Will - Doing my own codicil
Discussion
Wife and I have identical wills.
Our house is tenants in common and our wills leaves 33% to each other and each of our two kids on death.
On reflection, because of care costs, I am wondering if we should change our wills to simply give 50% to each of the kids and nothing to each other.
The wills are currently registered with "Certainty.co.uk" and I think I could do a codicil that simply changes the % as above and then register it with Certainty.co.uk myself without a solicitor. All seems very simple. Am I being naieve in all this? tia
Our house is tenants in common and our wills leaves 33% to each other and each of our two kids on death.
On reflection, because of care costs, I am wondering if we should change our wills to simply give 50% to each of the kids and nothing to each other.
The wills are currently registered with "Certainty.co.uk" and I think I could do a codicil that simply changes the % as above and then register it with Certainty.co.uk myself without a solicitor. All seems very simple. Am I being naieve in all this? tia
alscar said:
Supposing you were to die tomorrow and at some point your wife requires care at home ?
Well the kids would own 25% of the house each, and the wife would own 50%. This would mean that when she went into a care home the house would be sold and only 50% of that money would go towards her care costs.Seems reasonably sensible to me, means that the kids actually get something if either parent ends up in a home!
Cyberprog said:
alscar said:
Supposing you were to die tomorrow and at some point your wife requires care at home ?
Well the kids would own 25% of the house each, and the wife would own 50%. This would mean that when she went into a care home the house would be sold and only 50% of that money would go towards her care costs.Seems reasonably sensible to me, means that the kids actually get something if either parent ends up in a home!
Cyberprog said:
alscar said:
And don’t disagree but my point was supposing Mrs Scarlet needs money to pay for care at home ie does she have existing funds she could use ?
Depends on what sort of home she goes into of course, and what the NHS will fund at that point.Make sure you have no assets if you go into care.
Left it too late with my mother and social services made us sell her house. Now 4 years in care at a cost of just over £200k. Care costs in a suitable home for dementia are just over £6k a month now.
Cyberprog said:
alscar said:
And don’t disagree but my point was supposing Mrs Scarlet needs money to pay for care at home ie does she have existing funds she could use ?
Depends on what sort of home she goes into of course, and what the NHS will fund at that point.Without sufficient self funding , this may not be an easy option to achieve on the NHS hence the question.
If carers needed to come into the home then we could self fund that.
In essence the way the wills are currently set up if one of us dies and the other has to go in a home then 67% of the house would be used to fund the care. If we change the wills as I outlined then only 50% could be used to fund the care.
Now I have always paid my taxes but in the last ten years have minimised what tax I do pay as far as possible as I think the givernment squanders most tax then comes back for more so stuff them.
So my original question stands: Can I produce and file a codicil myself signed by us and a witness? Seems a very easy change to make to simply adjust the percentages?
In essence the way the wills are currently set up if one of us dies and the other has to go in a home then 67% of the house would be used to fund the care. If we change the wills as I outlined then only 50% could be used to fund the care.
Now I have always paid my taxes but in the last ten years have minimised what tax I do pay as far as possible as I think the givernment squanders most tax then comes back for more so stuff them.
So my original question stands: Can I produce and file a codicil myself signed by us and a witness? Seems a very easy change to make to simply adjust the percentages?
There's also the issue of the 'caaaaancil' not being able to force you to sell your home if 1 of your parents has to go into a care home while the other one is still living in the family house.
That's best achieved by them owning the house as tenants in common and both of their wills leaving their 50% ownership to their children.
They will then only be able to place a charge on the 50% of the property owned by the parent in the care home.
This entire issue is utterly broken because no politician has the balls to face it.
A simple life care insurance policy, government backed in some way, would revolutionise this issue.
Certainly won't be addressed by the traitorswe're all being held sausage by we have in 'power' atm.
That's best achieved by them owning the house as tenants in common and both of their wills leaving their 50% ownership to their children.
They will then only be able to place a charge on the 50% of the property owned by the parent in the care home.
This entire issue is utterly broken because no politician has the balls to face it.
A simple life care insurance policy, government backed in some way, would revolutionise this issue.
