Checking details of a will - will the beneficiary know?

[coronabeer]

In the process of divorcing dh. It has come to light in the last couple of days that he may be concealing an large sum of money from me which he inherited a few years ago .

His relative died 4 years ago when we were still married (supposedly happily married - at least according to stbxh!) I never knew how much he inherited (great marriage, huh?), but I remember him saying he would get more when his relative's wife died.

Well, I know how much the wife left, and I can trace that in bank accounts. But the first relative? Looked through all our bank accounts from that time, and no sign whatsoever of the money. It was a lot of money - enough to buy a house - but I simply cannot find any trace of it.

My head is spinning with all this. I literally found out yesterday because I met stbxh and he let slip the amount he inherited (while telling me I don't deserve any of "his" money", blah, blah, blah). I'm not sure he realised what he'd said because he was getting a bit worked up and I didn't visibly react. (Inside I was thinking WTAF!)

I don't want to outright accuse stbxh of anything given that the divorce is acrimonious enough already. I wondered about trying to look at the will, and see if I could work out from that whether the money was held somewhere until the relative's wife died. Could that be possible? More to the point, would stbxh find out if I requested a copy of probate, given that he was the executor.

Dh was really reluctant to show his bank statements when we first tried mediation. He eventually turned up with them and there was nothing remarkable there as far as I could see. But all this inheritance business (4 years ago) would pre-date the date range of the statements I've seen (past 2 years). If he has hidden the money, he did so when we were still together and he has done so in accounts I have no knowledge of.

Thanks, I've just sent off for them.
Just in case anyone ever wants to use the service, it seems it will take 2 days for the wills to be available for download, and they are available for 31 days after that. Not to be published, only for personal use.
I'm sorry if I was a bit snippy earlier, I felt like I was being asked to justify myself. Everyone has their own ideas as to what is "fair"; in my case, I've decided I'll just go with what the law says - not to try and fight for more, but not to give up my entitlement, either.

And think about it - if the situation was reversed, would he really do nothing at this point?

"When did the relative wife die? Could it be that he was left only 5% when he died with everything going to his wife but with the understanding that when she dies, everything would go to him?

If she died after you were already separated, then you might indeed be entitled to nothing of it."

The relatives were his Uncle and Aunt; let's call them Jim and Jane. When Jim died, 5 years ago, dh didn't exactly say how much he'd inherited, just implied it was in the £10-£20k range and I never asked. Dh did say, however, that he would get most of his inheritance when Jane died. We got a new bathroom put in and I think the balance went into dh's ISA. At least that was what I thought.

18 months later, Jane died. Dh inherited a substantial sum from her. Again, dh didn't say exactly how much but, as it turns out, he inherited a similar amount to what I had assumed up to now. Used this sum to pay off the mortgage and the rest into savings/investments. This money is entirely traceable and part of it may be ring-fenced as a non-matrimonial asset (discussions ongoing).

A year later, I told dh I wanted a divorce. This was brought to a head by something he did which I don't want to go into here, but it was nothing to do with money. Suffice to say, I agreed not to give it as an example of "unreasonable behaviour" on the divorce petition to spare his blushes.

We've still not reached a financial settlement. Dh brought up his inheritance earlier this week (understandably wants to hold on to it) and was calculating half in his head, half aloud (using fictitious amounts here): "So, I got £68k from Aunt Jane, and £320k from Uncle Jim... that's £388k altogether...". That was literally the first time I had heard how much he had inherited from Uncle Jim and a real shock considering I thought it was no more than £20k.

Dh had already agreed not to ask to ring fence his inheritance from Uncle Jim because most of it had supposedly already been spent on the afore-mentioned bathroom. I can't see any trace of any of Jim's money in any of the bank accounts that I'm aware of. Basically, the inheritance from Aunt Jane seems above board and all accounted for and has been discussed. There is a much larger, earlier inheritance from Uncle Jim which dh has always kept secret and I have no idea where it could be..

Maybe that makes the situation a little clearer, for what it's worth.

I've sent off for the wills, so I'll see whether they shine any more light on the situation.

What the starting point is: everything declared. It’s that simple. Wherever money came from, it’s declared. Same with pensions, property etc. Then it’s who gets what stage. The judge decides in the end if no agreement.

What the starting point is: everything declared. It’s that simple. Wherever money came from, it’s declared. Same with pensions, property etc. Then it’s who gets what stage. The judge decides.

What the starting point is: everything declared. It’s that simple. Wherever money came from, it’s declared. Same with pensions, property etc.

What he inherited years ago, has no bearing on what his assets are today.

Whatever he inherited was legally his to dispose of. Gambling, hookers, snorted up his nose, handed out in cash to needy beggars on the street; disappeared without a trace and nothing you or anyone can do to prove otherwise.

Don't run up more legal bills  over this.

What he inherited years ago, has no bearing on what his assets are today.

Whatever he inherited was legally his to dispose of. Gambling, hookers, snorted up his nose, handed out in cash to needy beggars on the street; disappeared without a trace and nothing you or anyone can do to prove otherwise.

Don't run up more legal bills  over this.

The thing is, I don't know what he did with the asset. Maybe he spent it, maybe he still has it. I just don't know. My best guess is that he still has it tucked away somewhere, that was definitely the impression I had. He's the kind of guy who probably wanks over his bank balance! I'm intending on asking him where it is as soon as I'm satisfied that his inheritance was indeed what he said it was earlier this week, assuming that I don't somehow come across it in past bank records. Subject to legal advice, of course.

Don’t know how multiple posts occurred.

See attached. All assets and income. No mention of discounted inheritance. Others will decide if the inheritance is all his to keep or not.

@PresentingPercy
Thanks.

It's quite unusual to inherit a large sum when the first half of a couple dies. Obviously you know these people and will be aware of their circumstances and if they had a large sum of money that didn't need to go to the wife to support her. Most people's largest asset is their house and that would usually get disposed of on the death of the surviving person. Is it possible that he said it to wind you up?

Not the legal point of view, but my Ex had some shares and wine that he failed to declare, wine worth probably £50K, shares probably similar.
These were my aces should he not agree to what my solicitor suggested was fair. Could this be part of your discussion?