To say getting married to protect your finance is a joke

[bebanjo]

Been married 20 years house fully paid for. He’s divorcing me, his moved in with new partner. He’s severed the joint tenants, refuses mediation now has about 2 weeks to live.

OP doesn’t have to sign anything. Stop posting stuff when you don’t actually know.

So i can just go sever mine without informing my ex or getting him to sign anything??

Any one that thinks you need to sign or give consent regarding severing the joint tenants. Just look it up.

No, you do need to inform the other owner. You do not need their consent though. You can do it, and that’s it.

I thing you just have to have some proof that they have been notified in writing, so signed for post would work.

You can't do it in Scotland, hence my comments. That's a pretty piss poor property law!!! Another reason I am glad I am here.

OP is right. It’s a unilateral act. Surely common sense tells you this. It makes no sense for it to be something that requires agreement on both sides.

This happened to my mum OP. Dad died before they divorced, mum had to sell the marital home and hand over half the proceeds to the mistress, it was horrific. Mum spent two years contesting it, but ultimately, he could leave his share to whoever he wanted. Dad had written to his pension trustees requesting the mistress received half of his pension, thankfully, they didn’t agree to that as he and mum had been married 30 years and mum was a SAHM bringing up Dsis and I, so had no provision of her own. The mistress was of 6 months so the trustees simply refused - that was something at least. I’m so sorry you’re in this position though, it was a very stressful time for the whole family.

In Scotland, it isn’t even called joint tenants or tenants in common. I’m Scottish, never lived in England but I still knew exactly what OP was talking about because it’s general knowledge and not a secret.

This. It just has to be delivered by recorded post to the last know abode or place of business of the person you’re serving the notice to.

Omg this is just awful OP I am so sorry, what a horrible time for you. I never knew about the severing joint tenancy, ai just looked it up, how awful that this is allowed without agreement from both parties. For others wanting to know this is what I googled (I know you can use google too) but honestly this should be spelled out as it leaves people unprotected in situations such as yours
You can sever a joint tenancy without the other party's agreement. 1, 2]
Under English property law, turning a joint tenancy into a tenancy in common is a unilateral right, meaning only one owner needs to decide to make the change. The other co-owner cannot stop you from doing it, and their consent is not required. 1, 2, 3, 4]
How Unilateral Severance Works

• Serve a written notice: You must prepare a formal Notice of Severance and properly serve it to the other joint owner. Proper service means handing it to them personally, leaving it at their last known address, or sending it by registered/recorded post. 1, 2, 3]
• No change to legal title: The names on the deeds at HM Land Registry remain joint, but the beneficial (equitable) interest changes to a tenancy in common, usually split 50/50 unless specified otherwise. 1, 2]
• Update the register: You can apply to the HM Land Registry using Form SEV to add a Form A restriction, which protects your distinct share so it passes according to your will rather than automatically to the other owner. 1, 2, 3]

What is he dying from? Asking just incase he wasn’t of sound mind when he made the changes.

He has cancer in his spleen and liver and had kidney failure

That's what I was thinking, any chance can contest on this OP?

The real shit is, I bought the house, before we met, I had his name put on when we married, my inheritance from my dad paid it off. His done very little maintenance but DD had found out his done lodes of diy for her

Highly unlikely she’ll be able to argue he’s not of sound mind. More likely to be able to argue around pension and time she took off for child rearing, and possibly any mutually agreed support of DD into adulthood. DD herself might have a case to argue.

Well i stand by my comment that its a piss poor law, in divorce, the op is within her rights to request more than 50% of the marital property if she has reasonable cause.

So if he dies and he is still married to OP, as they will only just be at the 20nweeks mark and do the conditional/financials..... does his estate have to go by his will or does it still go to the OP by marital right.

I am genuinely curious......

And you owned the house prior to marriage, holy fuck..... what an absolute knob!!!!

It forms part of his estate and goes to whoever is indicated in his will. The state of the marriage doesn’t matter if joint tenancy has been severed.

What would, or wouldn’t, have been agreed in a divorce becomes irrelevant, because divorce didn’t happen. In some ways, that worked out for my mum, because she got to keep an inheritance from her dad which was in savings in her own name. The mistress tried to argue mum should hand half of that over too, because if they’d divorced, mum would have had to give dad half of that. Given they hadn’t divorced, she didn’t have a leg to stand on with that argument.

From ChatGPT

Serious illness can affect someone's mental state, particularly if they were already experiencing symptoms, taking certain medications, or having problems with their kidneys/liver. What matters legally is generally his mental capacity at the time he made the Will, rather than the fact that he subsequently became very ill.

@bebanjo if this year’s life changes were very out of character for him, I’d seriously consider the illness being a reason for this, and it could grounds for contesting the Will.

DD has a right to reasonable financial provision and can contest a will that doesn’t allow that.

well I shall leave and let her see the state it’s in and how much work needs doing. She can sell it. She spent 4 hours yesterday telling DD what an absolute star his been with all the work his done for her

OP, you can absolutely contest his will. She might end up with the car and some money, but there's no way she'll end up with his pension. I suspect that you will end up with the lion's share if you contest it, and you might end up with everything. There's a question about whether he's in his right mind, considering he's so ill, and whether he's been pressured by her. Add to that, I don't think a judge would take kindly at all to a longterm spouse with a child freezing the other spouse out like this. I think they're likely to award all or most of it to you, especially since it affects your child, too.

Thanks, but that could be difficult to prove. It would be much easier for DD to contest. That can’t be argued with.