Q I’m wondering if you could give me some advice please. I am 86 and own my own house which I want to sell in order to buy a bungalow.
I have recently met a younger gentleman who will be moving in with me. The bungalow will be in my name and will be bought using the proceeds from the sale of my current home. Assuming I die before my partner, how can I ensure that after my death, the property will go to my children as stated in my will?
I have found happiness in my later years, but I do not want that to jeopardize my children’s inheritance in any way. Is there a way forward that will protect their interest, as well as my own? SH
A The fact that you will be living together in your home does not automatically give your new partner any rights to your money or property either in life or in death. If you were to split up, he might be able to claim a share of the bungalow but only if he could prove that he had made a financial contribution to it in the form of money towards the purchase price, mortgage repayments, meeting the costs of work on the property or just general household running costs. However, and while it may not be the most romantic of gestures, it would make sense to enter into a cohabitation agreement and/or deed of trust which sets out how property (and other assets) are to be owned and how other financial issues – such as how you divide household expenses – are resolved. You may agree that you will meet all property-related costs (including insurance) but that you will split gas, electricity, council tax and food bills equally. It would also be worth checking whether you need to update your will in view of your forthcoming change of address.
You don’t have to update your will to make sure that your children get everything you want them to, because your will already says that. Cohabiting partners don’t get an automatic right to inherit in the way that married couples or civil partners do; your new partner will only inherit if your will says he should. However, there is one slight glitch in that if you die after living together for a period (immediately prior to your death) of two years or more, your partner would have the right to go to court for a share of your estate if you don’t leave him anything in your will or you don’t have a will at the time you die. However, the right to make a claim doesn’t guarantee that the claim will be met and if the court felt that he wasn’t financially dependent on you, he probably wouldn’t get anything apart from a bill for legal fees.
If you die within two years of your new partner moving in, there would be nothing to worry about as your estate would be distributed entirely in accordance with your wishes.