• Wills
• Power of Attorney
• Probate Administration
• Pre-Paid Funeral Plans

• Writing a Will
• Care Costs
• Family Change
• Intestacy
• Business Wills

Protection from Family Change

For couples who own their own home, and that home is a significant portion of their wealth, a Protective Property Will can be used to ensure that their children will inherit their wealth.

Lets take Mr & Mrs Jones.  They made Wills which were intended to provide for each other and then their two children.  Mr Jones met an untimely end in a car crash and Mrs Jones inherited according to the Will.  Mrs Jones was still relatively young, met someone and re-married.   In time, the former Mrs Jones died and her new husband inherited, leaving the Jones children with nothing.

Was this what Mr & Mr Jones intended when thay first made their Wills?

If Mr & Mrs Jones had used a Property Protection Will, the outcome would have been much different.

This is how it would have worked:

• The ownership of the house is changed to 'Tenants in Common'.  This allows each partner to leave their share of the house to whoever they like in their Will.
• On Mr Jones' death, his share of the house is left to named beneficiaries (e.g. their children) in Trust.  At the same time, Mrs Jones is allowed to live in the house rent-free for as long as she wants.
• Even if the former Mrs Jones leaves all her estate to her new husband, the Jones children still benefit from their father's Will. On death of the former Mrs Jones, the trust will be wound up and the benificiaries inherit as per Mr Jones' original Will.

This arrangement ensures that the children inherit as Mr Jones originally intended.


Please contact Legal Services UK for more information.