How do I make my inheritance safe from unfaithful husband

lifebeginsat50

I am just starting the divorce process from my husband. I'm 51, been married 22 years and together for 31 years. He's having a long term affair which is continuing. Both my parents passed away the last 4 years and I recently sold their house. I have 650K which I need to use to buy myself and 2 young children a house without a mortgage sometime in 2019 once the divorce has been finalised. I have been advised by someone to put the money into different bank/savings accounts and a lump some of 30K in premium bonds to keep the money safe and accessible. Should I use this financial company to do this or is it something I can easily do myself? They would charge £500.

Mojisola

The inheritance will be part of the marital assets.

I'd treat any firm that offers to 'hide' assets for you as a very dubious company.

littleredhen

Generally, inheritances are not subject to equitable distribution because, by law, inheritances are not considered marital property. Instead, inheritances are treated as separate property belonging to the person who received the inheritance, and therefore may not be divided between the parties in a divorce. Found this quote online, not sure if its any help

lifebeginsat50

Just to clarify, all the money is currently in a bank account and at risk if the bank goes down the toilet, hence wanting to put it into several (8) accounts. It will all be visible to my husband when we do the financials. I'm not trying to hide it and I think my thread title may have been misleading. I want to make it safe so that it can be seen that I am keeping the money for myself and the children. The inheritance came at the end of our marriage and I won't be claiming on his when his parents eventually pass.

Mojisola

lifebeginsat50 wrote: »

Just to clarify, all the money is currently in a bank account and at risk if the bank goes down the toilet, hence wanting to put it into several (8) accounts.

It will all be visible to my husband when we do the financials. I'm not trying to hide it and I think my thread title may have been misleading. I want to make it safe so that it can be seen that I am keeping the money for myself and the children. The inheritance came at the end of our marriage and I won't be claiming on his when his parents eventually pass.

You don't need to pay a company money to open accounts for you.

While you may be able to claim more than 50% of the marital assets because you are going to be the children's main carer, don't expect to keep it all.

System

An NS&I Direct Saver would be a safe bet as it is backed by the UK government, but the interest rate is 0.95% so you won't get rich!

bowlhead99

Economic wrote: »

An NS&I Direct Saver would be a safe bet as it is backed by the UK government, but the interest rate is 0.95% so you won't get rich!

The NSandI monthly income bonds pay more than the direct saver, at 1% with instant access; the OP mentioned not needing to buy a property into 2019 so could presumably use the Guaranteed Income Bonds at 1.45% for a one year fix.

colsten

If you are considering Premium Bonds, you might as well go for the £50K rather than just £30K.

polymaff

bowlhead99 wrote: »

The NSandI monthly income bonds pay more than the direct saver, at 1% with instant access; the OP mentioned not needing to buy a property into 2019 so could presumably use the Guaranteed Income Bonds at 1.45% for a one year fix.

If that's the timescale, better to put it into the three-year product and pay the penalty?

CatLady13

Sorry to hear of all the hardships you’ve been through recently. I hope you can use the money to build a better future for yourself.

Please consider using a decent solicitor. With that kind of money involved it’s worth it and a decent one may be expensive but you’ll be better off for it.

Also please make a will ASAP if you haven’t already as your husband is still a beneficiary until you divorce.

Agree with the others about using NS&I products for now. Stick the max into Premium Bonds and the rest in income bonds or guaranteed growth bonds. Good luck.

Snakey

Sorry to hear about your divorce, after being together for the whole of your adult life that's going to mean some big changes. You sound a whole lot more positive than a lot of people in your position would be.

The first thing I would do is get legal advice about what you can expect to happen financially - there seems to be some doubt over whether this money is "yours" (in a non-moral sense) and that needs to be clarified because the difference between £650k and £325k might change your plans and even if things are relatively amicable between you and your husband right now, things can change and you can't rely on other people's continued goodwill and willingness to "do the right thing" when it could be massively to their own detriment. We are all only human.

Depending on what the housing market's like in the place you plan to buy (and on how definite those plans are, of course), you could maybe buy the house now and rent it out so that it's there when you are ready to move? You don't want to be putting all that cash in the stock market for such a short time, but equally the rate of return you'll get from savings accounts is way below inflation.