Bought home when I was single, now married

C

Charley

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I bought my house several years before marrying. I remember signing some sort of Family Home Declaration during the sale. Do I need to add my spouse on to the house deeds or would my spouse automatically inherit the house if I died?

I don't currently have a Will made but if I was to die intestate, I understand my spouse would get 2/3 of my estate and the children get 1/3.

I'm not clear though on how I would leave - say a lump sum to a sibling or parent as well, if the total estate is already preordained to go to my spouse & children...how does that work?

thanks
 
You should make a will.

Intestacy rules are just that - if you don't make a will, the Succession Act fixes who gets what. Once you make a will, you yourself are making that choice.

As you are married and have children, the law says, if you are making a will, that you must leave not less than one third of your estate to your spouse. Your spouse may also choose to appropriate the family home in satisfaction of his/her share. If the value exceeds his/her legal right share, s/he may have to pay monies into the estate. If you transfer the property into joint names now or during the course of your life, the family home will not form any part of your estate but will pass automatically to the survivor.

For what it is worth, most practitioners would assume that a married couple would wish to make proper provision for each other on death with the offspring to benefit when both die. So, 95% of wills made for married people in my office would be of the "save for some bequests set out, the entire estate to each other with secondary provision for the offspring " variety.

mf
 
Thanks, that's what I want to do, I just wasn't sure how you could bequeath something to someone else if the entire estate was to be divided between the spouse/children.

Re the house, I was hoping that my spouse would automatically inherit it if I died intestate but it doesn't look like that's the case.

Would it cost as much to transfer the property into joint names as it would cost to make a will? And are there other complications like tax payable if the house formed part of the estate instead of being jointly owned?
 
Cost to transfer into joint names would be significantly higher than that of making a will. It should'nt be a case of either or! Making a will is importnat in circumstances where children need to be provided for. No tax concerns in the situation that you outline. It just makes good sense for all of us to make a will.
 
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