Published on: 21st September 2020

The importance of defining beneficiaries in your Will

When giving instructions to our Consultant it is most important to consider the exact relationship to you of those who will benefit from your Will, and defining the beneficiaries in your Will is critical. If you have remarried you will usually refer to the children of your new spouse as your stepchildren. But when it comes to grandchildren it becomes more complicated.

Let us look at an example. Fred and Mary were married for many years and together had two sons being George and Stuart. George married Grace and Stuart married Sophie. George and Grace had two children together being Geoffrey and Gillian. Stuart and Sophie had a child together being Susan and Sophie had Sarah from a previous relationship.

As far as Fred and Mary were concerned they had four grandchildren being Geoffrey, Gillian, Susan and Sarah. They treated all four the same, called them grandchildren and in their minds they were grandchildren.

Fred and Mary decided not to use a professional Will writer to write their Wills. They wrote Wills on the internet and declared George and Stuart as their children and Geoffrey, Gillian, Susan and Sarah as their grandchildren.

Fred and Mary had helped George and Stuart financially during their lifetime and knew that Geoffrey, Gillian, Susan and Sarah would each struggle to save the deposit for a mortgage.

The internet software did not distinguish between any of the grandchildren and so Fred and Mary created a Will as follows :

• When the first passed away ~ everything to each other
• When the second of them passed away:
• 10% to George
• 10% to Stuart
• 80% to grandchildren in equal shares

Fred and Mary decided to use the word grandchildren instead of naming them just in case George or Stuart had any more children in later life.

Unfortunately, this approach and the internet software would cause a major problem (and almost certainly a rift in the family) after Fred and Mary had passed away.

The reason for this is that Sarah is not a grandchild of Fred and Mary. Sarah is the daughter of their daughter-in-law or a step-grandchild. Sarah would not inherit from Fred and Mary.

Casey & Associates Consultants are trained to spot where this type of situation might occur and can advise on defining the beneficiaries in your Will. If you have any step-grandchildren (even though you treat them as grandchildren) please check your current Will does not give you a result you do not want. If you would like to discuss the matter with a Consultant then to arrange an appointment please contact us using the contact page on our website here or telephone 01732 868190.

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Our Covid-19 policy is now that if you require general information about our Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney or Trusts then we will carry out a telephone appointment. However, if you wish to give instructions to one of our Consultants we are offering Face to Face appointments from 02 September 2020 in most of the areas we normally cover (subject to Government advice). To see the areas we normally cover please click here.

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