Not leaving estate to husband

[Ebananascroogey]

Just wondering if its possible to leave everything in my will to someone else? Every asset was mine bought before we got together, so can I leave them all to my brother, or will he have claim on it all because we are married?
Marriage is 8 years so far if that makes a difference.
Thanks for any help you can give

Take legal advice but I think you can leave your estate to your brother, no probs.

The only thing it will be wise to do is leave a letter with your will to say why you are excluding your DH. You might also want to will to him a small amount ££ or something as a token gesture?

If your DH contests the will, which would cost him a fortune, the letter you leave will be helpful to the court.

Phone s couple of legal firms. Ask them.

You can put what you like in your will, but depending on circumstances your husband (if you were still married at the time of your death) would potentially have a claim on your estate under the Inheritance and Dependants Act. How much of a claim would depend on circumstances, unlikely to be all your assets but enough to make reasonable financial provision for him - if he's independently wealthy and can afford to house, feed himself etc after your death without any need for support then there may be no claim at all. However for most people they do make some provision for their spouse, even if it's something like leaving your house in trust for your children (or whoever you want to inherit) but giving your spouse the right to live there for life, or until remarriage or similar. Or you may want to explore a life insurance policy or options with your pension scheme for a survivor's pension. And definitely take legal advice!

Why would you do that?
How would you feel if he did it to you?

Why wouldn’t you leave it to your DH? Not a dig, just a genuine interest.

Does he know you feel this way? It would be unfair for him to not be prepared, and him end up homeless without having been given the opportunity to plan/save for this.

OP you need to be clear where in the world you live, also do you hsve stuff like real estate elsewhere? I believe that there are differences even between England and Scotland. https://www.burnett-reid.co.uk/article/key-differences-between-an-english-will-a-scottish-will

If you are married, I believe half your assets are effectively his anyway. So you may only be able to leave half the house to him, and so on.

You definitely need legal advice to make sure it goes where you want it to go.

If this is your train of thought, then why are you married? And why is your brother more deserving?

I think you have bigger issues to resolve first.

It partly depends on where you live. If someone is in Scotland, their spouse automatically has a claim to a percentage of their moveable estate - no matter what is in the will.

Thank you everyone for your input.
I'll try & answer everyone's questions in one post.
We met in my early 40's & and married soon after. At that time I owned 4 rentals plus the house I & then we lived in, i know what people think of landlords these days but i sacrificied my youth for them as a retirement plan. As soon as we were married, he claimed every mental health problem under the sun, stopped work & expected me to keep him.
He has a draw full of anti-depressants, im tired like I've never been & cant see a way forward, so all I want to know is if that is my choice can I stop the man who took my life away taking away the money I want to keep in my family?
I could ask a lawyer, but I wanted a sense before i started the process

I would also discuss divorce with a lawyer. Yours is a bit complicated.

Surely easier to just divorce him rather than wait till you’re dead

Divorce would be the better option! Live the life you have left.

I would get to the solicitors on Tuesday, but to discuss divorce not Wills. Although no reason you can’t do both I suppose! I’m not sure what claim he’d have to your assets assuming no children involved. Not much I’d hope. Good luck to you.

I’m not leaving anything to my husband either (other than a life interest in my half of the house).

He is 10 years older than me so will probably die first, but if he doesn’t he has a good income (from an occupational and state pension) and doesn’t need anything more. Everything is going to the children.

We did our wills together so he is well aware of my plans and perfectly content.

If he doesn’t die first, most of his money will go to the children but he is leaving me 1/4 of his estate, to reflect the fact that my occupational pension is smaller than his and I don’t yet have a state pension.

Are you suicidal OP? Please talk to someone and don’t do anything rash. The Samaritans perhaps? https://www.samaritans.org/

My DB pensions are left to DH , other investments are split between niece , nephew and DH with a chunk for two close friends. My share of our house (75%) will
pass to niece and nephew but he will have a lifetime interest or the option to sell and release his 25%

I understand everyone who says divorce instead, but im not sure i have the stomach or the fight for it, which is where my question came from. Oh well back to tge drawing board.

Just divorce him! Short marriage, no children = in most cases you leave with what you came in with

But the longer you leave it, the longer the marriage and more likely you'll need to give him more money.

From what you posted he would definitely have grounds to bring a claim under the Inheritance Act for reasonable provision. Perhaps similar to what he would get on divorce. His costs would come out of the estate as well.

this! By being married half of everything is automatically his anyway.

Is there a prenup? These are increasingly recognised by UK courts and could give that sort of will some legs

Definitely see a really good lawyer about a divorce. You are still young and can build up more money now.

if you have 4 rental properties you could start gifting them (to the person?..) - could be good to do that now before Rachel Reeves gets her claws into any value increase

Not necessarily - for a start as PP have said we don't know what jurisdiction she's in, England has different rules to Scotland for instance. And also it definitely isn't necessarily 50% automatically, that may be the starting point in England, but needs are taken into account as is pre-marital property and certain things like business interests (where giving an ex-spouse 50% of the business would make it impracticable as a going concern). The length of the marriage is taken into account too. So OP if you're going to divorce him you should do that sooner rather than later - unrealistic to think you'll get away with giving him nothing particularly given his mental health conditions but there's probably a reasonable chance an 8 year marriage will be viewed as short enough you will get more than if you wait 25 years then divorce. Or if you're determined to stay in this miserable marriage for the rest of your life, your best bet is likely to put a certain amount of assets including the house into trust for your brother but with a life interest for your husband, providing him an income and somewhere to live for life but the capital/assets protected for your brother. I still think a divorce would be simpler mind!

you can’t rely on answers to this sort of question in a public forum .. you’re better off asking Chat GPT for an initial view then asking a wills and estates lawyer to verify for such a critical question ..

OP I feel for you and unless you are facing a terminal illness, you can and should reclaim your life back. No matter how hard you think it would be, it is never as bad as we make it in our head. Please don't give up on yourself. Seek support if you feel like it is impossible to leave, get your freedom back and allow yourself to heal and enjoy life. The 1st step is the hardest, after it gets easier. take it from someone who speaks from lived experience. I wish you all the best x