How can we Protect my Sister's Inheritance

SuzieSue

Mojisola wrote: »

I would check with an experienced divorce solicitor first.

Yes, that is why I said that I wasn't sure if it would be acceptable in a divorce court.

JimmyTheWig

£60k to be shot of this guy sounds like a worthy investment.
Once he is well and truly out of the way, no reason why you and your brother can't each make a gift to your sister so that the inherritance (minus what the husband walked off with) is split equally.

To make the numbers simpler, lets assume total inherritance is £360k.
So from the will you each get £120k.
Husband walks off with half of your sister's (£60k).
You and your brother each give your sister £20k.
You, your brother and your sister each end up with £100k.

The good news is that you and your brother don't need this money. Which means that the only priority is for your sister to get away from her husband. The inherritance is somewhat irrelevant.

pphillips

Practically she should put the inheritance in a single person account so the husband can't just run off with it, I would think that the family court would be unlikely to consider an inheritance as marital property when dividing up the assets (but then you never know what a court will decide). A discretionary trust is definitely the safest option but is also the most restrictive one.

Savvy_Sue

willieormandsheroes wrote: »

I'll add - as I haven't mentioned it as it might have complicated things further or irrelevant - my brother-in-law is disabled and my sister is his legal carer - and so she feels (and has) a responsibility to him that makes it difficult for her to walk away - despite how badly he treats her.

I've bolded a bit I disagree with. She may well FEEL a responsibility to him, but actually, she does not HAVE a responsibility to stay with and care for a man who is abusing her.

I used to work for a housing association. We had some fairly unpleasant tenants, including one who was disabled and seemed to think that gave them the right to shout at and abuse staff if they didn't get what they wanted it, when they wanted it. When their spouse left, the only wonder was that they'd stayed as long as they had ...

BTW, is your sister currently renting? If so, and she has a social landlord (council or housing association), then it is worth speaking to her housing officer about the situation and what the possibilities would be if she left.

DandelionPatrol

pphillips wrote: »

Practically she should put the inheritance in a single person account so the husband can't just run off with it, I would think that the family court would be unlikely to consider an inheritance as marital property when dividing up the assets (but then you never know what a court will decide). A discretionary trust is definitely the safest option but is also the most restrictive one.

The single person account is a no-starter, because she will just be bullied to release the money. And at the moment, there is no basis to do any sort of trust - unless she is free enough to sign a deed of variation on the will - or some sort of deed to establish a trust.

willieormandsheroes wrote: »

Interesting piece of advice she was given by Women's Aid was that opening a joint bank account with either myself or my brother, would prevent her husband having access to any money in that account. Not sure how that actually works.

The joint bank account is probably the only option, but unless it was instigated under a trust deed, while the legal ownership will be joint, which will provide some protection, the beneficial ownership is entirely the sister's. Hence, this protection could be unpicked if the husband were so minded and sufficiently informed. Certainly a divorce would bring lawyers into play ....

sheramber

A joint account would only work if it needed both signatures to withdraw money and the other person refused to sign.

willieormandsheroes

But as a minimum we could set up a joint bank account with her and set up a regular transfer of funds from the joint account to her own single person account. This sounds all very controlling - but it would have to be - and I think she'd go for it if we explained to her that is was for the best and for her own good.

What protection would the joint account give to the funds in the joint account in the event of a divorce?

As it happens - speaking to my brother this weekend - it transpires that he has a mate who is a divorce lawyer, so he should be able to get some basic guidance on all of this from him.

SuzieSue

Remember if you open a joint account with your sister then you will be financially linked with her and so her credit rating will affect yours.

TBagpuss

the best thing that she can do is to get divorced ASAP, while your mum is still alive. At that point, her share of inheritance won't come into the finacial dicision because it isn't hers yet. It could be needed for your Mum's care. (and as you you say you 'expect' the money to be divided, you don't even know for sure iof she would inherit)

So the best scenario is divorce + fiancial settlement now.

Even if your mum were to die before the divorce and finances were settled, the fact that the inheritnac ecame after she was already in the process of divorcing him is something a court could take into account.

You and your brother may be able to help by going slow with the probate so that it is harder for her husband to bully her into handing over the inheritance, and also by providing moral and practical support as she goes through the divorce. It is very common in absuve relationships for the abuser to use empitional blackmail and manipulation to try to undermine the victim' self confidence and to play of their feeligns of guilt, so your sister may need lots of reassurance and encoruagement to counteract that.

RAS

OP - you really do need advice on Scottish divorce law.

I believe that assets of a marriage in Scotland are this owned at the point when the couple separate, not when they divorce, so an inheritance after separation would not count and it is possible that inherited assets may not count:

The factors are

1. Establishing the date of separation on which the married couple cease to cohabit as man and wife.

2. Identifying all the assets owned jointly or individually by a couple at the separation date including the house, furnishings, a car, pensions, savings and investments and any outstanding liabilities (mortgage, car finance, personal loans, credit card debts etc) in existence on the date of separation.

3. Determining any non matrimonial property by looking at the individual assets and seeing the circumstances in which they were acquired. Assets owned by either party before the marriage or those gifted or inherited are not matrimonial property.

4. Valuing matrimonial assets as at the date of separation, for example, by providing statements for savings, asking insurance companies for surrender valuations of endowments and pension providers for the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value. Endowment policies and pensions started before marriage are apportioned for the years of the marriage. It's best to have agreement before having the house valued by a Chartered Surveyor. The liabilities are deducted from the assets to provide the net value of matrimonial property.

Your sister needs to see a good Scottish divorce lawyer PDQ.