If you have a blended family, it is particularly important to put a valid Will in place. Without this, some of your loved ones might miss out entirely on an inheritance and there is a risk of disputes arising when it is time to administer your estate.

 

What is a blended family?

A blended family is when one or both parties in a couple have children from a previous relationship. The couple are likely to live together and may have children together. The family will then have a mixture of children and stepchildren. The couple might marry or they could be unmarried.

 

What happens if you don’t have a Will and you have a blended family?

If you do not leave a Will, then your estate will pass under the Rules of Intestacy. This is also the case if you marry, as marriage makes any existing Will invalid unless it was made in contemplation of the marriage.

If your estate passes under the Rules of Intestacy, then there is a risk that some family members might not receive what you wanted them to have. The Rules set out who will inherit in order of priority, starting with your spouse and children.

For example, if you are married with children, then your spouse will inherit the first £250,000 of your estate plus all of your personal possessions. The remainder of your estate will be split into two. Your spouse will inherit one half and your children will share the other half. This means that your children may well inherit much less than your spouse.

Under the Rules of Intestacy, unmarried partners and stepchildren do not receive anything.

 

The sideways disinheritance trap

If you have children from a previous relationship, there is a risk that they could inadvertently be disinherited if the right Will is not put in place.

By way of example, if you and your new spouse or partner agreed to leave everything to each other and then, on the death of the second of you to die, to your children, they might not inherit anything when the time comes.

If you were to die first, it is open to your spouse or partner to make a new Will leaving all of their assets to someone else. Alternatively, if they were to remarry, their previous Will would become invalid and their heirs would be their spouse and their own children.

There is also a risk that they could lose the money you left to them through a bad investment or in paying for care home fees.

 

Wills for blended families

To avoid the sideways disinheritance trap and ensure that all of your loved ones are looked after in the way that you want, you can make a Will that covers any potential difficulties.

You can leave your spouse a life interest in any shared property or other assets. This means that they can use them during their lifetime, continuing to live in the home you shared for as long as they want.

Ultimately, when they die, the assets that belonged to you would pass to your choice of beneficiary, which could be your own children.

 

Professional Will and inheritance planning

At Quinn Legal we can discuss your family situation with you and give you our recommendations for a Will that protects and provides for your family in the way that you want. Our team have extensive expertise in dealing with a wide range of situations, including complex blended and step-family relationships. We offer a range of Wills packages, to include an online Wills service. This means that you do not have to come into our offices and the whole process can be dealt with remotely, if this is easier for you.

 

Contact our Isle of Man Wills advocates

If you would like to speak to one of our expert Wills lawyers in the Isle of Man, call us on 01624 665522 or email us: hello@quinnlegal.im. Alternatively, you can fill out our online questionnaire and we will contact you.

 

About Patrick

Patrick is the Head of Wills & Administration at Quinn Legal

Click his photo below to find out more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are administering the estate of someone who has died, you will need to deal with their personal possessions or chattels. This refers to items they owned such as the contents of their home, jewellery, cars, cameras, boats and antiques, but does not include money or items that were used solely or mainly for business purposes.

As an executor or administration, you will need to include the value of these items as at the date of death in the estate value, which are required to report when you apply for a Grant of Probate or a Grant of Letters of Administration. The probate fee is based on the value of the estate.

 

Leaving personal chattels in your Will

When you make a Will, you can specify particular items to be left to your loved ones. This can be comforting to them when the time comes and can also avoid disagreements or misunderstandings.

You can detail what you want to do in your Will or you can write a Letter of Wishes to be put with your Will. A Letter of Wishes is not legally binding, but it is an easy way of letting your personal representatives know what you would like to happen. It also has the benefit of being easy to change and means that you do not have to have your Will redrafted if you change your mind or acquire new possessions that you would like included.

If you do decide to leave particular items to people, try to make sure that you adequately describe them to avoid any confusion.

Another option is to allow your loved ones to each choose something that they would like to have to remember you by, although this could cause problems if more than one person wants the same thing.

