Wills and the wording of them

[davidk65]

A married couple have everything in joint names. If one dies, does the survivng partner continue to have access to things like the joint bank account? How do you cover this and other similar matters in a will?
With regards to a house, also in joint names, someone has told me they have come to an arrangement that they each own half of the property. So if either one of them die those who inherit the property can not sell the house whilst the other survives. In addition, should one partner become ill and have to go into a nursing home, the authorities can not sell the property to recoupe the fees?
What is the truth of the above and what is the correct form of wording to cover this?

[CheekyChops]

If one person dies, a joint account will automatically be changed into the name of the survivor, regardless of what the will says.

That is because with joint accounts, you dont each own half the amount in it, you both own it all, jointly.

[New Judge]

There are two ways for a couple to own a house.

The most common is that they can be �joint owners�. This means that the house in its entirety is owned jointly by them. Neither of them owns a discrete half of the property. Should one of them die, the survivor automatically becomes the sole owner. No will is necessary for this to happen.

The other way is for them to be �tenants-in-common�. This differs in that each party owns a discrete half of the property. Should one of them die they can leave their half of the property (via a will) to whomsoever they choose. This means almost always that, unless the survivor and the beneficiary are one and the same, an arrangement with the beneficiary will have to be made if the survivor is to continue living in the property. If no will is left under such circumstances the rules of intestacy apply and the half of the property owned by the deceased is added to the estate, and the entire estate distributed according to the rules of intestacy.

Local authorities each have different rules when deciding whether to make a call on the value of property owned by a person who needs to go into long term care. Generally they will not make such a call if the person needing the care has a partner or spouse still living in the property.