Inheritance when separated , could I claim ?

Need-2-sort-my-money-out

Slightly nervous about posting this question ....

Short background
Separated for 8 years , have two children , 21 ( at college ) 17 at 6th form .


Ex never really held down a regular job , so have struggled financially to bring up our children since he left , never contacted CSA as it deemed pointless as he never worked , I call it being under the radar .....No maintenance ever !

Im classed as disabled & have also struggled with bad health so Im unable to work ( DLA ) ....

Im due to file for divorce , lots of loose ends here & there and want it all sorted properly , funnily it was applying for student finace that threw up alot of problem for me , as Im not divorced etc .

So my Q is , my EX is due an inheritance shortly & I was hoping that he would offer a sum to our children in the way of helping them get a start , for a car or even just for them to keep till needed later in life ...So where do I stand legally in this ? Is it possible to make a claim on this inheritance ?
We dont own our house as its a Housing Association , so no issues there .

Hope there is some one out there that can shed some light on this please :-)

Many thanks

DUTR

You have a right to start a claim via CMS for the 17 year old.

TBagpuss

When you get divorced, and seek to sort out the finances, anything which either of you has *can* be taken into account. If your ex has already received his inheritance, or if he is due to get it soon (for example, when the person has already died and he is simply waiting for the estate to be distributed) then this will be part of a bigger picture BUT the over-riding aim for any court is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances, and that would include taking into account the fact that you have been separated for 8 years.
One factor which the court looks at it what the financial needs of each of you, and of any *minor* children are - so if you can identify a specific need which would be met by a lump sum payment then you can put that forward.
Unfortunately child support cannot normally be backdated, so the fact that he was not paying for the past 8 years is of limited relevance, particularly as you had not applied for support, so he does not have a debt (and a Judge would probably take into account the fact that he was not paying because he was not working, not because he was evading payment)

A further difficulty is that when the CSA was first introduced, it specifically withdrew child support issues from the courts dealing with divorce settlements, so the court cannot simply award you a lump sum instead of maintenance fro the 17 year old who is still dependent.

Depending on the amount of the inheritance and whether you can identify reasonable needs (which might include a need to have a small 'cushion' of savings, or something such as a car for yourself) a court might decide it was fair for you to get something, but it would not be automatic, and you would potentially have legal costs as well.

The children are not entitled to a lump sum simply because their father has had an inheritance.

Your best bet would be to try to negotiate with him and see whether he is willing to make a gesture on a voluntary basis.

If either of the children is going to university they *might& be able to make a claim for support from him, under Schedule 1 of the Children Act, but you'd need some specific advice, and it would depend a lot on the amount of his inheritance and his own financial needs.

groovy_chick

My situation was very similar to yours; my husband went under the radar and declared no income, so I received nothing for years. We were separated for 8 years before I self-funded our divorce and ended up with even more nothing!

However .... when I went for a free-half hour consultation, the Solicitor that I consulted directly asked me about the health of my In-Laws and if there was any chance of my husband inheriting anytime soon, as she had recently won a large share of inheritance for another client of hers.

It is definitely possible and there is legal precedence for it.

Good luck

Guest101

Need-2-sort-my-money-out wrote: »

Slightly nervous about posting this question ....

Short background
Separated for 8 years , have two children , 21 ( at college ) 17 at 6th form .


Ex never really held down a regular job , so have struggled financially to bring up our children since he left , never contacted CSA as it deemed pointless as he never worked , I call it being under the radar .....No maintenance ever !

Im classed as disabled & have also struggled with bad health so Im unable to work ( DLA ) ....

Im due to file for divorce , lots of loose ends here & there and want it all sorted properly , funnily it was applying for student finace that threw up alot of problem for me , as Im not divorced etc .

So my Q is , my EX is due an inheritance shortly & I was hoping that he would offer a sum to our children in the way of helping them get a start , for a car or even just for them to keep till needed later in life ...So where do I stand legally in this ? Is it possible to make a claim on this inheritance ?
We dont own our house as its a Housing Association , so no issues there .

Hope there is some one out there that can shed some light on this please :-)

Many thanks

To be honest, no.

You can ask, but seperated for 8 years, the court is unlikely to find in your favour. It's not a 'marital asset' in the real sense.

justme111

In my eyes asking for inheritance of a spouse let alone a spouse you split with 8 years ago is not right to say the least. So my answer be "no you should not".

Mrshaworth2b

justme111 wrote: »

In my eyes asking for inheritance of a spouse let alone a spouse you split with 8 years ago is not right to say the least. So my answer be "no you should not".

But this person is not wanting the inheritance just because, the op is wanting it to finally have some support which she has not had. This money is for the children, he helped create them therefore should provide for them.... 8 years later or 8 minutes later it's irrelevant

Guest101

The OP should've claimed CSA then.

FBaby

But the kids are now adults or just about, so don't 'need' the money for them to grow up. It becomes his choice if he wants to support them when he can and OP won't get benefits for them any longer. Hopefully, that will be the decision he will make, especially now that he will be able to give it to them directly.

If he doesn't, then he really isn't much of a father and that's what the children will have to accept.

The bottom line is it becomes an issue between the father and his children, not OP on behalf of them any longer.

justme111

Mrshaworth2b wrote: »

But this person is not wanting the inheritance just because, the op is wanting it to finally have some support which she has not had. This money is for the children, he helped create them therefore should provide for them.... 8 years later or 8 minutes later it's irrelevant

Yeah , yeah , one can always try to justify not an honorable thing to do. It is sad how often kids come as a convenient justification.

Homeownertobe

Mrshaworth2b wrote: »

But this person is not wanting the inheritance just because, the op is wanting it to finally have some support which she has not had. This money is for the children, he helped create them therefore should provide for them.... 8 years later or 8 minutes later it's irrelevant

No, it's not. The money is for her ex and it is for him to decide what to do for it. Not the OP.

If he's so bad then why on earth would you have two children with him?