If you do not make any express provision for your personal possessions in your Will, they will form part of your residual estate to be inherited by your residual beneficiaries. This will usually mean that they will be sold by your personal representatives.

 

Dealing with personal chattels as a personal representative

If you are winding up the estate of someone who has died, it is often advisable to have more expensive items professionally valued, for example, those that may be worth more than £500. This ensures that you have a reasonably accurate figure to include on the probate application and that you can demonstrate that you have discharged your duties as an executor or administrator in this respect.

You can then decide how to deal with the items, to include insuring them during the administration process and working out the best way of selling them, to achieve the best possible price.

If items are left to named beneficiaries in the Will or in a Letter of Wishes or memorandum then you should arrange for them to be transferred and ask the beneficiary to sign a receipt to confirm that they have received the item.

 

Contact our Isle of Man Isle of Man probate attorneys

If you are dealing with an estate and you would like advice in respect of the administration and winding up process, please feel free to ring us.

Our probate team deal with all types of administration, including complex estates. To speak to one of our expert Isle of Man EPA advocates, ring us on 01624 665522 or email us: hello@quinnlegal.im.

 

About Patrick

Patrick is the Head of Wills & Administration at Quinn Legal

Click his photo below to find out more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Putting an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) in place is always recommended. If someone is diagnosed with dementia, an EPA will allow their trusted attorney to manage their financial affairs. However, it is crucial that the EPA is executed while the individual still has the mental capacity to understand what they are signing.

 

What is an Enduring Power of Attorney?

An Enduring Power of Attorney is a legal document that gives one or more people the authority to make financial decisions on your behalf, should you ever be unable to do so yourself. If you choose more than one person, you can either require them to act together, taking all decisions jointly, or jointly and severally, in which case they can act individually.

Your attorney will be able to deal with your finances, to include accessing your bank account, paying bills, making investments, purchasing items on your behalf and selling and buying property.

You can choose whoever you want to act as your attorney. It is often advisable to choose someone younger than you, so that there is a good chance they will be able to take on the task if and when the time comes as it can be onerous.

If you want, you can restrict what the attorney can do on your behalf, although it may be easier for them to have power to deal with all of your financial affairs.

If it is felt that you are losing your mental capacity and the EPA needs to be used, then it will need to be registered by the Court, which will generally require written confirmation from a medical professional that you can no longer make your own decisions.

 

Making an Enduring Power of Attorney if someone has dementia

If someone has been diagnosed with dementia, it may still be possible for them to sign an Enduring Power of Attorney if they have sufficient mental capacity.

They will need to:

· Understand what they are signing and what the effects of signing will be

· Be able to hold the information they are given about the implications of an EPA in their memory long enough to decide whether they wish to sign

· Make their own decision, having considered the situation

· Communicate this decision

It is recommended that you involve a medical professional if you are helping someone who wants to sign an EPA but who has the onset of dementia, so that you have evidence that they were able to satisfy the above points. This will give you evidence in support of your actions, should anyone ever query matters in the future.

 

What happens when an individual does not have an EPA and has dementia?

If someone has dementia and has not put an EPA in place and they no longer have the understanding to sign one, then their relatives will not have any legal authority to deal with their affairs and issues such as making bill payments for them. It may be necessary to ask the court to appoint a mental health receiver to deal with matters. This is a lengthy and more complicated process and can result in difficulties for the person in question as they face a period without access to their funds.

 

Contact us

At Quinn Legal, we offer a package service, which includes a Will, an Enduring Power of Attorney and an Advance Decision. These are the crucial documents that can give you peace of mind for the future and enable your loved ones to help you as needed and benefit from your assets when the time comes. You can find out more about an Advance Decision here and more about Wills here. We have a client platform to help you put these three important documents in place, or please feel free to call us to discuss your needs and to ask any questions you may have.

For a no obligation initial consultation or to make an initial free enquiry, please call our team on 01624 665522, email us: hello@quinnlegal.im or fill in our online enquiry form.

 

About Patrick

Patrick is the Head of Wills & Administration at Quinn Legal

Click his photo below to find out more!