Query re mother's will and distribution of house and money to family

[Yaboyo]

Hello

My mother wants to leave her house to my sister and she wants me to be the executor of the will. I have other siblings who have either alot of their own money and houses or my mother feels they will sell the house or not maintian its up keep and will sqaunder the money. While this sister will leave it as an open house for the family

My mother is over 80 and the question of the house is bearing down on her
So I agreed to help her make the will and leave the house to my sister.

The issue is my mother also has money and is not ina position to decide who gets what as she knows some of my siblings will go straight to the betting office with it or others havent been kind to her over the years. She keepsdithering and in the meantime the issue of the hosue is not finalised

To make it easy I said just do will for the house and if no will for the money then in the end it will be divided among us 6. I would expect to get a share of this. Is this correct ?

So the question is can you have a will for part of your assests and none for another and how would that work
Also I cannot be signatory on the will if she intends to chage it later to make provision for her money and I will benefit from money ?

Or maybe she could have 2 wills ??

 

[Sue Ellen]

Hi,

Welcome to AAM.

The best course of action would appear to be a trip by yourself and mother to a good solicitor for a strong discussion for good advice. Make a list before you go and go through the questions carefully.

The other approaches you mention above sound like a nightmare and may well land up in court with siblings fighting.

 

[DeeKie]

Do not attempt to suggest a will just covering some assets. It could cause lots of expensive problems. Also be careful about excessive influencing.

 

[Farma1]

Good advice above. To add additional info which I think is part of your question - to achieve what you want you could start with a will that leaves the house to 1 person and then divides the rest of the assets between the children. This will can be amended at any point. She has a decision to make - either divide the rest of the assets equally, or amend children's proportions based on how good her relationship is with each one and how wisely she perceives each would use the money. The reality is that decision will never get easier by putting it off - and the advice to have a good discussion with the solicitor should be well heeded.

This will have an impact on the family when your mother passes and the relationship with your siblings will be strained if its something you knew about and others didn't, and you are the executor having to break the news....

Hard to deal with but it is a lot, lot easier if dealt with cleanly now.

 

[Bronte]

The issue is my mother also has money and is not ina position to decide who gets what as she knows some of my siblings will go straight to the betting office with it or others havent been kind to her over the years. She keepsdithering and in the meantime the issue of the hosue is not finalised

To make it easy I said just do will for the house and if no will for the money then in the end it will be divided among us 6. I would expect to get a share of this. Is this correct ?

So the question is can you have a will for part of your assests and none for another and how would that work
Also I cannot be signatory on the will if she intends to chage it later to make provision for her money and I will benefit from money ?

Or maybe she could have 2 wills ??

There is no way you should do the will. And no 2 wills is not allowed.

Your choices are:

- Do nothing
- Bring your mother to a solicitor
- As at your local Credit Union for their cheap will service which includes them having an arrangment with a solicitor.

The will should be really simple. House to sister, everything else to be divided equally.

It is likely the will might be contested as the house is being left to one child. Generally then a justification should be included. Such as:

I'm leaving the house to Mary as she has taken care of me for the last 20 years ...... . Mention can be made that the others are not getting it because they have been taken care of, or that they have a gambling problem. This would be all mentioned in a letter to accompany the will.

This is to help in case there is a contestation.