How can my stepdaughter protect inherited assets before marriage in the UK?

[Edini]

Hi all, I was hoping some people here might be able to provide some guidance or point me to where we can get it.

We do not live in and aren’t from the UK, however my step-daughter is 25 and lives in London.
Several years ago her mother sadly died and she inherited a significant amount of money. She has been very careful with it, but as her mother’s death was fairly quick there was no protections put in place.
She moved to the UK a year after her mother died, completed her masters, spent a short time on a graduate visa and is now on a skilled worker visa.
She has decided to buy a flat in central London, it is worth a high amount (£1.3million), but this is what she wants, it is ultimately her money and she can afford it.
She is also in a long term relationship.

What we (her father and I) are wondering is if she did get married how do we protect her assets, both the property and her savings/investments. She is careful with money but I do understand that her situation could make her attractive to the wrong type of man, and even with the right man marriage/divorce can get very mean.

What are the options in the UK to protect her? Is there somewhere we can get advice on this? Or somewhere we can direct her for advice?

AIBU to think we should start thinking about how she will protect her assets now?

Proper legal advice. She could get a cohabitation agreement if living together unmarried and a will.

Not legally binding in the UK, but I think some judges will consider them or take them into account, especially with inherited wealth.

Simple write a will. She can legally give her money to who she likes after she dies.
Before. Pre nup. Now legally enforceable in the UK.

Or do what a successful footballer did...he put everything in his mum's name. Wife divorced him after 18 months and found he's got nothing!

It's not the only thing she can do?

She could put her assets into a trust or a limited company. She should seek legal advice about doing so.

'Hurt the family name'? That's preposterous. You should explain that the family name would be worse off if she had to give half her mum's money to some bloke just because of 'doctrine'.

There's only a limited amount that can be done to protect pre marriage assets and the protections become weaker the longer the marriage lasts. A pre nup after 10 years of marriage and 2 kids won't be worth much. And that's how it should be - imagine a man trying to protect his assets during a divorce from the mother of his children. Wouldn't be looked very favourably on I'd imagine.

To truly protect her assets, she needs to not get married. But the bottom line is that money isn't everything in life. Your stepdaughter could be well apprised of all the risks and still want marriage, because that is simply something that many people want in their lifetime, it's a normal desire. When you are as wealthy as her it will almost always carry financial risk but she may well want to take that chance regardless in order to live the life she wants, which is probably what her mother would have wanted for her in the end.

I would advise her to marry someone with similar assets or don't marry at all.

Her grandmother can say whatever she wants, but in the UK - where your dsd lives now - being unmarried isn't remotely shameful, nor does it dishonour the family name 🙄

My own dd stands to inherit a significant amount. I would also want to help her protect these assets. In fact, I am of the belief that premarital assets should not be part of any divorce settlement, but unfortunately it isn't the case in the UK.

I would definitely seek appropriate legal advice though.

Good idea! It will be money well Spent!

Why all the advice to get married? Is it likely this girls late mother would have wanted her daughter to not marry because she had the misfortune of losing her mother young?

Advise her to seek the advice of a UK solicitor now, it would be wise to understand not only the options/implications of marriage but also of long term cohabitation.

The court can still make orders in respect of assets placed in such vehicles if they are matrimonial - e.g. if the intention is to live in this property as the mat home. This is why a pre nup is the best option and no good family solicitor would advise someone to place assets in trusts/a limited company instead of doing this. Yes as I said she should take legal advice.

Clue... it's not real!

I wouldn't marry someone who protected their assets from me. I would feel like they thought I was after their money. It isn't romantic. Not saying she shouldn't protect her assets but it does set a tone.

Don’t get married and don’t put his name on the house.

if she married marry someone financially equal. For women marriage is financial protection for having kids, it’s no longer socially or morally necessary. So if getting married puts her at a financial disadvantage don’t fucking do it!!!

I had nothing near that amount of money but my seemingly nice bf turned into an abusive arsehole the second we were married and tried to take half my house when I left. I only got to keep it because the marriage was incredibly short and I could show I’d been paying for it myself without his help solidly for the 15 month marriage including two maternity leaves using all my savings while he contributed nothing. It still cost me all my equity fighting him over it and I had to agree not to go for his pension in return for the house. He then doesnt have the kids and has fucked my earning potential and ability to build my own pension. One of my children is disabled. I regret getting married with such a passion. I would marry again but only someone equal to me financially current partner has no property or savings but has a very good salary and pension which I consider equal but still I won’t do it for many years before I trust he’s not after my house

Don't get married

Get legal advice.

So if you had £1million, got married, it didn't work and you quickly got divorced, you'd be totally happy to hand a big chunk of that money to your ex?

My understanding is that it would be very hard to protect the flat if they are going to live in it as by making it the marital home it becomes marital property and a prenup provision that leaves her spouse homeless while keeping her in a 1.3m home will likely be disregarded. But I am not a lawyer and someone trying to understand the ramifications of marriage and how to protect significant assets needs advice from a lawyer who understand her situation fully - not randoms on MN. This cheapskate approach to managing significant assets is a really poor one, it's disheartening that you're even asking really.

There is no way round it in the UK. Her parents should have put their assets into a bloodline trust, that's the only way to protect assets from future divorce in the UK, so only the bloodline inherit and can't be claimed by any husband. The only way round it now is to not get married and keep her assets in her name only, this is because married couples are one single financial entity in the UK. Plenty of couples stay single for this reason.

Marriage isn't romantic. It's a legal contract.

I don't see how this is your business or decision making ....
If she is not grown enough to have a serious relationship with a man and spend her money as she sees fit, she shouldn't look for a man

I actually read your post a little bit like that: what could happens if she married and dies and this fucker gets the money but not me, through her father

Pre-nups dont mean much in the UK. You could get one but no guarantees

She should use some money to get contract law advice

Why is she getting married if she is keen to protect her wealth from her husband? There is an element of sharing in UK marriage. She's better off living with her partner if it's important to keep her own money.

Get a good lawyer OP.

Do not depend on Mumsnet for legal advice. Everyone will tell you something different...