Wording of a Will

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thesimpsons

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before getting my MIL to go to a solicitor to write up a will, just a few questions :

If there is nothing in particular she wants to have distributed out, can the whole lot become part of the estate which can be divided up equally between her 4 children after her death?

If there are certain items which she wants given to certain people (ie cash to grandchildren, paintings, etc) are they firstly distributed and then the remainder becomes the estate to be divided up between the 4.

any thoughts please.
 
1. Answer to each question is yes. Nothing too complex about what is proposed.

2. Unless there is a very good reason for it, I would be very wary of getting my mother in law to go to a solicitor to write up a will - even if she asked. Best, as a general rule, for inlaws to stay out of all involvement in mother-in-laws' wills.
 
jeepers I only wanted a legal opinion on a basic will. I have absolutely nothing to gain by the will, I'm not "making" her make a will, and don't particularly want anything from her - not that she has much anyway. my partner's mother knows absolutely nothing about wills, neither does my partner. I just wanted clarification that she doesn't actually need to specify out where everything goes as she and my partner were under impression you had to list out virtually everything in the house of any value, including bank accounts, post office accounts, etc. I was fairly certain you don't need to do this and wanted a further opinion on it.
 
I'd disagree with the 'stay away' advice. There are situations (my own included) where the son-in-law is seen as fairly independent and trusted by the M-I-L.
 
I think a more appropriate question is; what are the consequences of not having a will where in any event, you want everything to go to your spouse, and if dead, to your kids ?
 
thesimpsons said:
jeepers I only wanted a legal opinion on a basic will. I have absolutely nothing to gain by the will, I'm not "making" her make a will, and don't particularly want anything from her - not that she has much anyway. my partner's mother knows absolutely nothing about wills, neither does my partner. I just wanted clarification that she doesn't actually need to specify out where everything goes as she and my partner were under impression you had to list out virtually everything in the house of any value, including bank accounts, post office accounts, etc. I was fairly certain you don't need to do this and wanted a further opinion on it.
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you used the word 'getting' which implies to most people reading it that it's you pushing the issue and not coming from the will of the MIL, you obviously didn't mean this but the responses can only be based on what you write so it's important to choose your words carefully.
 
I have a will made up. I only had to specify the few things that I wanted to go to certain people and then specified that all the rest of my estate goes to my son.

You don't need to list bank accounts, items of value, post office accounts etc as everything, excluding the items you give to certain people, comes under 'the estate'.

One thing you should suggest to her is to have a detailed account of all her bank accounts, loans, statements etc as easy for her family to sort out after her death.

I have a folder with all my bills, details of loans, house insurance, life insurance kept in one place. Besides helpful for me, very helpful for the family.

Hope this helps.
 
Complainer said:
I'd disagree with the 'stay away' advice. There are situations (my own included) where the son-in-law is seen as fairly independent and trusted by the M-I-L.
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Of course there are exceptions. But being trusted by the M-I-L is not really the issue. The problem that can all too easily arise is that when she dies, one of the children (egged on perhaps by one of their spouses........) is going to say "why was X sticking his\her oar in anyway?" and out of something which was at the time in no way improper, you suddenly have the makings of a family feud.

(It's much the same reason that a solicitor is unwise to agree to be an executor - no matter how much the deceased wanted it, and no matter how much it makes objective sense, someone will have a beef with it.)
 
MOB said:
Of course there are exceptions. But being trusted by the M-I-L is not really the issue. The problem that can all too easily arise is that when she dies, one of the children (egged on perhaps by one of their spouses........) is going to say "why was X sticking his\her oar in anyway?" and out of something which was at the time in no way improper, you suddenly have the makings of a family feud.
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While there is some wisdom in this, I disagree that one should hold off on doing the right thing, just because of the potential risk that someone might moan about it down the line. If it is the right thing to do, then do it, and to hell with the begrudgers. It is worth considering potential consequences, but don't let that put you off doing the right thing.

I've had this in the work environment too, where people take an excessively conservative approach, just because someone might not like the outcome. We're not here to make friends, we're here to do the job in hand.
 
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