Would you expect your spouse to share their wealth with you

[JollyQuail]

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.

If I for instance inherited a substantial amount, or any amount, I would consider that our money. To better our lives, new house, holiday, savings, kids savings etc. I would never dream of keeping it just for me, I would use it to benefit my spouse and children too

I would expect half because if it was the other way around I would be happy to give half. All in or all out.

I'm not sure why you would want to get married for a second time if you.didnt want to fully unite. I do understand wanting to keep my wealth for my kids, so I would never remarry, there would be no need for it.

And if you are marrying for a first time looking to build a family together, than yes, I think you should be all in as a team.

Unless absurdly wealthy and feeling need to protect themselves with a prenup, I would definitely expect them to share.

Simple. I would expect to share future income. Not previous assets.

In the sense that I'd expect them to contribute proportionally more to things like bills and holidays, yes.

What would you want/expect if your circumstances were reversed?

I wouldn't add someone else to my house deeds or give them free access to my bank account when I had more money than them. So I wouldn't expect someone to do that for me.
I believe in everything that you both use/benefit from is 50-50, but money/assets separate. If one has more money then they can choose to share it, but it's not a given. If you know what I mean.
I don't want to take money off someone if we split, and I don't want to give any to them in that event either.
But I don't believe in traditional legal marriage (for me personally). So I might be a bit different to many.

Yes. We are married - a legal contract which entails sharing assets. Besides, last time I looked the marriage service in the UK still called upon the spouses to endow each other with all their worldly goods.
I and my late DH shared our assets equally. One of us started off with more than the other. Since we shared the wealth we ended up much better off than had we not shared it.

I think assets before marriage are fine to be kept separate.
Assets gained after marriage split 50/50.

Although if the less wealthy partner is the woman and she is going to be having children and taking maternity leave or time off work and also supporting the man in his career then it would be fair to include in the agreement a cash sum she gets at the end of the relationship.

I don't believe that marriage automatically means access to prior assets, but I do think that one partner shouldn't be left vulnerable in the case of a split.

I thought OP said 'spouse' - which means the couple are married. My late DH and I had no DC in common (each of us had DC) but we shared our assets equally - it's a marriage and that entails sharing everything.

I’ll be getting a pre nup. I’ve put down over 50% deposit for my house so if my partner doesn’t respect that I want to save that then he wouldn’t be my partner. Anything else I’d share but not That.

Yes. Why would we be married otherwise?

All income should be shared as a family while you're married. But but assets from previous income not.

Once you're not still a family, ie married and living together, income from previous assets (ie investments, if your'e rich enough to have them) should only go to the people involved when those income-earning assets were built; that is, the past wife and their children. I mean that income from invested assets should only be shared as long as you're together, but income from invested assets should only be shared if the assets themselves were earned and built while you were together.

I have literally just had this argument with DH, who, partly from our views on this point, is about to become my ex. The assets we built will be ours, as will be the income from them. The income he earns after we divorce he can share as he wishes. Assuming I don't kill him first and end up in jail

I am in my 40s, no kids, and would not share pre-marital assets, no. I would want to protect myself in the case of a split. I would be happy to combine assets / share future earnings but would not put myself at risk of losing what I have built (equity in home and pension) if I needed to leave the marriage. It's very well to say you shouldn't be marrying if you have any doubts but nearly half all marriages end in divorce and you can't guarantee what will happen.

This is a different point from living completely different lifestyles. I wouldn't let that happen but think it's a less common scenario for a woman to need to consider (because men tend to earn more).

Sorry, that post got a bit messy because I have literally (like, in the past hour) just had this argument with my soon-to-be-(deservedly)-ex. The point is, income from assets we created while we were together should entirely go to us in equal parts plus our children. And our argument was about where the income-generating assets will go in our wills, once we are divorced. Any income from assets he builds and any income he earns after we divorce can go to whoever the f he wants, as will any assets or income I build after we divorce.

I have BTL's and they are all in my sole name. I don't see why you'd need to put his name on them after marriage, but I don't know how they would be legally split in the event of a divorce. If they are classed as your business, they might be ok, but not sure how it works.

Do you have concerns about something in particular with your partner?

BTL and joint accounts - no, I wouldn't expect it. But I would expect us to be able to live in an equal way - not find I'm struggling for money whilst he's constantly buying luxury goods and jetting off on holidays.

Marital home - definitely would. Although if you're married would it matter if you weren't on it in the event of divorce?

My DH and I met later in life and haven't combined much financially. He's got kids from a previous marriage and it's just easier not to. But we do live equally.

For love perhaps.

There are so many questions! How long have you been married for? Do you have children together? When did your money start coming in in terms of your marriage?

I think it depends on age and where you are in life. If you were starting to build a life together, then i would say it should all be shared. If you have worked for 20 years already to get what you've got, maybe keep some ringfenced.

Twenty years ago if I were to marry I would assume assets ought to be shared. This is how my parents and grandparents treated finances. My grandmothers didn't work once married so to that end their spouses were considerably wealthier than them as they didn't have an income. They brought other things to the table beside income to keep the house running and the kids fed.

But now, having invested 20 years into saving and getting a mortgage, if I had to sell up and split the proceeds with someone that would put me and my children at risk of losing the roof over our heads as I wouldn't be able to afford another home with enough bedrooms for half the money.

@JollyQuail in your case id speak to a solicitor and see if there are/ what are the ways to ring fence/ structure your assets so they are not impacted by a divorce.

Yes but then we were never really wealthy! He has state and work based pension we never count his PT earnings he can do with that what he wants!

Totally shared here.
He is worth far more than me and I offered a pre nup several times, but he wouldn't hear of it.

An oddly romantic sentiment. Although linked to love, marriage is fundamentally a legal contract. To both sign the legal document and opt-out of core elements of the legal document seems silly.

If formalizing your love is your aim, you can have a commitment ceremony and a party and save yourself a bunch of lawyers fees by not getting married.