What happens to inheritance during divorce?

[Flamingofox]

Hello,

I sadly lost my Dad 10 years ago and then my Mum a couple of years ago. I inherited quite a bit of money. At first I didn’t spend any then I decided to invest in my family home with my husband and kids, and bought new bathrooms, carpets, garden makeover, paid off some debt, some small holidays,
bought a dog, etc, the rest went into long term savings and short term savings. The latter has been substantially worn down as I’ve had to use it during the cost of living crisis to keep us afloat.

My husband and I have been having marital problems for years and years and I am close to asking for a divorce as I can’t take it anymore. He is making me ill and his behaviour is really impacting on the kids wellbeing.

My question is, if we divorce, what happens to the inheritance I’ve invested into the house and what happens to the inheritance in savings? Would I have a claim to more of the house because I’ve invested more? Would I have to give him any of the inheritance in savings? I would want to keep the house if possible as it is the kid’s home and would be less stressful for them to sell and move. It would feel very unfair and inequitable to have to split it all by half when the only reason I have had it is due to the loss of my Mum, whom he didn’t care about. He has both parents left and would inherit his own substantial amount of money in the future, which I wouldn’t be interested in.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thank you.

You should get legal advice but my understanding is that unless he agrees to take it into consideration when splitting assets, it’s all in the pot to be divided up as the home is a martial asset.

Sorry duplicate post.

If you have spent inheritance on the family it is seen as a marital asset.

If you have kept your 2nd inheritance ringfenced in savings it would usually be excluded.

This is England/Wales. Scotland has different rules.

It’s potentially all in the pot,
But it’s not always black and white as I discovered in my case where xH has kept most of his inheritance. We didn’t go to court, I may have been awarded more if we did, but it wasn’t worth it to me.

i think it depends on whether the pot without it is enough to meet each person's needs. Eg he will need somewhere big enough for the kids too assuming he will having them to stay over

Get inheritance deferred or variation deed. Think variations can be done after the death. You do not want to receive it before you divorce for obvious reasons.

She’s already received it…

I had to split my relatively small inheritance even though I hadn't even actually received it because the deceased estate hadn't finished going through probate.
My barrister seemed to think it's just luck on the day with the judge.
I don't think for a second judges give a shit about fairness, they just want you out of their courtroom and it's all so random, so don't count on anything but the feeling of being screwed over. (I'm a woman and my ex was much wealthy than I was & much greater earning power, we had no children together luckily)

I'm still reeling from this one. Lost my grandma and my dad within a year of each other and inherited money from both. Put it all in the marital home to reduce the mortgage payments. Sold the house to emigrate and bought a new house in the PNW. Now divorced and half the assets (eg proceeds from selling the marital home) go to him. I'm in the US, but it seems to be pretty much the same in the UK.

It’s only marital assets if you spend in on joint assets like upgrading - if you kept in in an account in your name it’s yours.

You need to consult a lawyer but I believe that the money invested in the house is marital property and the money in savings could go either way.

As you’re keen to keep the house, the savings may be helpful to buy out your h’s share of the property.

Assuming in England /wales It’s considered marital asset and is in the pot for division

how everything is divided is not automatic and will depend on many factors so it may not be 50:50

Thank you all for your replies so far. I’m in Scotland, is it any different here? It seems so unfair 😔

Under Scottish divorce only assets acquired as a result of marriage are included and inheritance would be excluded from that pot

s

Scotland is different. The savings will be excluded. Although I think the money spent on the home is now part of a marital asset. It would be different if the house was inherited or just funded from the inheritance. But mixing it up may be a problem. Check this because Scotland does protect inheritance received during the marriage. The issue is using it for the family.

Scotland runs pretty close to 50:50 splits.

It's too bad you didn't keep your inheritance ringfenced but since it's been comingled with marital assets, it's fair game now. Unfortunately.

Thank you all for your advice. I just don’t want to lose it all and for him to benefit out of it all then I’m left with nothing and two kids to raise while he swans off into the sunset to start a new life with no responsibility and then eventually get a whopping amount of inheritance from his parents when the time comes. I’ve only ever invested money in our family and home and any extra he has had ever had has gone on him, that’s always been his first thought, whereas mine has been our family 😔 Does anyone know if citizens advice give advice on divorce or is it straight to a solicitor? What is best, staying in the family home or selling up and starting over, in terms of family and splitting assets? What is easier and fairer? I appreciate every circumstance is different, it’s just a minefield and I want to weigh up options and be prepared.