When does inherited money become a matrimonial asset, if ever?

brians_daughter

In my OH's mother and fathers seperation (england) the mothers inheritance from her mother (£230,000) was used to pay off the mortgage and home inporvements plus savings. The father had retired so had money sat in his account for tax puropses (i assume) all monies were treated as assets of the marriage and started at a 50/50 split. The mother ended up 'better off' % wise as she still had children at home to look after.

Mojisola

As LazyDaisy says - any money that went into your account in your name is yours. Anything that's in joint accounts is owned 50/50. I don't think that he can ask for that back.

I can't see how he can expect you to pay him for the conservatory. That is now part of the house and, when the house is valued, will be included in it. If you paid him the full cost of the extension back and he also benefited from the increased value of the house, he would be compensated twice.

If you can be objective about it, imagine how you would feel if the inheritance had been yours. What would you expect from him?

Nicki

The trouble is that the legal situation is not clear cut in Northern Ireland. That is why both your solicitor and your barrister who qualified in that jurisdiction and who between them presumably have many years experience of dividing up assets on divorce have not been able to give you an answer.

To ask for legal advice about this on a board where a lot of the posters are from England and Wales ( which had a very different legal system) and where few of the posters have any legal expertise will only generate answers about what people perceive to be fair, or what their experience was on a break up in a different legal climate. Both of these will just raise false expectations for you, and cannot be in any way helpful.

In your shoes I would be asking my local solicitor what would be a good starting offer to my OH to get this matter resolved by agreement. But my understanding, which may be out of date, is that often these kinds of issues aren't dealt with by consent in N I but require a judge's decision. In those circumstances, i'd be pushing for it to get to court asap so I would have some certainty about the situation and be able to move on with my life and financially plan accordingly.

jtk174

Nicki wrote: »

The trouble is that the legal situation is not clear cut in Northern Ireland.

Appreciate your comments. Unfortunately at the beginning I "interviewed" two solicitors based on recommendations. The first one said inheritance is treated differently and that money won't be seen as a 50/50 split. The second said, everything is a 50/50 split no matter where the money comes from.
Guess which one I chose !

Anyway, I think you are right about moving on asap.

I do appreciate all the comments and experiences. It is somehow cathartic.

Errata

jtk174 wrote: »

Appreciate your comments. Unfortunately at the beginning I "interviewed" two solicitors based on recommendations. The first one said inheritance is treated differently and that money won't be seen as a 50/50 split. The second said, everything is a 50/50 split no matter where the money comes from.
Guess which one I chose !

Anyway, I think you are right about moving on asap.

I do appreciate all the comments and experiences. It is somehow cathartic.

What's your barrister's opinion?

jtk174

Any money inherited might be a 65 / 35 split whether it was used to pay mortgage, given as a gift, in joint accounts etc.

Money given to me from a relative, while still alive, my redundancy and pension lump sum are subject to 50/50 or maybe 55/45.

Go figure!

As the previous poster said, time to move on, cut my losses and have a happy life. It will certainly be happier than it is now.

Mojisola

jtk174 wrote: »

Any money inherited might be a 65 / 35 split whether it was used to pay mortgage, given as a gift, in joint accounts etc.

Money given to me from a relative, while still alive, my redundancy and pension lump sum are subject to 50/50 or maybe 55/45.

Go figure!

That all sounds crazy and very unfair!