Protecting inheritance

cyclonebri1

Hi, 1st post on the section and haven't sifted through previous posts so bear with me if it's a repeat or dumb question.

What I was wondering is what I need to do to ensure any monies I leave to my 2 daughters are protected from thier other halves.

To explain, we have 2 girls, both with kids, both in longterm relationships, both to be married within the next year or so to proffessional type partners. We expect to be able to leave a reasonable inheritance, maybe £200K to each of them. It's just the age old worry that if something goes wrong in thier relationships, I wouldn't want the other halves walking off with 1/2 the dosh, if that makes sense??

Whats best done to protect against this??

Pee

You could leave it into a discretionary trust, which would protect if there was an imminent divorce or bankruptcy but is probably more effort than it is worth if there is no reason to suppose there will be a divorce.

Another option might be to leave the money directly to the grandchildren, but then you have no idea what their future partners will be like!!

whatatwit

It's a bit of a tricky situation, but imagine if you were in their shoes and your parents left you money but basically showed that they didn't trust your partner.
It could make for a lot of resentment in their marriages in the future.

If you were to find a way to leave the money solely to your daughters and they each went out and bought a top of the range sports car, would you feel that this was a better use of their inheritance.

Maybe consider your daughters a smaller sum and the bulk in a trust for their kids, but where they only have access to the income generated not the capital.

mountainofdebt

Working on the basis that there is no immediate reason for you to suspect that your daugthers will be be inheriting anytime soon, I would be worried that you are thinking of what happens if they divorce even before they have married.

Yes I know there will be people who will say that you have to prepare for all eventualilities but if you suspect that the marriage will end in divorce even before the marriage has began, should you not in that event, be supporting their decision to marry?

Pee

It is quite normal for people who have no particular concerns about a marriage to consider the possibility that it will end in divorce. It is statistically likely to happen.

Point to note, if you do go down the route of a trust, you should consider a pilot trust if the trusts are over the IHT threshold. (Less than £400k I wouldn't bother with a pilot trust, over £400k it would be worth considering. This is when a small trust is set up during your lifetime which may only have £10 in it.)

skintchick

If my parents did that I'd be furious! My marriage is for life and if they don't like my partner then we have serious problems.

Paparika

skintchick wrote: »

If my parents did that I'd be furious! My marriage is for life and if they don't like my partner then we have serious problems.

But what if sometime in the future (i hope it doesn't) you marriage falls apart, i thought my marriage was forever, 10 years later it failed ...

and you inherited money and your hubby demanded half...

skintchick

Paparika wrote: »

But what if sometime in the future (i hope it doesn't) you marriage falls apart, i thought my marriage was forever, 10 years later it failed ...

and you inherited money and your hubby demanded half...

I vowed 'all that I am I give to you, all that I have I share with you'. That seems pretty clear to me.

But we're both Christians so divorce is not an option. It simply won't happen.

floss2

skintchick wrote: »

....But we're both Christians so divorce is not an option. It simply won't happen.

I thought that after a Catholic wedding and renewing our vows after 10 years. We split up in the 16th year of marriage and divorced 2 years later.

And we are both Christians - practising Catholics at the time too.

cyclonebri1

Thanks folks, the route of bypassing my kids and leaving everything to the grandkids was obviously an option, but at present they are 0,0,0 and 3 years old, so unsure. Skintchick, these 2 guys are my best mates, BUT, when I'm not around what the hell can I do to ensure protection for my heirs. If your mate tells you in a years time she's been s******g your bloke?, what will you do??
!!!! happens, yeah??

myrnahaz

I'd be upset if I thought my MIL intended leaving everything to my DH and not me.
OP, have you asked your DD's how they feel about this? And anyway, how would you insure against your DD's leaving home, taking the kids and the cash with them and then sharing the cash with a new bloke, who then dumps your girl and runs off with half her cash?
I think you have to realise that you can't control your family's lives. Even if you leave it all to your grandchildren, and state that they can't touch it until they're 30 years old, who's to say they won't blow it all on rubbish?