Inheritance during divorce proceedings

[Mumof3confused]

When going through divorce proceedings, if your parent is unwell and likely to pass away before finances are resolved via a final hearing, is it possible for them to amend the will in order to protect the inheritance? What options are there to do this?

Say someone has three children and the will is split between the three but then changed to exclude the child going through divorce…will this be accepted by the court or could it be challenged?

I believe inheritance is excluded from marital pot, but speak to a solicitor. My exh redundancy money was excluded too

It's a non-matrimonial asset (so normally not included) but might have to be brought in if there's not enough money to meet both your needs. So it depends on your situation.

https://osborneslaw.com/blog/inheritance-and-divorce/#:~:text=Inheritance%20%26%20Divorce,-It%20is%20a&text=In%20reality%2C%20inherited%20assets%20such,generally%20considered%20non%2Dmatrimonial%20property.

In this situation, the courts will only dip into the inheritance if there is no other way to meet the ex's reasonable needs.

I would not recommend rewriting the will in the way you describe. There is no guarantee the other two children would give the divorcee their share when the divorce was finalised and, if they did, the ex may be able to re-open the financial settlement on the grounds that assets have been deliberately hidden.

@prh47bridge would a ‘reasonable need’ be to come out of the marriage debt-free, considering the other person will now be debt free and with plenty of savings too? Or is it likely to still be closer to 50:50 if that had been the case before inheritance (and which would have left one with some debt).

"Reasonable needs" refers to the need to have a roof over your head, enough income to meet your outgoings and so on. There is nowhere near enough information here to say what that would look like in this case. A solicitor would be able to give an idea of what the split might look like once they are in possession of all the facts.

Thank you, I had taken advice and the likely split was 50:50 which would have left both with debt. With the inheritance now on one side, I’m trying to establish whether the split might be adjusted to avoid one party being left with debt and thereby leave both parties more equal, with all things taken into account. I will get further advice of course but wondered what experiences others have had.

@Mumof3confused I am sure @prh47bridge will correct me but if your relative is still alive I would be making sure I progressed the divorce and final settlement asap.

They have sadly passed away after a short illness and it’s my ex’s parent. I expect they’ve tried to move the inheritance somehow so that it can’t be taken into account as a resource which he has access to. I’m not looking to touch the inheritance but wondering if this has now shifted their position or whether they’ve been able to do some re-jigging of wills to make their financial situation appear different.

@Mumof3confused sorry I misunderstood the position.

I would of thought they could change there will at anytime before there death

They can, but the suggested change to cut out one child with the intention of the other two children giving the third child their share once the divorce is finalised would be a blatant attempt to conceal assets, meaning that the financial order could be challenged.

@prh47bridge so it’s not a case of challenging the will itself but the financial order after the event. That makes sense, thank you.

If the inheritance is known about before the financial settlement, it should be raised with the court as a failure to disclose. If the arrangement becomes known after the settlement, it is time to consult a solicitor about challenging the financial order.

It’s really unfair that it’s protected. When my Mum dies I inherited a sim of money that was spent on the house, holidays etc. it was in my sole account but I transferred it across to spend. There is £1k left. When his Mum died (much later) he put it in premium bonds but assured me it was still our money. Because it was harder to access, my funds were still used. Now we are divorcing he has £17k which is his.

I’m in a similar situation, my inheritance received just before separation is very much in the pot. Ex wants to claim it due to ‘needs’ but I am hoping that I might be able to keep this sum since his needs are now met as a result of his own inheritance.