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Would you expect your spouse to share their wealth with you

269 replies

JollyQuail · 10/01/2025 22:37

Just wondering, if your partner was considerably wealthier than you, would you expect him to share all his wealth with your after you’re married?

Name added to houses; joint bank accounts, name added to BTL properties.

I would feel very uneasy doing this.

OP posts:
MeganM3 · 10/01/2025 23:04

Pre nuptial and post nuptial agreements are not water tight. Not by a long shot.

Trolleysaregoodforemployment · 10/01/2025 23:03

JollyQuail · 10/01/2025 22:48

I’ve worked very hard, and received some good fortune.

Sharing isn’t an issue but to give half of it away doesn’t sit right with me.

No I would ring fence it. I would be generous with every day stuff but not assets acquired before the marriage. I would ensure they had a home for life, in the event of my death but ultimately it would pass to our children, if there are any.

MeganM3 · 10/01/2025 23:02

If it doesn't sit well, don't get formally married.
A marriage contract is a very big thing. It's a financial risk for some people. All the romance of a wedding distracts from that.

I'd never do it again. Not unless I had nothing to lose.

WorkSad · 10/01/2025 23:02

You're not "giving" your spouse half unless you divorce. You share. You share the profits from buy to lets, the holidays, the equity, the nice home and/or cars and the investment returns.

It's a bit Scrooge McDuck to sit grumpily on your piles of money on principle.

CheekyHobson · 10/01/2025 23:01

beetr00 · 10/01/2025 22:49

hope you threw him back @CheekyHobson

I most certainly did, and in a karmically pleasing turn of events, I am now more financially secure than he is.

beetr00 · 10/01/2025 23:00

JollyQuail · 10/01/2025 22:48

I’ve worked very hard, and received some good fortune.

Sharing isn’t an issue but to give half of it away doesn’t sit right with me.

Sharing is an issue for you @JollyQuail, they don't have to have access to all your assets at inception.

If you are already thinking and trying to pre-empt a future split then a prenup is sensible, does your partner agree?

"To make a prenup as watertight as possible, certain conditions must be met. Each party must enter into the agreement with full knowledge of their future spouses financial circumstances. A solicitor will evidence the information to a judge by way of an exchange of financial disclosure between the parties"

ParsnipPuree · 10/01/2025 22:59

So what's fair in a second marriage with children but no joint children, where the wealth was created by one party after the second marriage?

ClareBlue · 10/01/2025 22:59

Twitwootoo · 10/01/2025 22:55

if they are drawn up by a solicitor with both parties taking legal advice they are almost always upheld. However, I wouldn’t take the risk that they might not be

Not if children come along. No chance if there are children as a result of the marriage, which is how it should be.

Twitwootoo · 10/01/2025 22:58

MadnessIsMyMiddleName · 10/01/2025 22:53

If you're not prepared to share your good fortune OP, then from my experience you don't actually love your partner. Marriage is about sharing everything for the good of you BOTH. My advice would be to think very seriously about how much you REALLY care about your partner BEFORE you get married.

Even in a second marriage with children? I totally disagree. The children have to come before the partner in terms of finances

Bigearringsbigsmile · 10/01/2025 22:58

Yup

That's why I promised " with all my worldly goods I thee endow" when I got married.

I think the modern equivalent is " all that I have I share with you"

Basic tenet of marriage

Bodybutterblusher · 10/01/2025 22:57

I would understand that the main residence if mine, should be in both our names as otherwise they're not living in their own home. As a woman, I think we're more vulnerable and more falls to us in terms of caring tasks that limit our time and earning potential. So I would expect my husband, if I had one, to answer this question differently. I would not see the need to make extra homes in his name also. Whether I would be prepared to put all my wealth in a shared account would depend on what I knew of him and his approach to managing money and work. If he was going to give up working or buy extravagant toys for himself, I would instead try to give us both the same amount of disposable income. Responsibility for paying bills would be proportionate and take into account who is accruing greater earning potential as well as who is wealthier. I would have a pre nup so I knew there would be no drawn out divorce if things didn't work out.

