Why It’s Important to Review What Happens if a Child Predeceases You
|
Hi Everyone, This month’s Members’ Hub note includes a personal reflection on preserving family stories, along with an important reminder about reviewing your will and checking what happens if a child or beneficiary dies before you. |
A Personal Note on Family Stories, and an Important Will Reminder
Firstly, thank God the rain finally stopped.
We got to spend four nights down in Baltimore with family, something that was badly needed. Lots of rest, long walks, fresh air and proper downtime.
While there, we travelled out to Bere Island, where my great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents are buried. My grandmother grew up there, and I got to see her ancestral home for the very first time. My late father had spent quite a bit of time there over the years visiting his uncle, whom he was very fond of.
Standing there, I realised how much family stories matter and how easily they can be lost over generations. I found myself wishing I had visited it with Dad, so I could have asked him all the questions he had heard from his own mother growing up.
It really reinforced for me how important it is to preserve family stories, memories and history.
Because of that, I have started work on a new project called The Memoirs, a guided and prompted life-story journal designed to help document memories, milestones and family history for future generations. Keep an eye out for it over the next year.
This Month’s Legal Topic
Now onto this month’s legal topic, and this is a very important one.
I was recently contacted by a lady whose mother had made a will leaving her estate equally between her two daughters.
One daughter was happily married with children. The other daughter had recently married a man whom the family never really trusted and who, sadly, had not treated her particularly well.
Tragically, that daughter died unexpectedly before her mother. Her mother was devastated and never got the opportunity to update her will before she herself passed away a year later.
The problem was this:
The will still left half of the estate to the daughter who had already died.
Under Section 98 of the Succession Act, and I often say that the Succession Act is the “Bible” when it comes to wills, where a child predeceases a parent, the law can treat that child as though they survived the parent and then died afterwards.
This means their inheritance can pass into their own estate.
In this particular case, the deceased daughter had no children, meaning her share ultimately passed to her husband, the very person the family would never have intended to benefit.
This situation could have been completely avoided with proper clauses in the will.
What Should Happen if a Child Predeceases?
Where a child predeceases:
- if they leave children, their share should pass directly to those children; and
- if they leave no children, their share should revert back to the surviving siblings.
I cannot stress enough how important these clauses are.
In the last month alone, I have reviewed three wills drafted elsewhere where these protective clauses had not been included, including one case involving an in-law relationship that had already broken down.
I have attached the wording of the clauses that I regularly include in wills to deal with this issue.
What to Review in the Members’ Hub
Please log back into the Members’ Hub and review:
- your Review Your Will Checklist; and
- your existing will to see whether similar clauses have been included.
If they are not included, and you have concerns about where a predeceased child’s inheritance may ultimately end up, it may be worth discussing an update to your will with your solicitor.
As always, I hope this helps.
Jacquelyn
