Wills and provision for your horses

[LadyGascoyne]

I need to revisit this for mine.

My husband has said that if he survives me, he doesn’t want to lose Mim too so I my original plan of sending her back to her breeder with a lump sum and her tag-along friend needs updating. It’s too far away for him.

Ideally, I’d like the to remain in my family’s ownership, paid for by my estate, but be kept somewhere local where they are appreciated for how beautiful they both are, and not required to do anything.

I’m working on it!

 

[Andie02]

This is what we're in the process of setting up. Cats Protection do something similar for cats, too.

While we're on the subject, if you have young kids please please make sure that you have your 'plan B' and your 'plan C' in respect of caring for them is laid out in your will. It's so important.

Yes provision for children is very important. Guardians should be put in place as otherwise any children under the age of 18 can be taken into care until a Court decides what happens to them. Another reason to use a professional who should advise on this. Another point with the appointing of guardians is that it is important to appoint a guardian as 1 of the 2 executor / trustees, a point often not considered by many. You always have to have 2 executors / trustees appointed to deal with the estate if children under 18 are direct beneficiaries. It is also advisable to appoint a reserve as a guardian and trustee. You have to consider all potential scenarios.

 

[Overstone stud]

I think that it is important for your will to says a person to come in a look after your horse when you die. I have 8 pedigree broodmares the oldest was born in 1995 and you should see her trot up from the paddock for her food as you night guess I continually think about PTS the last horse I had to put down at home the hunt servant came out on his bike and shot her having just lost my wife 3 years bed bound after a stroke under an organisation that says we have a duty of care for our patients seeing my wife screaming in pain as they tried to get a blood sample from between her toes,give me caring horse owners any day.

 

[Andie02]

I think that it is important for your will to says a person to come in a look after your horse when you die.

Best to have that information handy in your house and / or tack room or office with who to contact in the case of any emergencies. Wills can get lost if not stored correctly and can take time to be located and accessed. High St. Solicitors close down and move, and amalgamate with other Solicitors. Some Wills don't get found, and copies are not always to hand or available.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I'm currently reviewing my will (what a fun and festive thing to do!) and reviewing the provision for my pets.

I currently have 3 X horses who live at home.
If anything happened to me soon, which I hope won't (!), I would have 3 young, fit horses.
Noone else at home rides.
2 of them would be reasonably valuable horses, 1 useful but not valuable. However I wouldn't want them sold.

I would have money in my estate for provide for them but obviously, if they went into livery, it would eat up a lot of the estate, particularly as they could all easily live for another 15-25 years.

Just wonder what everyone else does!

I have left mine to the WHW - with a bank account solely for them. I would never give them to friends or family and obligate them for life financially, in case their situation changes. This way if and one of my friends want them they can rehome them through WHW and return them if they do run out of financial money.

Lots of people may be friend's now or if that family member dies and then what!! This way I know they will never be sold again.

Horse Gifting in a Will - World Horse Welfare

Find out how to safeguard your horse's future by gifting them to World Horse Welfare in your Will

www.worldhorsewelfare.org

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I have my horses left to World Horse Welfare in my will. WHW have a copy of my will and will make arrangements once contacted. I have loaned from WHW twice myself previously and am aware of the stringent checks and 6 monthly reviews they have in place which are never overlooked and am very comfortable that they would be in safe hands.

^5 me too. I also keep a note book of any changes to the horses in each one of the horses box folder. things like
dietary needs
allergic needs
any foibles
any injuries etc so I keep it up to date.

also their tack rugs so WHW know exactly which things are their individual horses

 

[Andie02]

I have left mine to the WHW - with a bank account solely for them. I would never give them to friends or family and obligate them for life financially, in case their situation changes. This way if and one of my friends want them they can rehome them through WHW and return them if they do run out of financial money.

Lots of people may be friend's now or if that family member dies and then what!! This way I know they will never be sold again.

