Making a Will

[johncar54]

I wonder how many are like me are not sure what to do about making a Will.

I want to ensure that my wife is able to live a reasonable lifestyle when I die but I don't want to her family to 'persuade' her that she should give it to them, which would leave her, in the long term, without.


There is also the possibility that she might remarry and that the new husband would take advantage of her financial situation. Which would mean that my children, grand children, etc, would loose out to that person.

I would be interested to know how others have overcome these potential problems.

As we live in Spain, there is a problem. If I left my property to my children, with the stipulation that my wife could live in it for ever, in Spain, my children would be liable to pay the inheritance tax (not generous as in UK) on my death even though they may not actually be able to sell the property for many years.

[stevewool]

its very hard to make a will when you have differant people to think of, i have adopted children 2 off and 3 children of my own 2 grandchildren and a new wife , i have a will made already but soon that will have to change, my adopted childrens mother is quite wealthy and she has left them everything in her will and that was my dilemer, i could not split my will equal, so i did this 20% to my 3 children, 10% to my adopted children and the other 20% to go to the grandchildren now and future ones, looks like more headaches are on the way

[Terpe]

johncar54
At least you already recognised the importance of making a will.

I have no understanding on the laws in Spain concerning wills.
But in UK the worst thing you can do is NOT have a will.
This is becomes especially important when distribution becomes more complex.
In UK, not having a will means the estate will be distributed according to laid down rules. This may not be as you would want.

Perhaps you need to understand if and how a 'trust' can be legally operated in Spain. The appointed trustee's would be obliged to administer the trust in accordance with both the terms of the trust document and the local governing law.
Means you can essentially control everything.
You could have say monthly payments made, or even stipulate that in the event of
remarriage that the distribution is changed.

Anyway, may be worth reviewing.

[johncar54]

Terpe, Yes it is at least as important to have a Will in Spain. Maybe even more so, as in UK one can sort out probate oneself (my son did it last year when my ex.wife died intestate) I think it would be just about impossible to do that in Spain.

I did enquire about a trust but at that time it was prohibitively expensive. I will make some more enquiries, Thanks.