To say getting married to protect your finance is a joke

Ah sorry if I missed that dc are adults

Also the fact that he would have presumably supported them with maintenance had he not become ill and passed away.

Yes, you can sever unilaterally , but the presumed 50:50 split of share in the property can be set aside or adjusted by the cout on equitable grounds if there is evidence of the presumption being wrong.

I think it’s more your kids you should be worried about and if necessary contesting the will on their behalf. He’s a bellend if he has not considered them at all and left everything to new partner.

agreed. It’s a clear claim under the dependents act.

you would get what you would have been entitled to under a divorce.

you get 50% of the house anyway as that is your share. Plus argue that the other 50% is claimable towards you /your daughter’s child support depending on how other assets like pension are divided.

What a shocking sequence of events.
This isn’t true aboutbdidinheriting you and I know that as my friends husband just died and didn’t mention her in the will so we were looking into it.

See a lawyer straightaway. I think there has to be minimum 43 day wait between date of degree nisi and degree absolute ( final order). You need to do your best to get the financial order sorted out as part of final.order. . You are still legal married until decree absolute/ final order is made so if he's only got 2 weeks to live he may not live long enough.. H may not have capacity for some of the decisions he is making if for example he has made a new will in favour of his new partner before any divorce is finalised. .

You might still have a claim against his estate under inheritance provisions if no finanical order or final order has been made and if inadequate provision has been made.

Seems like you have grounds to contest, unless you are much better off than him then it’s worth trying. Definitely advise the pension company and hope you get half or more of that.

How is this even possible?

Surely every man would do this?

I assumed that being married meant everything was 50/50 in the event of a divorce.

This is crazy.

How long have you been separated?

If it’s years, then you may not have as much of a say but if it’s a few weeks/months then I would absolutely contest it and suggest that the illness made me act out of character before he even knew what was wrong with him and the new woman took advantage of this.

I understand you might not get everything but surely 50/50 at the least.

His will, made after being given 2 weeks to live, won't be valid
When working for a firm of solicitors I saw every one of these overturned because the legator was clearly 'not of sound mind'

You need to consult a good solicitor. They will know what you can or can’t do, and what’s realistic. 🌺

OP, I am so sorry for all the troubles you are going through at the moment. Words fail me about what he has/is doing. Some men just think with their genital appendages.

I hope you get the strength to fight this as it's both morally and financially right that you are provided for as his wife (currently).

England must be one of the very few jurisdictions where a spouse can be disinherited with is no automatic redress in the Inheritance laws. Bit by bit the institution of marriage is being chipped away (as I see it), so more and more there is little point, some yes, but with the proposed co habitants laws on the horizon, one would wonder what's the point?

In order to obtain any redress in your situation, a litigant has to spend a fortune on legal fees, which negates the result considerably in many cases.

Gird your loins OP and go for broke anyway. Not much to lose here in the end.

I would say it’s your daughter who is in the best position to contest the will or make any claims. Is there a previous will which does
mention her, or had he previously had her as a beneficiary on his expression of wishes for his pension? If so I think that will be a bit of a help.

Personally I think he sounds awful, and if the new girlfriend is happy to leave the daughter with nothing, or less than she deserves, then she is awful too.

OP DH of 20 yrs from whom she is separated and going through divorce proceeding and who is terminally ill must leave her "concerned with" many things.
Being concerned about financial matters in such a complex situation doesnt mean the OP isn't feeling complicated emotions and anticipatory grief or that she isnt worried about others including her stbx .
Those things aren't mutually exclusive.

I think we’re broadly in agreement but looking at it from different angles. My point being, if OP has sufficient equity in her house that it can be sold, proceeds divided in two and OP’s half is sufficient to buy her a reasonable home outright, the chances of the will being overridden are slim. If however OP’s share of the equity won’t house her adequately, then she may have a claim under reasonable provision.

I am really sorry for the position in which you find yourself. I would definitely seek high quality legal advice. On the pension aspect, it may be they need to consider your DD, e.g. in my Civil Service pension, children receive money until 18, with an extension until age 23 if they are in full time education and may be entitled to a pension for life if they are disabled.

I agree yet women still expect a man to support them financially, the answer is to not get married and have seperate finances, also each to have your own property so.if you split you each have somewhere to live, the biggest problem is that a lot of women expect either not to work or work part time and expect the husband to work full time, the reality is expecting your husband to be responsible for your financial security is madness, a lot of men get fed up that they work full time until they retire and pay for everything and some women either do not work or continue working part time when kids get older,

Im hoping youre wrong OP. You dont know what his will says, if anything. If DD is in communication with the new woman id ask if she knows anything.
This must be be very hard for DD. Her father is dying, regardless of his incredibly poor behaviour recently. That must be very difficult

It is relevant if there's a will, as that can only be overridden to the extent reasonable financial provision has not been made, which will be judged by analogy with divorce settlement. Doesn't matter if the other person doesn't need to be provided for. The testator gets to choose, what to do with the remainder of their estate.

You also can't totally disinherit your wife and children here either. One small positive to living here

The thing with "you will get at least as much as if you'd divorced" is that likely isn't the whole house plus whole pension, car etc. With one adult child is it realistically likely to be more than 1/2 a share of the marital assets, which the OP may well have? The difference is that the OW has the husband's share and not him (assuming that's what the will says).

The DD would have her own claim if financially dependent on him but it sounds like she isn't?

Sorry OP. The marriage has protected you up to a point but a split is always going to be costly.

I agree there's more chance of claiming the pension as the expression of wishes is not binding, but the will is, subject to reasonable financial provision.

What would, or wouldn’t have happened on divorce is irrelevant here. Primarily, because when financial settlement on divorce is agreed, it has the objective of ensuring two people are adequately provided for. That’s no longer the case because OP’s ex won’t be needing to be financially secure.

He may have done this so that he can leave his half to his daughter/children not necessarily his new partner. Thus securing their inheritance should you remarry etc. Awkward I know but could you just ask if this is the case?

Did that sound profound and wise to the 15 year old in your head who never had to drive their own life or pay a bill?

That's all he's concerned with as well and only a very rich person or an idiot wouldn't worry about finances after losing a spouse or serious life partner, by divorce or death. Especially in a situation like this where she's about to lose half the house she used to own entirely to her husband's mistress. Honestly, did you pay any attention at all?