Horse Gifting in a Will - World Horse Welfare

Find out how to safeguard your horse's future by gifting them to World Horse Welfare in your Will

www.worldhorsewelfare.org

Good points and well thought out.
Just a point to clarify with you, have you specifically made a direct gift of this particular bank account to the WHW and prepared a side letter, away from you your Will, with your wishes / preferences. This letter can then be changed to suit any particular circumstances that may change over time, which would not require any changes to your Will. If the nominated bank account is not gifted within your Will, it will form part of your residual estate.
Of course if at the time of your passing, if you no longer had any horses, would you be happy for the WHW to still receive this bequest, if not then you really should consider a discretionary trust to enable the funds to pass to someone else.
Andies OH

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Good points and well thought out.
Just a point to clarify with you, have you specifically made a direct gift of this particular bank account to the WHW and prepared a side letter, away from you your Will, with your wishes / preferences. This letter can then be changed to suit any particular circumstances that may change over time, which would not require any changes to your Will. If the nominated bank account is not gifted within your Will, it will form part of your residual estate.
Of course if at the time of your passing, if you no longer had any horses, would you be happy for the WHW to still receive this bequest, if not then you really should consider a discretionary trust to enable the funds to pass to someone else.
Andies OH

Yes my will says any horses I own all are named currently and my solicitor has the bank account number which is allocated for WHW. I have just signed my wills and it is all nice and clear before I signed if I have no horses then yes they still get the money regardless.

 

[Andie02]

Yes my will says any horses I own all are named currently and my solicitor has the bank account number which is allocated for WHW. I have just signed my wills and it is all nice and clear before I signed if I have no horses then yes they still get the money regardless.

If the Bank Account is not specifically 'gifted' in the Will it could be considered part of the residual estate. Just because the Solicitor has a record of this account on hs 'file' , it may be overlooked and the funds not go to the WHW. Whereas if a specified gift within a Will , it cannot. Often the Solicitors will store the Wills in a separate facility to their normal paper files.
I appreciate that this may appear 'nit picking' / fine line technicality, but sadly things often do not always work out as expected.
One of the sayings in the professional 'field' is that 'if it is not written within the Will it will not happen', so if the bank account number is not documented within the Will then sadly it may not be paid to the WHW.
Andie's OH.

 

[Mrs. Glittery Jingle Balls]

I appreciate that this may appear 'nit picking' / fine line technicality, but sadly things often do not always work out as expected.
One of the sayings in the professional 'field' is that 'if it is not written within the Will it will not happen', so if the bank account number is not documented within the Will then sadly it may not be paid to the WHW.

This is very much the advice our very experienced solicitor gave us under very similar circumstances, basically we were told if it isn't in the will don't assume leaving a note with a friend will work, or just hoping your solicitor has noted your wishes somewhere etc. is enough, it inevitably does not.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

If the Bank Account is not specifically 'gifted' in the Will it could be considered part of the residual estate. Just because the Solicitor has a record of this account on hs 'file' , it may be overlooked and the funds not go to the WHW. Whereas if a specified gift within a Will , it cannot. Often the Solicitors will store the Wills in a separate facility to their normal paper files.
I appreciate that this may appear 'nit picking' / fine line technicality, but sadly things often do not always work out as expected.
One of the sayings in the professional 'field' is that 'if it is not written within the Will it will not happen', so if the bank account number is not documented within the Will then sadly it may not be paid to the WHW.
Andie's OH.

Spot on. Where I work, the wills and LPA's are kept secure and away from client files.
Ref your earlier post, #34, we have wills from 2 other defunct local practices in our secure storage. Clients were notified, but a good number had either passed away or made new wills in the years since making those we were sent. Nightmare...

In line with SRA good practice, we ensure all paper client files are destroyed after 6 years, private client (probate) are kept for 10 years. Clients are notified this at the outset.