Certainly won't be addressed by the traitors
Scarletpimpofnel said:
If carers needed to come into the home then we could self fund that.
So my original question stands: Can I produce and file a codicil myself signed by us and a witness? Seems a very easy change to make to simply adjust the percentages?
Technically yes as long as you are meticulously careful about the changes which don’t just involve percentage changes but also beneficiary deletions and obviously get it all correctly witnessed and then make sure the original is stored in the same place as the will.So my original question stands: Can I produce and file a codicil myself signed by us and a witness? Seems a very easy change to make to simply adjust the percentages?
Personally I would be getting a solicitor to do this having seen numerous threads on here and elsewhere about issues and the last thing you want for your family is for there to be issues post you or your wife passing.
My terminally ill mum died recently. When she was diagnosed as terminal the local authority supplied their Short Term Intervention Team who were council carers who for 6 weeks would visit her at home in pairs, 3 x per day to help her out of bed, get to the commode, and back to bed at night etc. They were amazing. This was free of charge for those 6 weeks, then they withdrew but had arranged for council approved private contract carers to take over the visits which would cost £££.
At this point the local authority wanted to conduct a financial assessment of mum to see if she would be funding this care. I refused the assessment as I knew she wouldn't qualify for free care due to her finances (estate needs to be less than £23k?), so no point in putting her through that. Mums estate/finances meant she wouldn't qualify for free care.
This started off around £800/month but increased to about £1,200/month when mum needed the two further carer visits during the night. However I managed to ensure the NHS paid all of these care costs as I knew that being terminally ill she qualified for an NHS Continuing Health Care Plan, which involves them assessing her and paying for all of her care.
Technically due to her condition she qualified for the NHS FastTrack assessment where it all happens very quickly, but they and the local authority do all they can to prevent this happening and insisted instead on the slower and more drawn out assessment that is referred to as the Decision Making Tool. But eventually we got it all in place, so thankfully mum got her care free of charge until she died at home.
The one thing I have learnt from this is that there is no point in getting old and needing care, and having money. I will be making changes to our financial affairs to try and ensure we don't fall foul of this.
At this point the local authority wanted to conduct a financial assessment of mum to see if she would be funding this care. I refused the assessment as I knew she wouldn't qualify for free care due to her finances (estate needs to be less than £23k?), so no point in putting her through that. Mums estate/finances meant she wouldn't qualify for free care.
This started off around £800/month but increased to about £1,200/month when mum needed the two further carer visits during the night. However I managed to ensure the NHS paid all of these care costs as I knew that being terminally ill she qualified for an NHS Continuing Health Care Plan, which involves them assessing her and paying for all of her care.
Technically due to her condition she qualified for the NHS FastTrack assessment where it all happens very quickly, but they and the local authority do all they can to prevent this happening and insisted instead on the slower and more drawn out assessment that is referred to as the Decision Making Tool. But eventually we got it all in place, so thankfully mum got her care free of charge until she died at home.
The one thing I have learnt from this is that there is no point in getting old and needing care, and having money. I will be making changes to our financial affairs to try and ensure we don't fall foul of this.
Scarletpimpofnel said:
Wife and I have identical wills.
Our house is tenants in common and our wills leaves 33% to each other and each of our two kids on death.
On reflection, because of care costs, I am wondering if we should change our wills to simply give 50% to each of the kids and nothing to each other.
The wills are currently registered with "Certainty.co.uk" and I think I could do a codicil that simply changes the % as above and then register it with Certainty.co.uk myself without a solicitor. All seems very simple. Am I being naieve in all this? tia
Before you do anything, get Lasting Power of Attorney for health and finances drawn up for you both. You can DIY this. Then sort the will.Our house is tenants in common and our wills leaves 33% to each other and each of our two kids on death.
On reflection, because of care costs, I am wondering if we should change our wills to simply give 50% to each of the kids and nothing to each other.
The wills are currently registered with "Certainty.co.uk" and I think I could do a codicil that simply changes the % as above and then register it with Certainty.co.uk myself without a solicitor. All seems very simple. Am I being naieve in all this? tia
Shaun170 said:
Cyberprog said:
alscar said:
And don’t disagree but my point was supposing Mrs Scarlet needs money to pay for care at home ie does she have existing funds she could use ?
