Can he change his will to leave the house to the OW?

[Stormysummer]

we are already tenants in common and have been for many years, I found out in may my husband has been having an affair with OW for 18months. (She’s still married and her husband is elderly and dying he’s also her 3rd husband and has said she only married him for his money, isolated him from family etc.) She has said that she wants to marry H 4 weeks after her H dies, We have a decree nisi but not absolute. As it stands his half of the house is left to me should he die, and vice versa, but the OW is telling him to change his will to leave it to her even though we’re not divorced yet. Where do I stand? Could I contest the will?

The current will becomes invalid if he marries anyway.

What legal advice did you get about the assets of the marriage on divorce?

Won't you have to sell the house or buy him out as part of the divorce proceedings?

He's not dead.
If you break up you're probably going to have to sell the house anyway... or buy him out.

I am not a lawyer but as far as I know, contesting a will is hugely expensive.

You are tenants-in-common therefore he can leave his part ownership of the property to whomsoever he chooses.

If you remain in the matrimonial home and he dies, the OW, if she inherits his bit, could make life really challenging for you.

Take legal advice about that part of your divorce asap.

Obviously an upsetting situation for you, but his half of the house is his and he can leave it to whoever he wants. You are getting divorced so it is unlikely to be you.

What advice did you get about separating finances?

ETA things moved very fast if you found out about his affair in May and have your decree nisi by the midde of June

I’m not bothered about what he does when we are divorced, but as we are still living in the same house I’m worried that should he drop dead tomorrow and he’s left his half of the house to her she could force me out? We will be selling the house at some point, but we are both in our 70’s and have nowhere to go. I don’t have a lot of money to see a solicitor so I’ve booked in for a free half hour. I’m not caring about splitting the assets, I know he has more than me but I want a clean break, and like I say I don’t have the money for legal advice.

I should also say, he’s not in great health, he has heart failure and is 76.

I’m sorry, this must be really painful.

But the divorce part of it is relevant.

Perhaps the way to approach it is to point out to him that you could do the same thing. Leave your half to someone else and leave him with half a house.

The thing is, whatever he agrees to now, you won’t know whether he has changed his or not so you won’t be able to plan.

I would rush to division of assets so you know where you are.

I got the decree nisi in 2014, as he hit me and I wanted to divorce him then, but he begged and pleaded that we stay together. I believed him so didn’t go ahead with the absolute, I thought it would have run out but apparently it doesn’t, so that saved me £600!

Yes, he can change his will and leave his half to anyone he likes.

As can you.

Write your will and leave it to the RSPCA or similar and tell them you've done it. I gather they are highly litigious when it comes to claiming money bequeathed to them and will always enforce wills.....

Or leave it in trust to someone you like but who doesn't need the money soon, name your ex as the executor, and tie his hands up for a few years with legal obligations he'll have to find a way to manage.

However I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Can you look at what you'd do if that situation arose? Buy a smaller property or a flat?

I do have a plan, and someone is going to invest in a house with me, but it’s going to take about a year to get the money together. Then find a house etc, I just don’t want to be forced out in the mean time.

I think she probably could. Your best bet is get your finances separated asap, including house sale.

Yes she could force you out in those circumstances. You need to pay for proper legal advice.

You could make a claim under the Inheritance (provision for family and dependants) Act 1975 if you are not properly provided for with only 50% of your house but it will depend on all your other financial circumstances and whether more than 50% would be a reasonable outcome in divorce to meet your needs. If he has more than you then it might be.

You can’t progress your divorce on the 2014 decree nisi if you have reconciled since. You should apply to dismiss it and start again. As it’s more than 12 months since decree nisi then to get decree absolute you would have to file a statement explaining the delay and confirming you haven’t lived together since - you can’t do this.

whatever you do do not get a decree absolute until you have an order recording your financial settlement

Its very simple, as tenants in common he can will his share to whoever he likes, irrespective of his marital status.

You will need to sort the finances out and come to an arrangement as to who gets what including dealing with the house before you get the Absolute as you will need a consent order. If you don’t have one of these in place then the financial ties of the marriage are still there and either party can claim against the other so do not get an Absolute without this in place.
is your husband living with you still? Have you spoken to him about the house/your concerns? Does he realise that the OW is clearly a money grabber?? Do you have children? Sorry for the questions just thinking forward etc.
if your husband does change his will he could leave his half of the house to the OW. She would then co-own with you and could force a sale under the Trusts of Land act. Having said that, marriage revokes a Will and the Absolute has the effect of treating you as though you had died before him in your Will. So if he died after the Absolute without making a new will or marrying OW the substitution clauses in his Will kick in.
i think my advice to you would be to speak at length to your husband if you can and try to come to an arrangement. Not sure what your pensions and other assets are although you say he has more than you. Is it an option you keep the house, he takes everything else and you do a clean break? The starting point for the finances on divorce is a 50/50 split on everything, so try work down on paper what that would come to if you took half of what he has. If its similar or close to the half value of the house perhaps thats an option.

Have you highlighted this possibility to him to try and appeal to anything other than his cock?
You might like to leave his money to his children

You need to change your will asap. That would be my priority in your situation.

We have children both in their 40’s the OW has already made him cut ties with our daughter as she wasn’t going to listen to his BS. (Daughter is very financially stable) he is still talking to our son as he is easily manipulated and is believing his lies, H has said he would leave him £20k on his death, I don’t know how true this is, or whether the OW will make him back track on this. I am definitely getting a consent order before the absolute.
I have told him that the OW is obviously a gold digger, to be waiting on husband #3 to die and already have husband #4 lines up is waving massive red flags but he just won’t see it, he is a vulnerable narcissist, he tells people what they want to hear and I think she is the same but obviously more cunning than he is. I have heard her threatening me with violence and wanting to come into the house when I’m not there. (I look after the grandchildren for long stretches of the day) Unfortunately we are both still living in the house as we have nowhere else to go, I couldn’t afford to rent long term, and he can’t move in with her until her husband has died.

Technically you cannot stop him from changing his will. I'd focus on divorcing as quickly as possible and splitting the assets ASAP. If you're worried, you could take out a life insurance policy on him. That way if he dies, you'd get a lump sum paid out.

She sounds like a vile gold digger OP - If you have children then your DH would be best leaving whoever he wants (ie her) a life interest only in the estate and then to your children - this would protect them.

I'll guess she is younger!, it happens I'm afraid, we have a similar situation in our village.

If it's only a year till you're sorted financially, I would just drag your heels a bit. Start again with the decree nisi (that delay will be worth the £600) then just take ages to approve everything. He can't remarry till you're fully divorced.

Apart from the issue as to whom he chooses to leave his share of the property to, you also need to register an alert with the Land Registry - it’s anonymous so he wont know that youve done it, but what it will do is alert you to any changes he tries to make on the property ownership such as changing it to Joint Tenants. Although he needs your agreement to do this, it is possible that someone could forge your signature!
www.gov.uk/guidance/property-alert

Changing to joint tenants would benefit the OP, not the OW, and a will won't be indicated on the land registry. That's not to say that it's not worth doing, but won't be likely that useful.

From a conveyancing perspective as you are tenants in common he can leave his share of the property to anyone regardless of marital status.
So yes if he changes his will to make the OW the beneficiary that will mean there is a transfer of equity to her and can force you to put your property on the market for sale. Obviously it will be a stalemate until you agree but it won’t be straightforward and understandably very uncomfortable.
Apart from contesting the will it may be a case of a whether he was of sound mind at the time of changing the will.
Unfortunately that’s the risk of holding in tenants in common.