Bloodline Wills
Our team of Bloodline Wills Specialists can help you draft a plan that keeps your wealth in your family. With more complex family structures becoming increasingly common, having a bloodline trust ensures your wishes are respected.
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Having a valid will in place is essential if you want your assets to go to the right people when you die. However, even if you’ve named your children as beneficiaries in the will, there may be other people in line to inherit your estate.
This means you may wish to take further steps when drafting your will to ensure that all or part of your estate remains within the family for generations to come. Bloodline wills are specifically designed to structure the wealth you leave behind so that your direct descendants continue to benefit.
At Rowlinsons our estate planning team has extensive experience with helping clients plan for the future. We specialise in advising on the drafting of wills and can help you create a will that meets the needs of you and your family for years to come.
Our team includes some of the most prominent and renowned Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning Solicitors in Cheshire and members of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) further reflecting our technical know-how and legal expertise. Get in touch today to find out more.
‘Bloodline will’ is a broad term to define estate planning measures that seek to control or limit wealth passing to certain individuals, often a surviving spouse or civil partner. The aim is to ensure that only blood relatives of yours inherit your estate.
Drafting a bloodline will is a way to leave part or all of the estate to direct descendants. Instead of a straightforward gift to the surviving partner, assets are ringfenced inside a discretionary trust to protect them for the ultimate beneficiaries, usually children, grandchildren and so on.
You may assume your estate will eventually pass to your grandchildren but often this is not the case. Certain scenarios can affect this, particularly divorce. As assets are held within a trust, the beneficiary does not technically own them so funds cannot be taken in a divorce or by any other means.
This gives you the peace of mind that you are leaving a lasting legacy for your family.
When creating a bloodline will, you essentially set up a trust within a will. You will need to appoint trustees (which can include children or grandchildren) who will manage the money and assets after you're gone. The advantage is that trustees can decide when to release their inheritance.
This is useful in circumstances where beneficiaries may not want to inherit such as divorce or after bankruptcy, so the money can remain within the trust until the time is right.
It is important to note that the assets held within the trust must, in some way, support the beneficiaries in terms of health, education, maintenance, and/or support. This means you know exactly how your money will be used, and that it will be used to help your loved one, but it can be restrictive for the beneficiaries.
If you want to ensure that your share of the family home is passed down to your descendants you can change the type of joint ownership so that it does not pass to the remaining owner when you die.
The two kinds of ownership in England and Wales are joint tenants and tenants in common. With joint tenants, both parties have equal rights to the property but they cannot pass on their share of the property when they die. The other owner automatically inherits the property.
With tenants in common, both parties will own different shares of the property and can pass on their share in the will which does not automatically go to the other owner.
If you have joint tenancy, you can convert this to tenants in common to allow you to pass your share on to your child or grandchildren. The surviving spouse usually retains the right to stay in the property, but the trustees will control the property to protect the assets.
Typically, blended families look to have a bloodline will as things can easily become complicated when partners split up, remarry, and bring more children into the mix. If you want your descendants to inherit and guarantee that an ex-partner or their children don’t receive your family’s inheritance, setting up a bloodline trust in your will is the best way to do it.
The main goal is having control over the ultimate destination of assets but consideration should also be made for the needs of your surviving partner as they won’t have unlimited access to the inheritance.
Rowlinsons can help with ensuring that your assets are secured for future generations while your surviving spouse is taken care of. We understand your circumstances are unique which is why we take a tailored approach to estate planning especially when considering the needs of everyone set to benefit. Get in touch today for a no-obligation chat.
The circumstances surrounding your family and your estate can be complex, and setting up a bloodline will or trust often simplifies the process. If you want to make sure your wealth and assets stay in the family for generations to come, a bloodline will can help you achieve that even in more complex family structures.
Our Solicitors in Cheshire are based in Frodsham and Runcorn (Sutton Weaver). Rowlinsons’ team of Will Writing Solicitors has been helping clients across the region for decades, ensuring their estate is distributed according to their wishes. Our commitment to excellent client care is highlighted by the countless awards this team achieves on a yearly basis, such as a Commendation at the British WIlls and Probate Awards 2023.
We cover the Northwest region, including St Helens, Widnes, Warrington, Chester, and Northwich, as well as the whole of England and Wales.
Call us today for an initial no-obligation call, or click here for a callback. We also have meeting facilities in North Wales for family law clients.
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