Depends on what sort of home she goes into of course, and what the NHS will fund at that point.Make sure you have no assets if you go into care.
Left it too late with my mother and social services made us sell her house. Now 4 years in care at a cost of just over £200k. Care costs in a suitable home for dementia are just over £6k a month now.
The other option is for the family to look after her, if they want to inherit her wealth.
megaphone said:
I'm sure you're happy that your mother is getting good care. I'm sure you don't expect other hard working tax payers to fund her care when she can afford to fund it herself?
The other option is for the family to look after her, if they want to inherit her wealth.
What's the difference between someone receiving free care whilst having built up plenty of savings, and that same person receiving free care despite not having any savings because they'd spent all of their money on themselves every month? Same person, same life, just lived differently.The other option is for the family to look after her, if they want to inherit her wealth.
If I save, I pay for care. If I spend my money then that care is free. Isn't it my money to do as I choose?
Edited by The Gauge on Thursday 21st August 10:36
The Gauge said:
megaphone said:
I'm sure you're happy that your mother is getting good care. I'm sure you don't expect other hard working tax payers to fund her care when she can afford to fund it herself?
The other option is for the family to look after her, if they want to inherit her wealth.
What's the difference between someone receiving free care whilst having built up plenty of savings, and that same person receiving free care despite not having any savings because they'd spent all of their money on themselves every month? Same person, same life, just lived differently.The other option is for the family to look after her, if they want to inherit her wealth.
If I save, I pay for care. If I spend my money then that care is free. Isn't it my money to do as I choose?
Edited by The Gauge on Thursday 21st August 10:36
The last thing we need is wealthy old people getting handouts from tax payers, just so their offspring can inherit a few £.
Would you be happy to pay more tax now to support more social care?
Edited by megaphone on Thursday 21st August 12:17
megaphone said:
You could say the same about other aspects of life. You can live on benefits and hand outs all through your life..
At least someone who has money and spends it is helping the economy, someone who chooses to live on benefits creates the opposite effect.megaphone said:
Would you be happy to pay more tax now to support more social care?
Yes, I would. We all have the right to do with our money as we choose. If I make the decision to refrain from spending my money to instead have it as savings, then I have the right to then choose to spend it.
I think social care should be a basic right that should be provided free of charge. We provide lots of other welfare for less needy people. Most of people requiring it become (by the very nature of requiring it) extremely vulnerable. It's not the persons fault if they get dementia, yet they and their family will be stripped of their assets as a reward for having it, whilst private care home businesses can make a profit.
Edited by The Gauge on Thursday 21st August 14:47
The Gauge said:
megaphone said:
You could say the same about other aspects of life. You can live on benefits and hand outs all through your life..
At least someone who has money and spends it is helping the economy, someone who chooses to live on benefits creates the opposite effect.megaphone said:
Would you be happy to pay more tax now to support more social care?
Yes, I would. We all have the right to do with our money as we choose. If I make the decision to refrain from spending my money to instead have it as savings, then I have the right to then choose to spend it.
I think social care should be a basic right that should be provided free of charge. We provide lots of other welfare for less needy people. Most of people requiring it become (by the very nature of requiring it) extremely vulnerable. It's not the persons fault if they get dementia, yet they and their family will be stripped of their assets as a reward for having it, whilst private care home businesses can make a profit.
Edited by The Gauge on Thursday 21st August 14:47
The only option is for those who can afford to, pay for their own care OR, their families look after them. Relying on the state (other tax payers) to pay for their care is unfair to the young who are already struggling.
The Gauge said:
Before you do anything, get Lasting Power of Attorney for health and finances drawn up for you both. You can DIY this. Then sort the will.
As I think I’ve seen you post previously, absolutely agree with you on this - in many respects having both LPA’s done is as equally important. Whilst you can DIY ( and obviously cheaper ) I would reiterate my comments about making sure they are meticulously completed - as with wills you don’t want to find when needed that they aren’t” correct” / in line with your wishes.
For instance ability to act jointly and severally can catch out people if more than one Attorney.
The OPG will register them as they are presented.
At least with a solicitor making the applications all aspects will be first discussed.
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