Wills for blended families
A will that doesn't make you choose between your partner and your children.
Blended families are the case the legal sector retrofits. Off-the-shelf wills assume one set of children, one partner, one tidy line of inheritance. Real life is messier — and more interesting. We've built Velati specifically for the family you have, not the one a 1980s template imagined.
Built for
Children from previous relationships. New partner. New chapter.
Velati's questionnaire branches around your situation. The questions you'll answer — and skip — were designed specifically for blended families.
The reality
The trap most blended families fall into
If you leave everything to your new partner outright, trusting them to pass it on to your children later, the law cannot enforce that promise. Once it's theirs, it's theirs — they can rewrite their own will the next day, remarry, or have it absorbed into a new family entirely. Your children from a previous relationship can be left with nothing. The fix is a life-interest trust: your partner can live in the home and use the income for life, but on their death the asset passes to your children. Velati offers this as a guided option.
What Velati does for you
Three things, deliberately, well.
01
Provide for your partner — for life, not forever
A life-interest trust gives your partner the right to live in your home and benefit from your assets while alive. On their death, the underlying asset passes to your children. We explain it in plain English before you choose it.
02
Treat stepchildren explicitly
Stepchildren are not 'children' for the purposes of the anti-lapse rule (s.33 Wills Act 1837). If you want them treated equally with your biological children, the will has to say so — by name. We prompt you each time.
03
Document the reasoning
Where one child receives more than another, we capture a structured letter of wishes. Non-binding, but the canonical evidence courts look at if a 1975 Act claim is brought. It's the difference between 'they forgot me' and 'they thought about it carefully'.
A worked example
What your will actually says, in plain English.
Before you pay anything, Velati shows you this screen — your will, written so you can read it. This is a non-personalised example for blended families. Your real review will use your real names and decisions.
Plain-English review
Your will, in plain English
This is what your will actually does — written so you can read it without a lawyer.
For the will of
Maria Catherine O'Brien
Clause 01"My partner Asha lives in the house for as long as she wants."
We set up a life-interest trust over the property. Asha can live there for the rest of her life, or until she chooses to leave. She doesn't own it — but no one can move her out.
Clause 02"When Asha eventually dies or moves out, the house goes to my two children."
The underlying asset passes to your children Theo Khan and Mira Khan in equal shares. Asha cannot redirect it; her own will has no effect on this property.
Clause 03"My stepson Daniel is treated the same as Theo and Mira for the residue."
We name Daniel explicitly so the gift can't be challenged on the basis of 'stepchild'. The remaining estate is divided equally between all three.
You'll see this screen before you pay. Nothing is final until you've read it.
Common questions
Things people ask before they start.
Can my partner just rewrite their will after I die?
Yes — that's the central problem with leaving everything to a new partner outright. They are free to make a new will at any time. A life-interest trust solves it: the asset is ring-fenced for your children, regardless of what your partner does later.
Do my stepchildren inherit automatically?
No. Stepchildren have no automatic right to inherit, even if you've raised them since they were small. If you want them included, the will has to name them. They may also have a 1975 Act claim as a 'child of the family' — we screen for this and warn you if it applies.
What if my children and my new partner don't get along?
Velati is designed for exactly this case. We separate the structural decision (who benefits, when) from the emotional one (how you explain it). The letter of wishes is private to your family but admissible in court if anyone challenges the will.
Not quite your situation?
Read the page that fits you better.
Build a will for the whole family, not the convenient half.
Twenty minutes. £95. Done before bedtime.