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Widower with new partner needing to revise Will - advice please!
I'm in the position of needing to substantially revise my Will, and I really appreciate being able to use this forum (hopefully!) as a sounding board for how to proceed. Obviously in due course I will be talking to a solicitor who will advise me, but I would like to be able to clarify a few things in my mind first.
Here's my scenario.
6 years ago I was a 58-year-old married man with four adult children; my wife and I had simple mirror wills leaving everything to each other. Sadly my wife died, and I ended up inheriting a substantial amount, notably from her pension lump sum and life insurance payments, plus I receive a generous widow's pension. Fast forward to today, and I have a new partner who has been living with me and one of my children in my former marital home (owned by me, mortgage-free) for the past two years. She has sold her own house and although we aren't married both of us consider this to be a lifetime relationship. She gets on very well with my kids, and I with hers.
However my current Will still leaves my entire estate to my kids following the death of my wife, and I really need to rectify this situation. For example, if/when I die, I realise my partner would have the status of no more than my daughter's lodger and could be evicted at will. However, I don't want to go full circle and leave the bulk of my estate to my partner, which would mean that ultimately much of it would logically end up in the hands of my partner's kids rather than mine after she dies, which I don't want. My partner works full-time in a reasonably well-paid job but to be blunt I have quite a lot more money than she does and I wouldn't want her standard of living to fall after my death.
So broadly, I was thinking in terms of having my Will set up a Trust which would own my home and investments. My partner would be allowed lifetime residence in the house, and would receive income from the Trust. There would also be enough money, I think, to give her and my kids a reasonable lump sum each outright. If my partner wanted to move or downsize later, then the Trust would be empowered sell the current house and buy a replacement. When she dies, the Trust would be dissolved and the proceeds would pass to my kids.
Does the above scheme sound about right? If so, I'm not sure who the Trustees should be - obviously one or more of my kids (how many?). Who else - was considering my sister too as someone slightly removed from the situation. Should my partner be a Trustee too?
I realise I need to consider and cover all sorts of potential scenarios in my new Will, too. I could die tomorrow, and she might last 40 years or more, so there's a lot of potential change to think about! Eg, imagine a huge row between my partner and my kids about something so they hate each other for decades. What about my daughter still currently living at home and showing no signs of leaving. What if my partner finds a new bloke in the fullness of time and wants to live with him? Marry him? etc etc - I'm sure there are many more I haven't thought of yet.
Anyway - just putting this out there and would be very grateful for any feedback or discussion.
Here's my scenario.
6 years ago I was a 58-year-old married man with four adult children; my wife and I had simple mirror wills leaving everything to each other. Sadly my wife died, and I ended up inheriting a substantial amount, notably from her pension lump sum and life insurance payments, plus I receive a generous widow's pension. Fast forward to today, and I have a new partner who has been living with me and one of my children in my former marital home (owned by me, mortgage-free) for the past two years. She has sold her own house and although we aren't married both of us consider this to be a lifetime relationship. She gets on very well with my kids, and I with hers.
However my current Will still leaves my entire estate to my kids following the death of my wife, and I really need to rectify this situation. For example, if/when I die, I realise my partner would have the status of no more than my daughter's lodger and could be evicted at will. However, I don't want to go full circle and leave the bulk of my estate to my partner, which would mean that ultimately much of it would logically end up in the hands of my partner's kids rather than mine after she dies, which I don't want. My partner works full-time in a reasonably well-paid job but to be blunt I have quite a lot more money than she does and I wouldn't want her standard of living to fall after my death.
So broadly, I was thinking in terms of having my Will set up a Trust which would own my home and investments. My partner would be allowed lifetime residence in the house, and would receive income from the Trust. There would also be enough money, I think, to give her and my kids a reasonable lump sum each outright. If my partner wanted to move or downsize later, then the Trust would be empowered sell the current house and buy a replacement. When she dies, the Trust would be dissolved and the proceeds would pass to my kids.
Does the above scheme sound about right? If so, I'm not sure who the Trustees should be - obviously one or more of my kids (how many?). Who else - was considering my sister too as someone slightly removed from the situation. Should my partner be a Trustee too?
I realise I need to consider and cover all sorts of potential scenarios in my new Will, too. I could die tomorrow, and she might last 40 years or more, so there's a lot of potential change to think about! Eg, imagine a huge row between my partner and my kids about something so they hate each other for decades. What about my daughter still currently living at home and showing no signs of leaving. What if my partner finds a new bloke in the fullness of time and wants to live with him? Marry him? etc etc - I'm sure there are many more I haven't thought of yet.
Anyway - just putting this out there and would be very grateful for any feedback or discussion.
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