Messy divorce and inheritance.

ghettofighterz

Hi,

My dad is going through a messy divorce and his wife has stated that she wants half of his estate and owning.

He purchased a motor bike a few years back and had a lot of work done on the bike. I expressed that I would like the bike one day and it was discussed that I could either purchase it from him or if anything happens to him it would be left in his will for me.

Now that divorce is on the horizon, he is having to sell the bike to give her half.

Now, today I was talking to someone and they said the following;

"If he sells the bike to you (me) for £1, legally he has to offer her 50p (half) of the sale price.

Is this legit? the guy I spoke with said that it was a few years ago, but things may of changed considering the topsy-tervy UK laws.

It sounds a bit crazy, hence me asking the question here.

Can anybody help with this question?

Thanks

Gingernutty

ghettofighterz wrote: »

Hi,

My dad is going through a messy divorce and his wife has stated that she wants half of his estate and owning.

He purchased a motor bike a few years back and had a lot of work done on the bike. I expressed that I would like the bike one day and it was discussed that I could either purchase it from him or if anything happens to him it would be left in his will for me.

Now that divorce is on the horizon, he is having to sell the bike to give her half.

Now, today I was talking to someone and they said the following;

"If he sells the bike to you (me) for £1, legally he has to offer her 50p (half) of the sale price.

Is this legit? the guy I spoke with said that it was a few years ago, but things may of changed considering the topsy-tervy UK laws.

It sounds a bit crazy, hence me asking the question here.

Can anybody help with this question?

Thanks

That's from the plot of the movie version of The First Wives Club.

If it's a legitimate gift to you for your sole use, then he may just be able to justify it.

Otherwise courts do not look favourably on divorcing partners who try to hide assets from their partners and the courts.

He could end up paying his wife's court costs as a starter.

Google : divorce hiding hidden assets for more details.

ghettofighterz

Thanks for that,

So he could just give the Bike and there is nothing she could do about it, Is that what you mean?

Savvy_Sue

Once your dad is divorced, he will need to write a new will or his current wife will get nothing, unless she can prove she was financially dependent on him.

Or is she trying to extract all this before death?

What he really needs is proper legal advice, which he can't get here.

Crabapple

He needs to see a divorce/family lawyer and get some specialist advice on what his wife is due.

Her 'getting half' doesn't mean he has to sell or divide every individual asset to give her the proceeds, but she would be entitled to a percentage share of assets.

Exactly what she might be due we can't advise you, he really needs some legal advice.

That said, he definitely can't dispose of assets way below the market value or gift them now without a financial settlement being agreed. Get him to go to a solicitor asap.

TBagpuss

He could potentially give you the bike. However, in deciding how the assets of the marriage are divided a court could take into account the factthat he had, and chose to dispose of the bike.

SO, suppose the other assets were a house with £100K equity and savings of £25K, and the bike was worth £10K, a court could say:
total assets were originally £135K, she gets half of that (£67,500) he gets the balance (£57,500) as he's already had, and chosen to dispose of, the bike.

However, he does need to get proper advice. 50/50 is the start point on a divorce but many, perhaps most divorces don't end up that way, as a whole range of factors such as age, length of marriage, financial need, income and earning capacity etc are all taken into account.

THe aim is to be fair over all, not to split every asset equally, so if he wants to keep the bike, he will probably be able to, as long as she has other assets of a similar value

BobQ

Divorce is often a messy business I recall a builder doing an excellent job for me on an extension. His deal for me was along the lines that "I am going through a divorce at present. How about I do the job for you and you pay me nothing now, keep your money in a high interest account, you keep the interest, then in a year give me the money in a few monthly instalments? That way you benefit and my wife thinks my income is lower"

Re your Dad's bike it would be so easy for his wife to claim foul if he gave it to you or if you sold it for a £1. Best he can do is get some written estimates from reputable people who value it at a rock bottom price and then sell it you at that price. The less reasonable the price seems the more likely that it will be challenged.

How do you make it less valuable? Visit a breaker and buy a knackered engine and exhaust, install them when you get the valuation?