 

[Andie02]

Thank you for your comments, it is appreciated @The Xmas Furry.
OH has Will's stored professionally should clients want to use that facility, as he works from home. Will's are then registered so that they can be found.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

If the Bank Account is not specifically 'gifted' in the Will it could be considered part of the residual estate. Just because the Solicitor has a record of this account on hs 'file' , it may be overlooked and the funds not go to the WHW. Whereas if a specified gift within a Will , it cannot. Often the Solicitors will store the Wills in a separate facility to their normal paper files.
I appreciate that this may appear 'nit picking' / fine line technicality, but sadly things often do not always work out as expected.
One of the sayings in the professional 'field' is that 'if it is not written within the Will it will not happen', so if the bank account number is not documented within the Will then sadly it may not be paid to the WHW.
Andie's OH.

it is documented in the will the bank the sort code and the account details

 

[Overstone stud]

In my mothers estate the a solicitor was named as executor and the firm was sold to another company and he died and his wife was his benificary and I needed her signature on a document that was part of the legal process and she refused to sign as she did not know what liability was invoved. Nightmare

 

[The Xmas Furry]

In my mothers estate the a solicitor was named as executor and the firm was sold to another company and he died and his wife was his benificary and I needed her signature on a document that was part of the legal process and she refused to sign as she did not know what liability was invoved. Nightmare

This is when a will needs to be properly executed in the 1st place, no individual solicitor should be named but the company, which would have saved you lots of strife x

 

[poiuytrewq]

It’s a horrible thing to have to consider but having known someone that was left horses that they didn’t really want (they still have them years on) I’d not really want to do that. Mine are not valuable or easy to rehome types. I think all would be pts in all honesty. Maybe with the exception of the tiny pony. He’s a useful companion and it would be a shame to put him to sleep as he’s totally healthy. I think however Mr P or my daughter would keep him. He’s easy.
The big 3 there are maybe a person each I’d trust and be happy for them to go to, I’m not sure they would want them though and it would be an awkward thing to ask as I suspect it wound be a big ask.

 

[Andie02]

This is when a will needs to be properly executed in the 1st place, no individual solicitor should be named but the company, which would have saved you lots of strife x

Yes this ....... but then company's can sell up and the Wills often not traced.
It is advisable to appoint family members as executors / trustees, then they can instruct a solicitor firm / professional, if necessary to complete the probate / estate administration. Also if you appoint a solicitor firm as executors, they can and do sometimes prevent family members from gaining access to the deceased persons' property, ( if that person is the sole survivor in the property) until they have completed the assessment of the estate. It has been known that family members have not been allowed into a property without executor supervision, and also not even allowed to get suitable clothing for the deceased for the funeral. At least if family members are appointed even if they employ a professional firm to complete the estate administration it can save some stress. Family appointed executors can also complete some minor matters, if they wish, reducing administration costs, which can be several hundreds of pounds in savings.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Yes this ....... but then company's can sell up and the Wills often not traced.
It is advisable to appoint family members as executors / trustees, then they can instruct a solicitor firm / professional, if necessary to complete the probate / estate administration. Also if you appoint a solicitor firm as executors, they can and do sometimes prevent family members from gaining access to the deceased persons' property, ( if that person is the sole survivor in the property) until they have completed the assessment of the estate. It has been known that family members have not been allowed into a property without executor supervision, and also not even allowed to get suitable clothing for the deceased for the funeral. At least if family members are appointed even if they employ a professional firm to complete the estate administration it can save some stress. Family appointed executors can also complete some minor matters, if they wish, reducing administration costs, which can be several hundreds of pounds in savings.

If a company sells up, then regulations apply to any securely held documents. The SRA will instruct another local firm to take them, signposting is also done online and the closing firm has to notify the clients by post. If it's a firm that's been closed by the SRA then the receiving firm has to notify the clients. It's all set out in the regulations. Having been involved in the latter 4 years ago in having to client notify after the SRA removed practice cert from another local company, I'm quite familiar with due process on this.

 

[Andie02]

@The Xmas Furry yes OH is fully aware of what you have posted. He does get regular requests for Will searches come through from Searching companies for missing Wills even as recent as last year.
He knows of a Solicitor firm closing down, builders went in several months later, and found all their stored Wills in the damp cellar, this was 8 yrs ago. He got this info 1st hand from the builder.

 

[Andie02]

Frightening isn't it ?!