will and inheritance

[paulo2]

I inherited my parents house when they died and the title deeds are in my name . I lived on my own for 11 years and then got married, since then my marriage has recently broken up and I am worried that in my death my house will go to my wife as we are not yet divorced. Can I make a will leaving the house to my nephew on my death or must it automatically go to my wife even with a will, or should I tranfer the house to my nephew now as thats who I want to have the house anyway

[Catso]

I believe you can make out your will leaving it to whoever you wish. It's your will.

But, if you are not divorced then a/ your wife could contest the will and/or b/ the terms of any divorce settlement may result in you losing a proportion of your house prior to your death

Transferring it now is probably not the best thing to do, as a/ your nephew may evict you to sell the house and b/ he will be subject to a huge lump of tax on it. If you really want to do this, go and get professional advice.

[lady_p_gold]

Well are you thinking of getting a divorce ? Until you do then there will always be a problem because your wife will have a claim as the house is part of the marital assets. As it was yours before she came along she might not get much but that would be decided by her circumstances etc. Best thing would be to buy her our, get everything sorted and then you will be free to leave it to who you want. Have you thought about pensions and things .. again she can have a claim on those.

[ali_alic]

You need to get the divorce settled first as Catso and ladyp said, however once that is sorted and supposing you are still the owner you can leave ti to whom you like. If you are that worried you can always set up a trust where he owns the house but you are allowed to live in it permanently until you die. This will also help re the inheritance tax issue.