I find it difficult convincing my partner that it’s crucial to draft a will together. His point of view is that in the event of death for either of us, all the assets would naturally go to the surviving spouse, hence he sees no relevance in making a will.
Our circumstances have changed recently with the addition of a baby to our family, making it more vital for us to organise our affairs, but I’m at loss on how to persuade him. Could you provide some advice?
Ms D.D.
It is absolutely absurd and fallacious to think like this.
Creating a will these days isn’t all that expensive – it’s almost the equivalent of the price tag on an average wedding gift. If you have got your assets figured out and know how you want to distribute them in case of an unfortunate event, it’s a matter of no time to get your will drafted. Any efficient solicitor could do this seamlessly especially if your financial and personal matters aren’t too complex.
Ironically, people invest more time in planning a fun weekend with friends for a game than on life matters that affect their loved ones when unexpected death happens. It’s baffling.
Your husband’s approach is quite common and it is understandable – most people wish their possessions fall to their spouse in case they pass away first. However, without investing a small amount of time to formalise this in a will, their affairs would be dealt with according to the rules of intestacy under the Succession Act.
Given your current circumstance, if one of you were to pass away without a will, the surviving spouse won’t automatically “inherit everything”. Since your child, and any future siblings, have legal entitlement to a third of the inherited parent’s estate.
However, most parents only plan for their kids in their will after the demise of both parents. This isn’t the case if you die intestate. If his wishes are for everything to go to you, he should state that in a will. Similarly, you should do the same. Nevertheless, the division of assets should be your sole decision, not his.
His belief that everything would automatically be yours in case of his death held some weight before the birth of your child. However, since your baby’s arrival, this is no longer the case.
Should he choose not to prepare a will, in a tragic event where he passes away, it might add to your emotional pain by causing unwarranted complications. This act might come across as unthinking and unkind.
For what it’s worth, there’s no need for him to create a will jointly with you, nor for you to do so with him. Some individuals do create combined wills; however, it isn’t a necessity. Regardless of his decision, you should prioritise creating a personal will to ensure your estate is accounted for if an unfortunate event were to occur suddenly. Make it a habit to revisit it every half a decade or so.
There’s no obligatory requirement for you to edit your will each time you go through it. Instead, use these reviews as an opportunity to confirm that your will is still accurate – for instance if the possessions you’re planning to bequeath are still owned by you, or if the beneficiaries you want to bequeath assets to are alive.
Regarding your query about the PTSB odd-lot offer, should you keep your 45 PTSB shares or should you offload them? The 45 shares you currently own have a worth of €78.30 under the odd-lot offer. Under this offer, PTSB is buying back shares from investors who have small holdings in the bank, specifically anyone with less than 100 shares.
You haven’t specified how you originally acquired these shares. Some shares might have been complimentary when Irish Life & Permanent first hit the stock market, some might have been an employee bonus, or you might have just bought them.
In any case, unless you have a sentimental attachment to these shares, it’s improbable that they will ever rebound to the rates they were traded before the financial crisis, especially considering that your 45 shares would have been equivalent to 4,500 shares in the banking entity prior to the 2015 share consolidation.
If you consider broker fees when selling, you might not have much to gain.
As for bequeathing them to your son? He would face the same issues with the costs of potential sale and will be responsible for a 1% stamp duty upon transferring the shares in his name.
If you believe the stocks are a worthwhile investment and he has the potential to profit from them in the future, that’s agreeable. Otherwise, it may be wise to discontinue the investment, allowing him to navigate his own financial decisions when he feels the moment is right. Should you wish to retain the shares on his behalf, you are to officially inform PTSB by Friday noon.
Concerning the possible buyback of the deceased father’s shares by PTSB, questions around tax implications tend to arise. It may seem like the unusual share buyback from PTSB might lead to a capital gains tax loss, but this isn’t the case for the majority of the shareowners. Capital gains tax loss usually occurs when shares are sold for less than their purchase price. Nonetheless, numerous shareholders did not essentially buy these shares but instead received them at no cost during the demutualisation of the Irish Life & Permanent building society. Despite the shares’ present value being a fraction of their former worth, their value is greater than the zero most shareholders initially invested.
Nonetheless, if you’ve paid more than €1.74 per share since 2015 or more than €0.0174 per share prior to that, you would unfortunately incur a capital gains loss. But otherwise, you will not.