A Protective Property Trust is commonly included in wills for couples to add extra
protection against loss of the value of the family home.
There are three main scenarios they can prove really useful in:
Remarriage
If you die and your spouse/partner remarries, the new spouse could end up getting the house and your children could get nothing.
Children from previous Relationship
Couples (married/unmarried) with children from different relationships. With a protective property trust each spouse/partner can decide who will benefit from their share of the value of the home (normally 50%) which will be held on trust for them until after the second death. Without this trust in place, there is a real risk that some children/step children could end up with nothing.
Care Home Fees
Selling the family home to pay for care home fees. If a couple own a house as beneficial joint tenants, under a standard will, on first death the survivor will normally inherit 100% of the family home. If the survivor then needs long term care the local authority can then put a charge on the home to pay for care. This could mean your beneficiaries end up with a reduced inheritance or in some cases nothing at all, depending on the length of time in care.
Case Study-Loss Through Remarriage
Mr and Mrs J have standard mirror wills. This leaves everything to each other firstly, and then on down to their children. Mrs J dies and Mr J remarries after a few years. He then dies and the estate is valued at £250,000 (house is £200k, £50k cash). Although he has only been remarried for two months, his new wife stands to inherit the entire estate because marriage voids any previous will and new spouse takes precedence. Mr and Mrs J’s children receive nothing from the estate. Was that Mr
and Mrs J’s intention?
Case Study-Failing to Protect the Inheritance of a Child from a Previous Relationship
Jane and Peter are married. Jane has a son David from a previous marriage and Peter has a daughter Amy from previous as well. They have a son James together. They write standard mirror wills. This leaves everything to each other firstly, and then
on down to David, Amy and James in equal shares which is what they agree at the time. After 15 years Peter dies. Jane has never had a very good relationship with Peter’s daughter Amy, so after Peter’s death, she changes her will to leave the entire estate to David and James. When Jane dies, Amy gets nothing at all from the estate.
Was that Peter’s intention?
Case Study-Losing House Value to Care Home Fees
Mr and Mrs T own a home worth £300,000. They have standard mirror wills leaving everything to each other and then on second death to their two children Sally and Tom. Mr T dies and then 2 years later Mrs T has to go into a nursing home. Mrs T is
assessed financially by the Local Authority (LA). She is now the sole owner of the full value of the house. The Local Authority sell the house/put a charge on it for her care which costs £45,000 per year. Mrs T is in the nursing home for 5 years at a cost of
£225,000. The amount of value from the house Sally and Tom receive after her death between them is £75,000 minus expenses. Was that Mr and Mrs T’s intention?
A Protective Property Trust can help with each of these scenarios.