Will Advice Please

[dillon21]

Good Afternoon 

can anyone help me

if my mum in law has left in her will that everything is to be split 3 ways with my hubby and his 2 sisters

what would happen if he passed away before her.

 

would it come to me as his wife or go 50/50 to his sisters 

 

many Thanks 

[BankFodder]

Your husband's share would go to you

[Manxman in exile]

On 16/05/2023 at 16:51, BankFodder said:

Your husband's share would go to you

 

So if an intended beneficiary pre-deceases the testator, the gift doesn't lapse, but goes to the intended beneficiary's widow (or widower)?

[BankFodder]

Expressed that way you are now putting me in doubt....

[Manxman in exile]

10 minutes ago, BankFodder said:

Expressed that way you are now putting me in doubt....

 

It would be OK if the OP was talking about children or grandchildren of the intended beneficiary - they would inherit if the intended beneficiary pre-deceased the testator (s33 Wills Act).

 

But I don't know that the same appiles to the widow/widower.  I'd have thought it didn't apply...

[dillon21]

Ok I think we need to look into this 

[Ethel Street]

Does the Will say anything about what happens if your husband or his sisters die before their mother?

 

There are default rules about what happens in that situation but the default rules can be overridden in the Will. The Will can direct that something different to the default rules happens.

[Manxman in exile]

I might be mistaken but I presume the OP would have said if the wording of the will took account of the scenario where her husband predeceased the testator?

 

@dillon21  -  without knowing the exact circumstances and wording of the will nobody here can really help you.

 

I would suggest that if your MiL's will simply leaves a bequest to your husband and does not spell out what will happen if he pre-deceases her, then you cannot assume that you will get anything as his widow.  However, if he has any living children or other issue surviving both him and your MiL, they will probably inherit.

 

I presume your MiL is still alive?  I would suggest that she gets proper paid for legal advice from a solicitor to make sure that her will puts her actual wishes into effect after she dies.

 

(My wife is a local authority solicitor and we have three law degrees between us.  When we got married we did our own wills because our wishes were really simple and we thought we knew what we were doing.  A couple of years later we realised that we had made a complete pig's ear of them.  We paid a solicitor in private practice to do them properly)

[dx100uk]

pretty sure if anyone (other than direct children or grand children) mentioned in a will predeceases the will writer it does not go to their existing wife nor children, it goes back in the pot and is split between those already mentioned pro rata in the will.??

[Ethel Street]

11 hours ago, Manxman in exile said:

I might be mistaken but I presume the OP would have said if the wording of the will took account of the scenario where her husband predeceased the testator?

 

 

It's best to check these things. Not everyone asking for advice has the familiarity with the legal construction of Wills that some regular posters have. And it's useful for other people reading the thread in the future to be aware of the issue.

[Manxman in exile]

10 hours ago, dx100uk said:

pretty sure if anyone (other than direct children or grand children) mentioned in a will predeceases the will writer it does not go to their existing wife nor children, it goes back in the pot and is split between those already mentioned pro rata in the will.??

 

Yes.  

 

To clarify my earlier post:  where a testator leaves a gift to a child or remoter descendant, then if that beneficiary pre-deceases the testator the gift does not fail, but goes to any surviving issue of the deceased benficiary - unless the will specifically states otherwise.

 

Wills Act 1837 (legislation.gov.uk)

 

So in the OP's case I don't think she will benefit if her husband dies before her MiL, but his children and grandchildren etc will - if he has any.

 

People really need paid for legal advice from a solicitor (not a will writing firm) unless their wishes are unbelieveably simple.  And most people's are not.

 

The problem the OP has is that this is not her (or her husband's) will...

[Manxman in exile]

1 hour ago, Ethel Street said:

 

 

It's best to check these things. Not everyone asking for advice has the familiarity with the legal construction of Wills that some regular posters have. And it's useful for other people reading the thread in the future to be aware of the issue.

 

Very true.  I think from #6 the OP is going to investigate further.

[Manxman in exile]

11 hours ago, dx100uk said:

pretty sure if anyone (other than direct children or grand children) mentioned in a will predeceases the will writer it does not go to their existing wife nor children, it goes back in the pot and is split between those already mentioned pro rata in the will.??

 

Sorry!  To clarify further, if the gift does fail because the dead beneficiary had no children, then yes, it goes back into the residual estate to be distributed as per the will.  So the OP might get something out of that depending on what the will says

 

It can get complicated...