UKH

We need to make a change to our wills after moving house.

Our last house was in my wife's name, so she has a property trust in her will leaving it to the kids, but allowing my use.

Since moving, the new house is in joint names, so I need to add basically the same trust to my will, just changing the relevant names.

Solicitor wants nearly £200 (inc VAT) for what is essentially a cut and paste job.

I have a soft copy of the draft of the last will, so thinking of doing this myself - obviously getting the result witnessed and signed.

Am I missing anything with doing this?

Probably not but that is what the £200 is actually for, not the copy and pasting. On the other hand, you will be dead so you'll never know.

I expect you’d probably be better off both getting mirror wills now (where the first of you to go gives everything to the other and the second gives it to the kids/donkey sanctuary/whatever) and getting rid of the trust.

No, that's not a good idea.

If you have mirror wills and one of you has to go into a care home, they will have to use their share of the assets to pay for that care. The property protection trust part avoids that.

You basically leave your half of the house to the kids, but allow your partner the USE of that share, so it's not included in any means testing.

From personal experience and a fair bit of research I agree with gazhbo

True but IMO a trust, particular a poorly written one can cause more distressing priblems

Isn't it the case that if it can be shown that the trust was set up to avoid paying carehome then it can be challenged. It probably depends on the local authority concerned, but families my mum knows have fallen foul of this and had to pay court costs as well as care fees. 

So my recent experience is Uncle passed away several years ago. Auntie downsized soon after, I supposed it me and my brothers could have allowed that and taken our share, rather than use that money to fund her subsequent care. The last six months in particular involved difficult decisions, having PoA and my Auntie having some assets made things a bit easier. Me having more money in my bank account wouldn't. 

£200 isn't much for piece of mind knowing you've done things properly. I'd just consider it to be a very small part of the very large costs associated with moving, ie just an expense to be endured. 

The £200 is for a copy and paste *AND* someone qualified checking the "small" details that you or I might not appreciate that could totally *** *p a will and lead to confusion/dispute later.

There's few things more effective to cause deep and permanent hostility between family members than a disputed will. £200 is your peace of mind

The OP could look at the difference between 'joint tenants' and 'tenants in common'.  See for example https://www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/conveyancing-services/joint-tenancy-te... 

Wills etc are boring, but a messed-up Will can cause big problems.  £200 for properly qualified advice is worth it, I suggest.  

"Deliberate deprivation of assests" was the phrase that occurred to me, I'm not sure that admitting to it is sensible 

Especially if Trusts are involved , which if set up correctly will have cost considerably more. We did however think over £100 was a bit steep to add three words to mums, but didn't bother, rather than doing it ourselves. 

What happens if you both die together ( say in a car crash) or she passes away. 
 

Get a decent solicitor to properly draft what you want covering all eventualities. 
 

Cannot understand why you bother with a trust. 

He’s just told you, hasn’t he? He wants the rest of us to pay for any care he or his wife might need rather than doing it himself.

jcm

This is so personal, but can be a way of protecting the estate from some inheritance tax when you have certain assets. Are you sure this be abolished this year? 

Yep.  Never works out though does it. You still end up paying for it as family and friends payment. I get annoyed with solicitors who sell trusts as the answer without giving the whole picture. 

I think I can see a point to Trusts, if the aim is to protect vulnerable dependents, particularly if multiple marriages are involved. 

To me, this doesn't seem very different to the the OP trying to avoid carehome costs. The main difference being it is allowed if you are very wealthy, not for the rest of us. 

I find it remarkable that a tax that only affects the very wealthy (top 5%) is so unpopular with people who it doesn't affect at all m

Yep its fascinating how whipped up people get on this issue, when the reality is the only winners are fees for solicitors. IHT just does not apply to 95% of cases..