Don’t Leave Your Future Finances to Chance – Part Five

Death, for many, can be unexpected and sudden. When it happens, the time to plan is, plainly, over.

Far too frequently, people die without a financial plan in place for the future, without direct influence over what happens to their estate. Perhaps life was too busy at the time, maybe they didn’t feel old enough to be affected by such morbid discussions.

Regardless, leaving it to chance is never the best idea.  

As part of a series of informative articles, the Wills, Probate, and Trust specialists at Winn Solicitors have put together a collection of scenarios that highlight the dangers of leaving the future to uncertainty, fate, and legal discourse.

On this occasion, we introduce Sarah and Daniel…

The scenario

An unmarried couple, Sarah and Daniel, decided to take the next step and buy a property together. Using monies from her recent divorce, following the break-up of a previous marriage, as a deposit, Sarah invested in the house so they could bring together her family – an 18-year-old daughter – and Daniel’s (himself, twin eight-year-old sons and a three-year-old daughter).

What went wrong?

They had planned to wed, but life took a tragic turn when Sarah died. This happened before she could create a Will or get to her wedding day.

With the house held as joint tenants, that meant it passed on, in its entirety, to Daniel, who intended to stay in it with his children. Sarah’s daughter moved out to live with her dad.

This left her daughter with nothing, despite Sarah putting in the proceeds of her divorce into the deposit for the property; certainly not what Sarah would have wanted for her only child.

How can Winns help?

Our expert team would have listened to Sarah, understood her circumstances, and provided the relevant guidance to support her decision making.

Her objective would have been to provide for her daughter after her death, something that could have been achieved by creating a Will in contemplation of her marriage and a Declaration of Trust that would have protected her share of the property for her daughter.

Leaving major financial decisions to fate simply doesn’t bear thinking about. Provide for your family in the future by acting today.

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