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.

Hopefully he’s done the right thing and left everything to his DD.

Shame on him if he hasn’t.

Definitely fight for what is yours and DD, don’t give anything away to his last minute fling - she deserves nothing.

i don’t think so, when she was looking for a flat, she asked her dad to be a guarantor for her and he refused

Are you completely divorced yet? As in it being final and financial settled?

You and your daughter should absolutely contest that will

No the divorce is not final.

Well that seems incredibly unfair from the Ops position. Like I said, she could have fought for a higher share, his pension etc but because hes made a will thats it??

What's the point in marriage then because it clearly hasn't protected the OP. A will becomes invalid ON marriage so how can it be valid pre divorce? Can't wrap my head around that.

I hope you and/or your daughter manage to salvage something back when he passes.

Hence my original point, what is the point when it can just be taken from under you

Oddly, it’s most commonly used in a second marriage where there’s a shared property and one partner wants to make sure that in the event of their death their share is left to their children from a previous marriage rather than their current partner.

Well, that was your first mistake.

Thanks

You can’t will your pension, you can make an expression of wish. It’s not legally binding and the pension company’s trustee have full discretion over who to pay it too.

They will review all circumstances and will not automatically pay it as per his expression of wish. As it was a long marriage, the pension company may pay it to you as his widow.

Contact the pension company upon his death, as a matter of urgency.

Is the illness affecting his judgment, if not what a complete cunt he is.

Iv not spoken to him since march and he was falling in and out of consciousness yesterday so Iv no idea if or how his judgement may be impaired. Love bombing a new girlfriend is not unheard of.
being total twat with your daughter is common, so how would you tell

Is your share - as a tenant in common - 50% or is it more? I have no idea how the arithmetic works when ownership reverts from joint (you both own 100% between you) to common (you each own a share separately).

I expect the automatic reversion is to 50/50 but it may be feasible to alter that if you paid more in. See a solicitor about this pronto!

OP if someone you are married to dies and doesn’t leave you anything in their will, under English law you can contest it and normally expect to receive at least as much as you would have got in a divorce. You probably have grounds to contest, your daughter likely doesn’t unless he was supporting her or he isn’t of sound mind or was coerced. Adult children are not generally entitled to anything their parents don’t want to leave them.

I’m glad you’re going to see a solicitor. And I’m sorry for all the strife this has caused you.

I'm so sorry OP. This sounds absolutely shit for you and DD. Are you able to access legal advice?

If you already owned the house, and have put more money into it due to your inheritance, then I really think you need to speak to a solicitor to find out whether you can claim more than 50% of the value. There's also pensions to consider.
Go and get some legal advice.

Adult children can be entitled to reasonable financial provision. It depends on their circumstances and what they could reasonably have expected from the parent.

OP, some really good, plain language explanations of this:

Sorry, previous post wouldn’t let me upload the link for whatever reason

https://www.forbessolicitors.co.uk/articles/adult-children-can-you-still-claim-under-the-inheritance-act

He cannot leave your half of the house in his Will.

I hope you have your own legal advice. Don’t do anything to hasten the divorce process.

I agree: marriage is not always the best route to security, especially if you enter it with a significant asset of your own.

When he dies, don't pay a penny towards his funeral.

If he is at the end of his life and not conscious some of the time, he might not have had mental capacity to make decisions or could be influenced unjustly by his new GF.

Contest the will. Get legal advice now.

You're still thinking of Scottish law where the spouse is automaticaly entitled to inherit 50% and children share the rest.
This does not apply in England.

If your 19 year old moves back in will that help her contest the will? As she is then housed in the family home?

I would ask the solicitor this.

How long have you been separated? Cannot imagine leaving everything to my partner of 5 minutes and not my child.

It’s actually much easier for a spouse to contest a will. DD would have to prove she was financially dependant on her father. A spouse is entitled to ‘reasonable provision’ which the courts in multiple cases have found to be the amount that person would have got on divorce.

Of course, if the OP is much better off than her husband, she would have got only what she currently has (or less if she had to pay him) on divorce and won’t be able to claim but it’s worth a look (and don’t forget to take the value of the pension into account - some are worth more than the equity in a mortgaged house).

She can challenge the will. It’s actually fairly easy for a spouse to do as the law says ‘reasonable financial provision’ which all the case law says is the same amount as she would have got on divorce.

Everything you hear about it being almost impossible to challenge a will is true except for a spouse where it’s usually fairly easy.