I've changed user name for this question as expecting some hate. It's not something I'm planning to do probably and there is so much back story. Would really appreciate legal answers rather than moral judgements
Exh and I owned a house and he left me and our two children about 20 years ago, for a few years he financially supported the children and saw them regularly. He then wanted to take out a new mortgage with OW but needed a large loan. So he put to me that if I took out a loan in his name ( he had bad credit and a gambling problem) he would sign the house over to me, I would then take out my own mortgage. This we did and it all went through solicitors/ conveyancers as usual. I took out a bank loan which I paid off over the next ten years or so.
So I owned my house and supported the children. Ex was with OW in their own house with their new mortgage. Around 10 years ago he'd split from OW plus a couple more but wanted to get married again so we divorced. We didn't use solicitors, he paid for it and I just signed to agree. By then he had no contact with me or our adult children, we owned no shared property.
So there was no financial order made. Neither of us were high earners and had tiny pensions. Anyway, he got remarried, I didn't.
Obviously life was happening through the last 20 years but that would be another story. The next ten years were filled with lots of hard work, lots of laughter and then lots of sadness.
Ex has behaved v v badly following this latest relationship and has not had contact with our adult DD or GS in 10 years, he is now ( according to a text he sent DD) terminally ill but still refuses to see DD though she has begged him. He inherited from his parents a few years ago and him and new wife have bought a property as tenants in common, I checked on land registry, before they were renting I believe
My legal question is would I have grounds to make a claim on his estate once he had died as I have never remarried? I think it very unlikely he will leave anything to DD in his will