Blended Families and Inheritance: making sure your wishes are honoured

Protect Your Inheritance in Blended Families

It is becoming increasingly common for two families to merge together, as nuclear families are becoming a thing of the past.

Often, clients in blended families put off putting in place a will as they do not know how to prioritise their loved ones to ensure that both their new partner and children are provided for. Many people find it difficult to have open conversations with their partner, and it becomes more difficult when there are children on both sides or their new partner does not get along with their children.

So what is the solution?

You need to think about who you ultimately want to provide for when you pass away. A will is not binding on another person’s will, so you can update your will at any point in time as long as you have capacity.

If there is someone that you do not want to inherit your estate, you need to let the will specialist know so that the will is drafted in the appropriate way.

What type of Will do I need?

There are different types of wills. A brief description of some of the types of wills that are available is as follows:

Mirror Wills

In a lot of cases, we see inheritance disputes arising from couples who have made mirror wills in the same terms. Often, couples in blended families leave their entire estate to the surviving partner, and then on their second death, the estate is split between the children of both parents.

This can cause issues to arise because there is no legal requirement that, once the first person passes away, the second person cannot change their will. This means that in practice, once the first partner passes away, a lot of the surviving partners then just leave their entire estate to their biological children, rather than the children of both sides of the blended families. This leaves children not inheriting anything from their parents' passing if they are the first to die.

Life Interest Trust Wills

The most effective way to safeguard their children’s inheritance and to look after their partner is to include a Life Interest Trust in their wills. The Life Interest Trust can be over the family home, which means that when the first person passes away, their 50% interest in the property (or whatever percentage basis you own the property on) is put into a trust.

It allows the surviving partner to live in the property for their lifetime, so they do not have to move out of the property, but on the second partner’s death, the trust comes to an end. The Will would list their own biological children as the ultimate beneficiary of the half-share in the estate.

Executing a Life Interest Trust will ensure that both the partner and children are well provided for and that they have security for their future.

What if there is someone that I do not want to leave provisions for?

With blended families, this can cause a lot of family tension if the reason for the blended family is infidelity, etc. If you do not get along with your own children or your partner’s children for whatever reason, then you may be looking at leaving them no provision under your will, or a very small inheritance compared with that of their siblings that you do get along with.

It is important to fully document your reasoning for coming to this decision in case someone tries to make a claim against your estate in the future. It is crucial to have open conversations with the will specialists about your family dynamics so that they can make the suitable provision under your will.

If you would like to put a will in place, then please contact one of our will specialists. You can either contact us by completing the online questionnaire here, or call 01206 217609, or email leah.woodlee@birkettlong.co.uk.