Can I make provision for my children?
Yes. ‘Children’, however, by legal
definition, are your natural children, including illegitimate, plus any that you have legally adopted. Stepchildren are not included in this definition so, if you wish them to be provided for, they will need to be mentioned by name.
If you have children at the moment and wish to include others not yet born then the Will may include the words... ‘and any other children of mine not yet born’
If you don’t have any children at present but wish to include the possibility, then again this can be done, however, it is wise to draft such wording carefully in case at the time of your death you don’t have any children.
Where a child has a lifetime disability and the parents understandably want to make sure the child would be provided for on their deaths, they can pass an inheritance directly to the child through a will. However this may have unwanted effects that may need consideration such as, if the child is in receipt of any means tested benefit this may be stopped should the inheritance be over the means test limit at the time. There are robust methods of providing for a disabled child which we’ll discuss in an upcoming article in this Q&A
