Inheritance/maintenance

[Lolimax]

Hi- I'd like a bit of guidance please. I'm about to inherit a fair some of money. Not millions but substantial. I intend to give my own DC's some of it (as it comes from a family member of mine) and less into savings for my 2 DSC. I have only been married to my DH for a short while. The rest will be used to pay off bills, mortgage and live more comfortably, including taking the youngest DSS (the only one under 18) on nice holidays etc.
So my question is can DH's ex partner have any claim on this? He already pays above CSA and contributes to school trips, other expenses etc. we have him a lot, there are no arguments about contact.

I doubt it very much as its your money not his. They were never married from what I see and even then, I don't think she could.

that is, unless your older dsc hand it to her directly,

Thanks all.

Do you have a will drawn already? If not get one right away. My and OH did as soon as we got married as the last thing we wanted was my ex to Hebrew any control of the money my children would inherit if something happened to us. The money/capital would go to them but as their legal guardian he could then have access to it. He is very bad with money and I knew would use it to also support his new family. We therefore set up a Trust and all money they would get could only be accessible by two chosen trustees to be used for education purposes only until they turn 21. He would have no say at all over their funds.

Was the use of 'hebrew' a mistake ?
As you have been married only a short time , i'd wait and see what the future holds. Get legal advice re protecting your inheritance for a good few years.

So far as my understanding goes, an ex cannot access the current wife/partner's money unless there is clear evidence that the maintenance paying parent is diverting funds to his wife so as to avoid payment. There could be extenuating circumstances, but I would be surprised if they had any bearing on your inheritance.

DH and I have both had long discussions about this as his ex is a particularly vitriolic character, who lied and cheated him into near bankruptcy during the divorce. She encouraged the DSC to grill me about my family's financial situation (an 8 year old asking about trust funds and how many bank accounts I have is just odd) when DH and I were first living together and then, after we were married, she had the audacity to suggest that she was entitled to a percentage of our combined finances!!

If you plan to put money into savings for your DSC then it might be an idea to tie it up a little so that only the DSC can access it.