Dad Made redundant, quite ill and SM taking the piss. What should he do?

[Portofino]

My dad worked for the same co. for 40 odd years. My mum died when I was little and he remarried when i was in my teens. He worked a lot in China and met a OW, much younger than him (and me). Cue nasty divorce, house assets all gone.

He bought a new house and full mortgage about 10 years ago. OW moved her from China, they got married and she got a passport. All was going well for a while and I actually quite like second "Step Mother". But dad was obviously not so happy. he started drinking a LOT. To cut a long story short, last year his employer of 40+ years made him "redundant".

I can understand why, but dad is not yet 60 so cannot yet claim his pension. His health is now dreadful. He has cancer of the bladder, type II diabetes, OCPD etc. He admits to me he cannot even climb a flight of stairs anymore.

So he tells me he is living on JSA and has an appointment at JC on Monday.DW has a full time job. He mentioned that the JSA of £70 ish a week does not cover his mortgage of £1000 a month. He has been paying it from his saviings. Which will run out shortly.

Apparently DW does not contribute AT ALL to the household expenses. She has been paying nothing (for 10 years) towards the mortgage or the bills. All the money she earns she spends (or saves).

My dad ia now of the opinion that she will want to divorce him before too long. My dad has obviously outlived his usefulness and is truly in a sorry state.

So my question is, can she in these circumstances demand half the house/pension even though she has not contributed financially ever? There are no dcs.

Not certain, but I think she is entitled to half of everything, though I'm not sure about his pension ~ maybe a percentage of it.

Your poor dad needs to go to the CAB or a solicitor ASAP for advice as I'm sure she will. I hope things work out for him.

He might be entitled to more financial help re his cancer too. Best he finds out exactly what he can get and tell him to mention all his health issues.

Good luck to him.x

Bump

Surely he will be entitled to diability living allowance if he is terminal and has COPD. I know that doesn't help the situation with his wife...but might be worth looking into?

I dont think he is terminal is he?? I hope not OP
Bladder cancer is eminently treatable and in most cases curable - but he sounds like he needs to see his GP - could he claim incapacity/disability etc - this is aside to the problem of the W !

I would have thought that your SM is NOT automatically entitled to half of the assets if she has made no financial contribution whatsoever.

As Solowitch suggested, your dad should make an appointment with a solicitor asap and get the appropriate advice.

Im afraid she is entitled to half everything as she is married to your dad and has been married for some time.

I believe that he is entitled to Incapacity Benefit and has been told as much by the job centre. He actually WANTS to work, but has been told that due to his age and his health, they do not have a job for him.

No, he is not terminal, but i guess all of his conditions are life limiting, and my worry is that if he makes no effort to look after himself he will get worse.

My guess at the moment is that SM will carry on where she is until the money runs out. I believe as she is working, she would be expected to maintain him? That, i can't see happening. The house, mortgage is only his name. I think she will leave him as soon as he can't "keep" her any more. I think he has also been supporting some family members in China too.

At that point, I really worry for him. For his health and the fact she will screw him for everything she can and leave him in a really bad position. I've said that he should seek advice and think about making a will. It's not that I want his money for myself but it pisses me off no end that she could end up swanning off with everything he has ever worked for.

Anyone else? I do realise that he's made his own bed so to speak.

You don't have a relationship with someone thinking they'll take everything you've worked for though do you. It's happened to me ~ twice.

As long as your dad doesn't have more than a certain amount(I think it's £16000 including any ISA, TESSA, Premium Bonds etc)he is entitled to financial help and regardless of whether he wants to work or not, he should take the help whilst he isn't. If he can get certain benefits, he can get some help with the mortgage(though not a huge amount and there is a qualifying time)and I believe that if he is entitled to DLA, then he can claim that even if he is working, though I'm no expert. Proper advice is in order for him. Definitely.

Thanks very much for the advice. I'm in a different country but will ring him, and try to visit soonish. It frankly worries me greatly that he can't even climb the stairs. I saw him at Xmas and he seemed OK. I wasn't "testing" him though.