Over-60s failing to protect legacies if their children divorce

Most people over 60 are not taking the necessary action to protect the assets they leave to their children in their wills, according to new research.

The risk is that if their children divorce, some of the assets they’ve inherited from their parents could go to their ex-partner.

Research published in the Times newspaper shows that nearly seven out of 10 people over the age of 60 have not made any provisions to prevent this happening. This is despite the fact that 67% of the over 60s will leave at least £100,000 to their children.

The failure to make any provisions to protect assets is perhaps even more surprising considering that one in five people surveyed worried about how their money would be divided if their children divorced, and one in six didn’t trust their child’s partner with money.

These concerns meant that two out of five people over 60 were considering cutting a married child out of their will altogether.

It’s only natural that people should want to protect money and assets they’ve spent a lifetime building up. It’s also not unreasonable to want to have some control over how money passed on to the next generation should be spent.

Thankfully, it is possible to make provisions in your will to give some control over how your money is used once it passes on to the next generation.

For example, you may wish to specify that some is spent on your grandchildren’s education or is put towards buying a property, or in more extreme circumstances, you may wish to skip a generation and leave your estate to your grandchildren.

There are several measures you can take to meet your individual circumstances and concerns. With a little planning, you can stipulate how your hard-earned money should be used and reduce the risk of family feuds in the future.

Please contact Jonathan King or Jamiel Zaman if you would like more information about wills and inheritance planning.