Wills

[huskyman1]

Hi I live in scotland and want to write a simple will leaving ever thing to my husband.
Home money personal items .
However i have two adult children over 18 from a previous marriage who i do not want to included in my will.
Can anyone help me on how i would draft this up as i dont want to pay a lawyer as the will is very simple but i think scottish law children can make a claim on your estate.
Thanks in advance for any help any sample wills online are only for england and wales.

[Peter Pedant]

where is Barmaid? - or chris
You need to think about what happens if Hubby dies before you and who it goes to
and Hubby should make a will too ( not mirror )
If the two over eighteens are dependent on you now then they will have a claim on your death

and finally - wills can be pretty cheap - good luck

[Toorak]

In Scotland children are automatically entitled to 1/3 of the moveable estate. I am unsure whether you can disinherit them - I think you need to take legal advice.

[ToraToraTora]

do nothing, the default is your husband gets the lot anyway.

[Toorak]

Here are the legal rights in Scotland

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/103869

[Buenchico]

As Toorak has indicated, if you leave a will, your children will automatically be entitled to share a third of your 'moveable estate' (which is basically everything except your house, which is referred to as 'heritable property') if your husband is still alive when you die. If your husband dies before you do, that fraction is increased from one third to a half. It's the law in Scotland and there's absolutely nothing that you can do about it.

However the rules are different if you don't leave a will and, in your particular circumstances, it might actually be advantageous not to do so. If you die before your husband does, without leaving a will (i.e. 'intestate'), he will automatically get your share of the house as long as the value of that share doesn't exceed £473,000. He will will also automatically get the contents of the house (up to a maximum of £29,000) and a maximum of £50,000 in cash. If there's anything left after that, he will get a third of it, with your children sharing the other two-thirds.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/wills-and-probate/content/103535

So, as long as you haven't got a house full of expensive stuff (with your share of it being valued at more than £29,000) and you don't leave more than £50,000 in the bank (or in the form of shares, etc), your husband will automatically get everything if you die intestate.

If you do decide to write a will though, make sure that it clearly states what should happen if your husband dies before you do.

[THECORBYLOON]

"do nothing, the default is your husband gets the lot anyway."

Absolute rubbish!

[ToraToraTora]

husky, here is the intestacy rules for Scotland, the husband gets everything as I said unless it's over £473k
https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y/scotland/yes/yes

[Buenchico]

^^^ The £473k limit applies only to heritable estate, TTT, NOT to moveable estate.

So, if Huskyman1 has a half share in a property, worth £200k, and £200k in the bank, the husband would inherit the share in the house under the Scottish intestacy rules (and all of its contents, subject to a £29k maximum), plus an initial £50k. He'd also get a further £50k (as a third of the £150k left after the initial £50k was deducted). Each of the children would then get £50k each (as they share the two-thirds of the moveable estate left after the first £50k has gone to the husband).

[bednobs]

If you don't want the children to get anything, spend it :)

[THECORBYLOON]

He should have stopped after the first error...

[ToraToraTora]

chico, in this case for all intents and purposes the old man gets it by default.

[THECORBYLOON]

You were wrong, accept it and move on...

[Toorak]

“do nothing, the default is your husband gets the lot anyway”

Utter rubbish : please ignore

[KARL]

To in effect disinherit your children is quite a challenge under Scottish law - their statutory entitlement has been explained above (contradiction is simply wrong). What you might like to look into is making a gift of much/all of your movable estate before your death, but you need to watch out for potential tax traps in doing that. If he predeceases you then you have a different challenge which, to achieve your aims regarding your children, can be solved with one or more donations to charity(ies).

[Peter Pedant]

thank you karl
I wonderd about giving it away - giving it to the husband in writing will do wont it? - other wise you have a CGT charge ( from acquisition value to the value on the day of transfer)

but that is not the answer to - how do I write a will that disinherits my awful children

I think the leddy needs to pay for advice
( I like the statement - - - it is quite simple really....)