How can I best protect Dad’s money?

[SpringingSpring]

My DDad told me today he has bought a ring to propose to his girlfriend.

He is 73, a widower & has known her for approximately 6 weeks.

He is pretty wealthy by most people’s standards & talked today about getting a pre-nup.

I advised him that pre-nups are not legally binding in the UK so he said we definitely have some written agreement that she doesn’t inherit anything from his estate but would that his pension would automatically transfer to her in the event of his death.

Would a well written will stand up against a short-lived marriage if he died or is there a better way of ensuring his will is honoured?

I don’t think she’s an unsavoury character, I’ve never met her. I just want to protect my Dad from making a mistake which in my opinion wanting to ask someone to marry you after a matter of weeks is.

I don’t know if he’ll be happy for years or live to regret it & whilst I can’t prevent any heart ache, I can potentially help him losing any of the money that he has worked incredibly hard for the whole of his life.

He has said that he wants to do everything in his power to protect my & my sibling’s inheritance

If he’s serious about this, he shouldn’t get married again.

He needs to understand that getting married inevitably opens up the likelihood of his estate being (at least partially) passed on to his wife not his children.

he mentioned previously that if he dies his pension will stop - I think he might see marriage as a way of providing for her

So he thinks he could just nominate her to get the spouse’s pension and nothing else? If she doesn’t have independent means (cash poor), and he has been supporting a spouse, even if he states in his will his children are to inherit not his wife she could contest this if she wanted. If the law felt she had a reasonable claim to expectation of ongoing support via her husband’s estate then it could be split to give her a portion. And there’d be fees to pay and the stress of it all.

If he wants to marry, he can of course, but he needs independent advice from a third party, a lawyer, and maybe also a switched on friend.

The only way to protect the money is not to get married.

Exactly that. Marriage gives you rights irrespective of your other documents.

Thanks for all the advice offered, am going to take it all on board & have another chat with him now I’ve had time to digest all the information.

Your dad or yourself don’t know anything about this woman. He’s only know her for 6 weeks. You haven’t even met her.

She sounds like a scammer and will leave your dad high and dry. The only way he can protect his money is to no marry her.

I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would want to marry in that situation. My dad had a relationship with a lovely woman after he was widowed. They were together for about ten years and lived together. Both had assets that they wanted to pass onto their own children so we're clear that marriage would never make sense. Didn't stop them from living a happy decade together until my dad died.

I suspect that you're not worried about him losing his money, you're worried about losing your inheritance. At 73 he could have 20 years ahead of him and you should be pleased that he has met someone he is happy to be with for his future years. It's incredibly ageist to suggest that 73 year olds don't know their own mind.

I don’t think it’s ageist to suggest a 73 year old doesn’t know their own mind, I’m sure my Dad would have serious questions for me if I got engaged to someone I’d only known for 6 weeks!

Why shouldn't she worry about her inheritance? Her father has already indicated he wants her to inherit, presumably over any children the new partner has ultimately inheriting his estate via their mother.

Intentions noble but in reality once married she will have a huge amount of rights, hence why the MN mantra is to get married!

A friends father did this and the died suddenly. Even though he made decent provision for her, the fight over the estate is going on still years later. A real mess