to individuals/charities or specific items such as jewellery to someone those items would be passed to the beneficiary named. Anything else after testamentary expenses and debts are paid is to be distributed as the executors/trustees see fit to those of her children who survive her (or the children of any child if they pre-deceased her). The amount each would receive is up to the executors/trustees but I would suggest unless there is a strong reason not to then equal division would be the least problematic for the family. It is of course a decision for the family.

Who are the executors? If it is the children then hopefully you can come to an agreement over items. Everything of course has a monetary value although some items may be purely sentimental and may wish to be divided up amongst family members which is acceptable too. Of course if there was a particularly valuable item that one of the children wanted then that value can be taken into account when dividing the rest of the estate.

There is also the option for the executors/trustees to retain the funds raised from the sale of the estate for a rainy day so to speak, although if the children are all adults and have similar needs, ie there are no children with disabilities or care needs for example, this isn't necessarily the best decision.

The wording is a bit old fashioned but perfectly acceptable even if it does sound like gobbledy gook!

If we can help further do post again.