Moving home can be seen as a very stressful period of time with an awful lot to organise. One of the things often over-looked is estate planning and writing your Will. But this is actually a perfect time to get organised.
A house move is a major life change and often comes in line with other changes in our lives for example needing an extra bedroom if more children have come along.
We spoke with Managing Director Richard Hodge from Family Matters who gave us some fantastic pearls of wisdom and advice about the importance of planning our future.
“Every adult should have a Will. It’s human nature not to want to deal with sensitive and upsetting subjects like what happens to our loved ones and belongings after we pass away. No-one likes to think about it.
But giving consideration to what is inevitable to all of us can save so much anxiety and stress in the future.
Many of us simply put off making these after life plans believing we are too young and that it can wait until later in life. At Family Matters we show our clients how planning for the future protects them, protects their family and protects their wealth and belongings”.
Family Matters use a very common scenario that can result in children not inheriting their parent’s estate. Can you imagine working all your life, believing your children will rightfully inherit what you’ve worked hard for only to receive nothing? Whilst this might sound far-fetched it’s something that can and does happen and causing significant distress and upset.
Sideways disinheritance is when a person that you would not choose to inherit your belongings does so. Blended families are not uncommon these days but unfortunately without proper planning it can cause huge problems with the right beneficiaries inheriting what is rightfully theirs.
Scenario
You pass away leaving a surviving spouse and 2 children. You know that no matter what the future holds your surviving spouse would always ensure the children are looked after. Your surviving spouse inherits everything with a view to pass this onto your children in the future.
Fast forward a few years and your surviving spouse meets and marries someone new. They also have 2 children from a previous relationship and now they’re a blended family with 4 kids. Your surviving spouse writes a Will leaving everything to their new partner on death; with the intention to pass onto the children on their death.
This doesn’t sound too worrying does it?
Your children can be disinherited in this situation and receive none of the original estate that you left on your death. Read that again… they could receive none of that estate – belongings, property or money.
If the new spouse is left everything in the Will then that person has complete control over all of it.
Once they inherit it they can do whatever they want in their own Will. This person could write a Will leaving everything to their own 2 children and nothing to yours. This is a real life situation and shows how easily the people you want to inherit could miss out.
Richard says
“As a parent all we want is for our kids to inherit what is rightfully theirs and what we’ve worked hard for. My advice to all of my clients is do not leave it to chance. Do not assume that everyone else has your children’s best interests at heart.
Most importantly situations like this can easily be avoided. We advise our clients to ensure that their desired beneficiaries are the ones that actually inherit. It’s so sad when we see this happen when we know it is entirely preventable”.
Please don’t let this happen to you and your loved ones. Don’t leave planning until later in life, if 2020 has taught us anything it’s that none of us know what is around the corner. For help and advice contact us at Conveyancing Store today.
