Probate Valuation Of Chattels: What happens if you die with your spouse or civil partner?

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What happens if you die with your spouse or civil partner

If you have children, the worst case scenario of dying in an accident with your spouse or civil partner may keep you awake at night. Gear up your will to take such a horrible event into account and you can probably sleep a little easier.

Examining what would happen if you and your spouse die at the same time is the litmus test if whether your will is up to the job. Check the following list and if you realise that your will is insufficient, go back and try to rewrite it.

Appoint guardians:

Think carefully about who will look after your children in the event of your and your spouse’s death. Make sure you set enough money aside for them to bring up your children.

Consider survivorship:

By incorporating a survivorship clause in your will, you can say what should happen to the property you left your spouse if he or she does not survive you for a set period of time.

Name alternative beneficiaries:

Your spouse is probably your main, perhaps only, beneficiary. If your spouse or civil partner dies at the same time or soon after you, even with a survivorship clause in place, the result may not be exactly what you want. By naming an alternative beneficiary, you can channel the money meant originally for your spouse to someone else of your choosing.

Look at tax implications:

Transfers of property between you and your spouse (and civil partnerships) are exempt from inheritance tax (IHT). However, if your spouse or civil partner dies at the same time as you, IHT can be due. One silver lining is that a recent law changed the inheritance tax nil-rate bands – when Inheritance Tax calculations are made, both people in marriage or civil partnership can be taken into account. In practice this means that up to £650,000 (2012/2013) can be left to beneficiaries between both married or civil partners without IHT being due.

Take care of adult children:

Just because your child has grown up doesn’t mean that he or she couldn’t do with a helping hand. By leaving your child their own gift in your will or perhaps making them a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, you can help them be financially prepared for the nightmare scenario of you and your spouse dying at the same time. Keep your parents in mind too, when allocating gifts.

Beneficiaries in Scotland

In Scotland, if you die at the same time as a beneficiary, then whoever is older is deemed to have died first. So if your beneficiary is younger than you, they are deemed to have inherited. The ruled doesn’t apply when spouses die together. Unless it can be proved that one spouse survived the other – only a second will suffice – they are both presumed to have died at the same time. As a result of this simultaneous death, the spouse doesn’t inherit.

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