General Chat

I decided seeing as we have property it was time to write a will.

Spanish wills are simple there are no clauses, that also makes it difficult.

We tried to put a cause in ours and it´s a no go, So we have to totally rewrite.

Interesting is no will can be voided you have to re-write your will as all wills are kept in Madrid and the latest is the one they use :-0

Well we both made ours in 2002. When our daughter married we had her new name and address added as an amendment just to keep It all up to date
Now he has passed I have to do the probate but the forms downloaded don't seem that awkward

I will do an initial fill in and then download again for the final one to be sent in

Am all in favour of doing a will.ours are reciprocal ones in that we leave our estate to each other and then to our daughter when the surviving one passes

Shirley Spain allows for the death of an inheritor but you can´t add clauses.

I can leave my property to 2 people but if they sell I want a 3rd person to benefit...UK you can do that not in Spain.
So from what I wanted I have totally rewrote what I started with just to get the same thing !! ;-)

Spanish property law can be a nightmare, so feel for you.

Mind you, getting clauses written into UK will where you choose one of your children to inherit an enhanced share but want financial control assigned to another child to safeguard that money is an absolute minefield.

It took a lot of tinkering around to get something sorted, thankfully all our children were in agreement :-D

Sue

We wrote a will a number of years ago where I wanted to ensure jewellery that had come to me from both my side and OH's side, went to the correct sides in the event our daughter had predeceased us

The lawyer refused to put it in the will. We had to draw up an attachment to be added, that listed each individual piece, with full description and photo, if possible.


We had a different lawyer for the next will a few yeas later ............ and she was in full agreement to it being stated in the will that "in the event of ..." the jewellery was to be split.


Now, we're in the process of re-writing a much delayed updating, and trying to work out how to, errrrrrmmm, avoid our son-i-l having control of too much of it. We (that is, me in particular) don't trust that he would not take control and spend it. He's a bit of a spendthrift ........ and the first thing I know he would do is quit work to do something fanciful like open a tea shoppe. I want to be sure that our daughter and grandchild are well taken of, and not left without funds.

Maybe my view is coloured by the fact that my brother was desperate to work for himself, and ended up bankrupt twice ............... his intentions were good, to take care of his wife and kids, but the execution was not good.

But we've also had experience of son-i-l's "desires" ........

......... the first inclination I had that they were serious was when I was asked if we could lend him $300,000 (!!!!) to open a shop that would sell all kinds of gift items that men could buy for their girlfriends or wives. My comment was a very shocked "that's more than our house is worth'!

Hmmm!

food for thought there.........

now who should get my box of bits "that one day will come in handy?

contents of my "spare room workshop"...

or my collection of tools, both professional, and hobby........???


Bob

Bob - you might have written that as a throw-away remark, but if you do have children its something you need to think about.

Aside from the normal domestic repair style tools which are frequently loaned out to family, OH has aquired quite a few other larger/expensive ones; the meter man drools over them when he has to access the garage ;-)
OH has bequeathed them to our son. No doubt he will have first dibs then share them with his Brother-in-laws and cousins.

Always always always put it in writing don't assume just because you've said it a million times to anyone that would listen that your wishes will be acted on.
I know from personal experience that as soon as someone dies others suddenly forget what was said.....and it doesn't have to involve a lot of money....you'd be surprised how much some will fight for items of little value including in my family case a cut wedding ring which they insist they will fix....we all know they're going to melt it down !!!!

D E T, yep we DO have children .......AND grandchildren, the essentials are sorted,
up to a point,


but one persons' idea of trash can be someone else's treasure..... my missis says she will "skip the lot"

yes Caroline, too true.......my nan promised her creole earings to my then fiancée

but someone else got there first......

You have to laugh how quick some people can clear a house !!

Caroline - we can imagine!

Not us, but someone of our generation could have found a loving home for some velvet curtains. Their other relatives sent them to the dump PDQ.

Bob - tell your missus she should ask an auction house about the value. What she might consider junk could be considered antiques or valuable by others. Even weighed-in scrap value might be worth considering!

Sorry I disappeared for awhile (again). some very interesting comments.

I have written mine with the thought that I as the eldest will go 1st. So hubby has it all and knows what bits and bobs of mine go where. (mainly to the local dogs home). We skipped a semi generation ie his sisters but did put a life interest on the property to them. We did that because of Inheritance tax, especially to non residents (why pay twice). We do have to finger cross that the next generation listen to our wishes because we can´t add the clause.
We kept ours simple so even if we change houses, cars, buy as boat etc as long as it´s Spanish it is included. But once we both have gone the inheritors can´t just bin things everything gets sold (even the crap)

Uzzi ...............

is the reverse also true?

ie, if your husband goes first, you get it all??


I only ask because one of our friends was 2 years older than her husband and assumed she would go first .............. nope, he first got dementia then an incurable cancer and died when he was 81.

Luckily they did have reverse wills.

Sylvia yes the reverse is also true should he go 1st I get all. Our wills are near enough identical and allow for 1 or both to go.

SylviaInCanada

I have a will which i updated when i got divorced and again when i moved to the UK from Australia... if my parents have both gone it goes to my sister only.. not my brother in law.... and then split between her 3 kids after that...

That covers my sister in the event of a marriage breakdown. My brother in law and I get on really well and he is actually my living power of attorney in the event something happens to me.. But it clearly states any funds (if i dont spend it all on overseas holidays) goes to sister only....

Kim .


that sounds a good idea.

I would never appoint my son-i-l as my living power of attorney or executor ............ too much experience with him :-(


that's why we're planning on setting up trust funds for daughter and grandson ......

........ daughter will get interest payments but not be able to touch the principle which will pass to her son on her death.

We hope to set it up so grandson will not get interest payments (they'd be rolled over into the principle) or be able to touch the principle until he is 30 or 35, although he could get access to some amount for post-secondary education funding after the age of 18.

I made my will years ago. The children were to go to their father (we were divorced) along with ALL their pets :-D

Now that these children have grown up, with 4 children between them, I feel I should update my will :-D

might be a good idea, maggie

:-D :-D

Love it Maggie and yes it may be a good time to update your will :-D :-D

We actually willed our daughter to OH's sister and her husband in a will we made when she was about 4 or 5, rather than simply naming them as guardians.

Under the Canadian system that meant that they could immediately begin to draw money that the executor could take from our estate even before probate to help support an extra child, the move that would be needed, etc.

As she is now over 40, and both sis-i-l and husband are dead ........... I do hope that that is not the will that is on file with the legal beagles :-D

We have made at lest 2 other wills in the meantime, but ................. we're dependent on the lawyer to file a will, so who knows???