Is an inheritance from my mother a marital asset?

[LucyLoo1972]

I am likely to be separating form my DH.

I am in the process of receiving an inheritance from my mother's estate which is substantial - around £250 K and a half share of a foreign property worth around another £150 K

I am unable to work because I ahd a psychotic break at least partly due to stress my DH out me under - ironically enough through not allowing me adequate access to finances and hoarding money and controlling spending. its a long story. I nearly died and I blame myself fro putting up with that shift when id come form poverty - we had no debts nad he hoarded £100 K in his current account.

Anyway - will my inheritance from my mum be split with him?

thank you kind person.

I dont even want ot be divorcing at all

our mortgage is almost paid off- £20 K left and the house Wirth £300K.

its worth less than it would be because it is very neglected becasue he wont ket me have decorators/workmen in

his outgoings are pretty all mostly becasue he doesnt buy anything. he will only spend around £600 fro a car. and the act I drive is only worth around $3K.

England

This is incorrect.

yes my business idea is allied to this. it would require me to be able to have a home that I can present as a 'gallery"- notnthat people just turn up to though but ot offer art consultancy and sales online. sounds random but there are soem people who do this nad through being a serious collector I have a gallerist friend who is a key player in the art world in London beyond running a small gallery - she's very knowledgeable and successful.

he earns £70 k plus and I earn zero so im not sure im better off?

Just because assets are received during a marriage, this does not automatically mean they become subject to equal division on divorce. Instead, the source of the asset and the intention behind the transfer, matters more than the name in which it is is held.

An asset’s status – matrimonial or non-matrimonial – depends on its origin, not whose name it is held in. Assets acquired before marriage, by inheritance, or as gifts, will be viewed on divorce as non-matrimonial unless there is compelling evidence that they were treated as shared during the marriage.
(My underline)

"Matrimonialisation” of assets requires clear conduct
To “matrimonialise” a non-matrimonial asset, the spouse seeking division must show that it was deliberately or consistently treated as part of the couple’s shared wealth.

With the proviso that:

Non-matrimonial assets fall outside this rule [shared assets] unless they are required to meet the financial needs of the other spouse: the ultimate determinant is the parties’ future needs.

Extracts from Chambers and Partners, reporting the Supreme Court judgement in the case of Standish v Standish. The court took the opportunity to set out the classification of matrimonial/non-matrimonial assets beyond the scope of the presenting case.

Matrimonial property: UK Supreme Court defines what counts | Article | Chambers and Partners

Note that this ruling was handed down on the 2nd of July last year (2025). Inheritance prior to that may have been treated differently.

he ahs a lot of good qualities and is the only perosn I ever felt safe with. which is why it is so galling that actually it tuned ut in a strange way that I wasnt safe with him even though he never ever once raised his voice to me

You may well be correct, however it is still taken into consideration when dividing up assets.
‘When dividing up assets, it’s not an automatic 50/50 split. For example, if the assets are £500k and the wife has an inheritance of £300k, the courts may well award the husband a greater share of the £500k as the wife already has £300k.

You may well be better off with your inheritance. If you live apart, with that size of inheritance you will not be eligible for Universal Credit.

But they would also take earning capacity into account. He earns £70k while OP has no income of her own. Thy also have a £300k marital home, which presumably is solely in his name.

He's just a H, nothing D about him from your posts. He sounds awful. Good luck OP I remember your threads.

I know £250 k sounds a huge amount but its equivalent ot only 4 years of a salary I would have been on nad that my DH is on

@LucyLoo1972 The attached from Stowe Family Law is clear but I’d take legal advice to protect it as it needs to be kept separate.

no we jointly own our home.

one thing I need ot do is stop spending £600 a month on bills

he has a huge amount of good qualities really. he honestly does. he never ever once raised his voice to me before my breakdown

Yes it is. Same as of your DH was just about to gain an inheritance. Everything in the pot.

no - im not allowed ot claim anything over these nine years of utter hell. I had 3 jobs and a phd study and loved my life. I was so so fulfilled and busy and that cannot even be measured in material terms. I even lost my Christian faith becsue the rleigosu delusions were so terribel in ym breakdown

well he will be soon but it will be mourned £50 k I think

A friend of mine is going through a rough divorce and was told by a solicitor that if her parents gave her any money to help her buy her STBXH out of their family home, the money they gave would instantly be considered a marital asset and therefore she’d have to split that with him too, before she could give it to him as part of a buy out. Which seemed like madness to me given they’re already separated and put her in an impossible situation.

This would assume that putting your money in a separate account isn’t enough to protect it in a divorce. But I’m no expert.

It sounds like abuse. Please ask Women’s Aid and/or your GP if you’re not sure. Both WA and my GP were brilliant.

She will qualify for UC the minute she calls time on the marriage, even if they are in the same house. The inheritance can be placed in trust (especially if she suffers with MH) without being penalised if she already meets the criteria. Any monies she gets from divorce will give 6 months grace period to buy another home.

The only amount of abuse allowed in a relationship is zero.

This thread now runs to five pages and you have had a lot of conflicting advice, some half right, many plain wrong, plus a few from solicitors who know their stuff. By now you must be thoroughly confused and your mental health is spiralling. Instead of reading this thread and trying to reply to every post step away, try and deal with your anxiety and collect your thoughts.

Make an appointment with an experienced family solicitor NOW. Instead of trying to figure out what is correct, look after yourself and put what might happen to him out of your mind. Instead do something practical (like collecting and scanning financial documents).

Read Divorce for Dummies if you feel up to it (make sure it’s the version for England).

thank you. yes I know. but honestly its been liek this every minute of every day for nine years.

and there are a whole lot of other terribelthoughts. I cant even step inside a church building for example after being minister for 20 years. I loves most of my friends and barely see a soul. it is too much for ap erosion to bear for so long.

I will se the womnes aid solicitor soon

What a ridiculous response to the OP who has clearly stated she has been financially abused - why should / would she split it ?