Ponderingwindow · 10/01/2025 22:57

If someone had huge amounts of generational wealth, and we were both young and just starting our, I wouldn’t be opposed to a graduated prenup that increased the divorce settlement by length of marriage.

marriage is at its core a financial contract. The whole point is to share resources. At this stage in my life, I have built up resources with my DH. Those assets are to fund our retirement and to fund our child. If something happens to him, that goal doesn’t change. I could have another romantic relationship, but I couldn’t remarry, because I would then compromise the commitment we made together to take care of our financial future and our child’s financial future.

DH is my second marriage. It’s not like I am opposed to multiple marriages. It’s just that with my first we had no child and we did not build up assets. That lifetime commitment just didn’t kick in.

ClareBlue · 10/01/2025 22:56

JollyQuail · 10/01/2025 22:48

I’ve worked very hard, and received some good fortune.

Sharing isn’t an issue but to give half of it away doesn’t sit right with me.

Just live in a committed relationship, share and be generous, declare your love publicly, buy a house together equally if you want to, but keep your assets separate. If you have always wanted to be married then sharing assets comes with that. That's the deal.

etonmessedup · 10/01/2025 22:56

If this is how you feel, I'm not sure you should be getting married.

Is there something behind this like a lot of pre-marital assets you want to leave to existing children rather than new partner?

If I was your partner I'd assume you didn't plan to be married to me forever/that you didn't see me as an equal partner.

Twitwootoo · 10/01/2025 22:55

MadnessIsMyMiddleName · 10/01/2025 22:50

Not in the UK they don't, as they're not usually legal here.

if they are drawn up by a solicitor with both parties taking legal advice they are almost always upheld. However, I wouldn’t take the risk that they might not be

Loopytiles · 10/01/2025 22:55

You want to keep your assets? Don’t get married then.

BBQPete · 10/01/2025 22:54

CheekyHobson · 10/01/2025 22:44

If this is a second marriage with existing children, then I can understand that the wealthier partner would want to ring fence prior assets in order not to have their children’s inheritance split.

For a first marriage and no existing kids I would expect both partners to be “all in” (with the exception of both having a private “escape fund” that means they can afford to leave the relationship if it becomes abusive), and in both cases I would expect all wealth generated after the start of the relationship to be equally shared.

Anything else would be a deal-breaker for me.

This is what I was going to say.

Lifetime partners, - absolutely.

Very different if it were a widow(er) or divorcee with children and a reasonable expectation from the dc they would come into the assets built up by both their parent when they were together - then I don't think the 'new woman' or 'new man' should expect everything to be theirs, no.

SlipperyLizard · 10/01/2025 22:53

I earn a lot more than DH and share it happily with him, as we’ve been together 25 years and both started with very little.

No way would I marry again if anything happened to him/us, I wouldn’t risk my hard earned wealth going to anyone but my kids.

MadnessIsMyMiddleName · 10/01/2025 22:53

If you're not prepared to share your good fortune OP, then from my experience you don't actually love your partner. Marriage is about sharing everything for the good of you BOTH. My advice would be to think very seriously about how much you REALLY care about your partner BEFORE you get married.

ClareBlue · 10/01/2025 22:52

OP, why do you actually want to get married.

Beezknees · 10/01/2025 22:51

Stonefromthehenge · 10/01/2025 22:41

Would very much depend. A young couple, no children and planning to build a life and family together, yes absolutely.

Older couple getting together, with their own children to consider and a lifetime of assets, then, no. I would expect the lifestyle to be shared but not the assets.

This exactly for me

Beezknees · 10/01/2025 22:51

It would depend on circumstances. If you married and had children together then yes. If not then no.

I am single and have an older child, no plans to have more and if I met a partner now I wouldn't even want to share finances to be honest.

MadnessIsMyMiddleName · 10/01/2025 22:50

blubberball · 10/01/2025 22:38

People usually get a pre nup

Not in the UK they don't, as they're not usually legal here.

Lentilweaver · 10/01/2025 22:50

OP, best not to marry then.

ClareBlue · 10/01/2025 22:49

Don't get married then.

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