Is my ex wife entitled to a share in my new house if I remarry?

leadinglady1973

My situation is this.... I have been divorced for three years and I have one house which I brought after the divorce and I am in the process of buying another. I will be living in the new house with my new fiance. I pay a hefty maintenance to my ex wife as we have two children together. My fiance was the major breadwinner in her previous marriage and so her solicitor advised her to have an additional order so that her ex could not claim any inheritance, lottery wins etc in the future. I dont have this in place and my ex would certainly not sign one.

My question is would my ex wife be entitled to a share in the my houses when I marry my fiance and if I left everything to my new wife in a will?

fluffnutter

Unless your ex-wife can prove that she has an ongoing financial dependence on you she'll be unsuccessful at contesting your will. I'm not an expert on financial settlements on divorce but even without the 'clean break' agreement (which is what I think you refer to) your ex will, again, need to convince a judge that she has a further claim on any money/assets etc. you have in the future.

Hopefully someone will be able to confirm my belief and also to perhaps advise as to how to best safeguard your finances in the future.

Bear in mind however, that if your circumstances do significantly change and you enjoy a life of comfort beyond that which you had when you were in your previous marriage, it would be nice to share that bounty with your children, no...?

Thegirl

You are talking about if you die. If you die then your ex-wife would not have the 'hefty amount of maintenance' that you currently give her each month. That would, I presume, enable her to prove to a judge that she had a claim. She's going to have the expense of raising your children if you are alive or dead.
My thoughts, sort out with your fiance (so she's fully aware of your thoughts and wishes) what you want to leave in trust to your children/a trust to pay out to your ex wife or just in a lump sum to your ex-wife in the event of your death to cover your children's upbringing. Or get an insurance policy just for this purpose if you wanted it to be totally separate from your joint finances with your soon to be wife.

Mojisola

I don't think your ex-wife would have a claim on your estate for herself unless you are paying her spousal maintenance but your children would.

Anyone who is being financially supported by you at the time of your death will be able to challenge your will if you don't leave them a reasonable sum. With dependent children, it's worth working out the annual amount you pay times the years until they are 18. You can leave it in a trust if you don't want to hand control of that much money over to your ex.

londonsurrey

You need proper financial advice. What if your new wife falls under a bus, leaving you everything? Would you want your ex-wife getting a share of that in the event of your death?

What if you're in a car accident, where your new wife dies instantly, and you die a year later? What do you want to happen to the estate then?

themull1

I dont think that she would. I hope not, i'm getting divorced for the second time and own my own house, but there again, so do my ex husbands. My solicitor said that the only people who would benefit are the people on the deeds of the house and any children.