What would be the position if (in the U.K) you made a will leaving ,say, £10,000 to ten different people? But when you die it is found out that you only had £5,000 left. Would the ten people then just get £500 each?
2007-12-16 03:25:01 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
I should have said "divided equally". And am I right to assume that any reduction in bequests would not affect the fact that you may have left other things (e.g. your car) to some of the ten people (or indeed others)?
2007-12-16 03:34:23 · update #1
This is an example of why MOST wills DON'T give a fixed amount to ANYONE. The more common approach is to give a percentage of the estate to each. That way the 'automatic adjustment' you suggest is built into the language of the will. Regardless of what country you are in, if you need to ask what happens in ANY situation, you should talk to an attorney about how to make sure the answer is what you want it to be.
2007-12-16 05:33:36 · answer #1 · answered by STEVEN F 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The wording of the will would be crucial .. it's quite possible that the first person named would get the £5000 and the others nothing :-) ..
If insufficient funds exist to pay all 10 people then (assuming they were all mentioned 'equally first') all your property might have to be sold (including the car, house etc).. after all 10 were paid, the 'next in line' would then only get your car if it didn't have to be sold to pay the first 10 ..
Needless to say, it's NOT a good idea to leave specific amounts in your will .. much better to say how you want your assets are to be divided ... and have a 'catch all' clause at the end (worded like 'I leave the residue of my estate to ....')
You need to be vary carefull with 'residue' statements - a lot of people say 'Cancer Research' or some other charity, thinking there will only be a few quid left over .. however if the other beneficiaries pre-decease you (for example if you intended your girl-friend to have most of your estate & she died first), or, in the above example, you won £20 million in the National Lottery treble roll-over the day before you died, the 'residue ' could end up being almost everything :-)
2007-12-16 04:59:54 · answer #2 · answered by Steve B 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, all assets would be cashed in and whatever was left as a total would be divided amongst those nominated together with a copy of the Will and the accounts.
2007-12-16 03:28:23 · answer #3 · answered by SYJ 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well worth getting a will drawn up professionally - the scope for things 'going wrong' is surprisingly great!
2007-12-16 05:20:52 · answer #4 · answered by ! 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