Inheritance

[lululu16]

Hi all,

Thanks for taking your time to read this, I will try to keep it clear and short!

I am married and am receiving inheritance from my grandma probably towards the end of the year.
My family and I would like to keep this money in my side of family e.g if me and my husband split that the money would not go to him and go to our daughters, or if I pass away that the money will also go to our daughters. Is this possible? And should I get something written up before I receive the money? Not sure how it all works!

Thank you

If you were to divorce do you have sufficient assets to house both parties?

Keeping an inheritance separate from
Family money can ring fence funds providing you are able to house both parties using other assets.

What sort of figure are you expecting?

Once you intermingle an inheritance with family money it becomes just that.

Very complex and much depends on personal circumstances and sums involved.

This does not need to be done before you received the money. It can be done up
To two years after a death by deed of variation.

If you split/divorce, the inheritance is counted as part of joint assets and the starting point is 50/50. So you cannot really prevent him from getting anything at the time of divorce. However, after divorce and the split of finances if you die, he then gets nothing.

If you die while still married, he inherits all of it unless you have a Will stating the money goes to your DDs. If you leave him nothing, or very little besides that money, then he can contest your Will (England and Wales). In Scotland, he has a legal right to 1/3rd of your estate excluding property so you can’t disinherit him in your will. If the children are minors, you will need to have the money go to a Trust to be managed by named Trustees.

Yes a deed of variation could be done to have your DDs inherit instead of you. But that means you get zero as would any unborn children of yours.

I suppose if the objective is to keep money in a bloodline it would be mainly passed down through the males ,wouldn't it ?

I'm thinking that in the past money making would primarily be by men ,as would the inheritance of estates .Though of course there will be exceptions where no male heirs existed .

What a strange way to carry on ,not recognising a spouse as family .

When I inherited money from 2 aunties and my Mum on her death my dh told me to keep it separately from joint money. He wanted it to be spent by me or me pass to my DC. He will likely inherit when his own Mum dies. That will be his money. My Mil did tell me if DH does before she does I will inherit his share, which I thought was kind of her, but we get on very well and are quite close.

If DH gambles or spends money he doesn’t have and has debts I would look at keeping the inheritance separate too. Many people keep finances separate in a pre nup. Whilst not legally binding they show clear intention of how money is to be treated in a divorce. Parents giving deposits often insist on this. Once you are married, it can be organised that DC have trust funds.

Irrespective of the inheritance you can certainly ring fence your share of marital assets for your children. For example if you own your home as tenants in common you can leave your share to your children with a life interest for your DH. This ensures DH has a home for life but can’t remarry and leave it to a second wife.

You need to see a solicitor to understand all the implications of doing this.

Can you confirm which country you live in OP. As above, the rules are different in different parts of the UK.

"For richer or poorer ....." Except anything I inherit, then I can be richer and you can stay poorer. I'm amazed that's the official legal stance.

Dodgy ground. The obsession with family money is ridiculous.

Surely it's safer to use the mothers bloodline?

Definitely speak to a solicitor, someone who specialises in trusts. Ignore all the negative comments. My DHs family have trusts set up for this exact scenario. his family can all access money from the trusts if they need it, but in the event of divorce spouses have absolutely no claim over it, which I am more than happy with. The money in the trust was left by his DM & DGPs when they died and any inheritance from his DF will be in trust too. The trusts are set so the beneficiaries are children, grandchildren etc…

i forgot to say. The trusts have specific rules on what the money can be used for to so it’s not just squandered away. Money can be taken out for things like, house deposit, necessary home repairs, medical, education etc…

discretionary trusts, are not without problems, they are not watertight, and ultimately the trustees eg trust manager has the final say and they can and do ignore a letter of wishes.