Can finance claims be made years after divorce?

Stevev99

Hi,

My wife and I were talking about things around the fact that she's getting a little bit of money from her Grandmother's will who recently passed away.

She remembered that when she divorced her 1st husband, although it was all completed, they never reached financial settlement.

Whilst I presume not, I don't suppose he can pop up suddenly and lay claim to any of her money gained after their divorce?

Surely it's finances during the term of the marriage???

Hope so anyway!!

msb5262

I don't think he would have a claim. When I was getting divorced, my then husband asked the lawyer who was running our mediation sessions if he could claim against my future inheritance from my grandparents; the reply was no, unless they were expected to die at any minute (ie before divorce was finalised). To me, this suggests that only finances during (or just after) any marriage would be what's up for grabs.
By the way, in the mediation session my jaw dropped at the sheer cheek of the question!

Stevev99

Yes thanks... makes sense and it has been 10 years since she divorced him!

Money is the root of all evil...as they say !! Or is it the love of it?

Becles

Stevev99 wrote: »

Hi,

My wife and I were talking about things around the fact that she's getting a little bit of money from her Grandmother's will who recently passed away.

She remembered that when she divorced her 1st husband, although it was all completed, they never reached financial settlement.

Whilst I presume not, I don't suppose he can pop up suddenly and lay claim to any of her money gained after their divorce?

Surely it's finances during the term of the marriage???

Hope so anyway!!

The divorce only deals with the relationship aspect and not the finances.

If she didn't get a Financial Consent Order (or Clean Break Order) severing their finances, then ex husband can have a claim on any future assets until she dies and she can claim on his.

I've been through this with my ex husband, and had a legal battle to fight him off. I've since got the Financial Consent Order so it can never happen again.

Sorry it's not good news.

dipsy

same vein, but different question

if you dont have a financial/clean break order in place from your divorce and you are then with a new partner and they should die, would their ex be entitled to any monies from life insurance etc?

what if a will was made leaving everything to new partner and their children would ex still be able to make a claim?

hope that makes sense :-)

Pee

dipsy wrote: »

same vein, but different question

if you dont have a financial/clean break order in place from your divorce and you are then with a new partner and they should die, would their ex be entitled to any monies from life insurance etc?

what if a will was made leaving everything to new partner and their children would ex still be able to make a claim?

hope that makes sense :-)

If you die with a will or intestate there are certain clesses of people who can make a claim. One is a spouse where there has been no financial settlement. They would be entitled to roughly what they would on divorce.

A "partner" if they are a cohabitee of over 2 years could also make a claim, but only for what they need for their maintenance.

Another category is children.

Pee

If there is no financial settlement on a divorce either party can go back to court to sort this out at a later date, but i think it is very unlikely that the court would award anything in this case.

dipsy

Pee wrote: »

If you die with a will or intestate there are certain clesses of people who can make a claim. One is a spouse where there has been no financial settlement. They would be entitled to roughly what they would on divorce.

A "partner" if they are a cohabitee of over 2 years could also make a claim, but only for what they need for their maintenance.

Another category is children.

so if myself and my partner who live together make a will and he does not have a clean break order, despite saying I am the sole benificiary, and him being divorced will his ex wife still be able to make a claim?

What if everything is in my name and the only thing he has is an element of life insurance that is a joint policy and pays out on first death,

its to cover the mortgage, would she be able to make a claim if he should die? or does life insurance that is specific to cover mortgage, on decreasing term, go directly to the mortgage lender?


On another note, the house is in my name only, is there any point she can try and claim any part of my house as he lives with me, it was my house before I met him and they had already split up for over a year but had not divorced when I met him and he has been living with me for a year, so two years now since they split up or just over two years.



thanks

Pee

dipsy wrote: »

so if myself and my partner who live together make a will and he does not have a clean break order, despite saying I am the sole benificiary, and him being divorced will his ex wife still be able to make a claim?

Yes. So if your partner was Paul MacCartney - Ok, they've had the financial break there, but just assume it was before that - and still had all the marital assets, yes, his ex-wife would still be entitled to her claim. Assuming he doesn't have that much money, it is very unlikely the claim would be successful. If you were living with him in the former matrimonial home which was in his name, but which had never been considered in financial proceedings, she would have a claim on the property. the same, roughly, as she was entitled to on divorce.

What if everything is in my name and the only thing he has is an element of life insurance that is a joint policy and pays out on first death,

Then her claim is against very little and isn't going to be successful.

its to cover the mortgage, would she be able to make a claim if he should die? or does life insurance that is specific to cover mortgage, on decreasing term, go directly to the mortgage lender?

It is probably written in trust to the survivor so that it can be used to repay the mortgage.
On another note, the house is in my name only, is there any point she can try and claim any part of my house as he lives with me, it was my house before I met him and they had already split up for over a year but had not divorced when I met him and he has been living with me for a year, so two years now since they split up or just over two years.


Re: the house.

You own the house. He probably doesn't have any claim to it, unless he's been paying the mortgage, investing money into it etc, so there is no chance that she has any claim over it.

dipsy

thanks for that

I pay the mortgage/bills etc.....

celyn90

Sadly, as other posters have said, a clean break order needs to be in place even after divorce to avoid this. I don't know how common it is for awards to be made long after divorce, but it is possible.

In the absence of one, I have a feeling that a claim for ancillary relief can be made any time until the party making the claim re-marries. So if your partners ex-husband has remarried, only then does he loses the right to make a claim against her if the order is not in place.

I have been trying to convince my OH that it is important he gets a clean break as even though he has no money now, his future earning potential would be an attraction to a claim at a later date (and this has been hinted at ).

best of luck getting it sorted out, cel x