Making a Will

[Sim One]

I’ve read through the various threads here in relation to making a will for the first time but haven’t quite found what I’ve been looking for.

When making a will, I assume that it is necessary to outline what should happen if

(a) either spouse dies

(b) both spouses die at the same time but children under the age of 18 survive

(c) both spouses die at the same time but children over the age of 18 survive

(d) the whole family dies at the same time.

Is this correct? Would the will have to be amended if either spouse died?

If (b) happens and children survive, guardians and trustees (who may be the same people) need to be appointed to care for the children’s welfare.

Say one of the guardians is required to give up work to care for the children, could they sell assets in the estate to cover for their loss of income (e.g. to pay their mortgage repayments, for example). Could they conceivably “spend” the entire estate in looking after the children and leave nothing for the children at age 18 – this probably goes to the question of whether the same people should be guardians and trustees.

 

[DrMoriarty]

Is this correct? Would the will have to be amended if either spouse died?.

Yes, and yes.

If (b) happens and children survive, guardians and trustees (who may be the same people) need to be appointed to care for the children’s welfare.

Say one of the guardians is required to give up work to care for the children, could they sell assets in the estate to cover for their loss of income (e.g. to pay their mortgage repayments, for example). Could they conceivably “spend” the entire estate in looking after the children and leave nothing for the children at age 18 – this probably goes to the question of whether the same people should be guardians and trustees.

In our case, we were advised to keep them separate for this very reason. The guardians should have to go through the trustee; the trustee (as the term implies) should be someone who can be trusted to act in the best interests of the children until they reach 'majority'.

It's something you need to give a lot of thought to...