Death of ex husband advice please

NorfolkBroad

Hi,

My ex husband has just died and I'm trying to find out what I can do to claim my share of his pension.

He left me for another woman in 2017 after 28 years of marriage and we agreed to divorce on the grounds of 2 years separation but she persuaded him to divorce me sooner on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour. He told a pack of lies about me in the divorce petition and missed our youngest son off the list of children of the marriage so I saw a solicitor because I couldn't afford to cross petition. He told me that the reasons given in a divorce aren't made public so if I wanted the divorce to go ahead I should just sign the forms and send them back to the court which I did.
Unfortunately as my husband was the petitioner this allowed him to finalise the divorce without agreeing a financial settlement. We had a verbal agreement that I could stay in the marital home for the time being as I'm disabled and can't work any more (I had to take early retirement on ill health grounds) and as the deposit on the house came from the sale of my flat and I had paid the mortgage by myself for all but one year when I had to give up work after my accident he just wanted £5000 when I eventually could afford to sell it but nothing else was agreed. As soon as the divorce was final he split up with the girlfriend and then cut off all contact with me and the kids. As a result I didn't get a pension sharing agreement.
He left me registered as his spouse on his pensions but after contacting 2 of the company pension schemes they are saying it's at the discretion of the trustees whether they will pay me his death benefits and that I have to prove I was still financially dependent on him to be considered. We still have a joint mortgage so I can prove there was still a financial link at the time of his death but I wasn't getting any money from him so I'm a bit confused whether they will pay out.

Obviously if we had put a pension sharing order in place I would still be eligible for the death benefit. I was his only wife, all his pension contributions were paid during the marriage and neither of us had remarried.

I've now become liable for his half of the mortgage which is interest only which is more than his share of the equity even if he had got 50%. He apparently let his life assurance lapse so I have nothing to pay the mortgage off with and also left me to pay off thousands of pounds of debt both in his name and which he had run up on my credit card so I could really do with the pension money to reduce this.

Can anyone advise me on what to do please?

pinkshoes

This sounds VERY complicated.

I suggest taking legal advice.

If his name is on the deeds to the house, then half the equity in the house will belong to his estate.

Did he leave a will? Surely your children will be the beneficiaries of his estate and thus half the house will belong to them??

What was agreed with the financial part of the divorce settlement??? Consent order?? Your divorce solicitor sounds a little dodgy!

NorfolkBroad

The house was owned as joint tenants so it has passed to me on his death. I notified the mortgage company and they said I can just carry on paying it on my own. He didn't leave a will. We didn't have a financial settlement that is my dilemma. As I understand it the marital home and pensions don't form part of the deceased's estate normally. I've been trying to find him for 3 years because you can still agree a settlement after the divorce is finalised but unfortunately he died before I was able to secure that. The children will inherit the small amount left in his bank account and his share in some property in France left to him by his father a couple of years ago.

NBLondon

Definitely needs expert advice:

NorfolkBroad said:

and also left me to pay off thousands of pounds of debt both in his name and which he had run up on my credit card so I could really do with the pension money to reduce this

Debt in his name counts against his estate surely?  That would possibly wipe out any inheritance for the children.  Debt that he took out fraudulently in your name - you're possibly stuck with that.  You'd have to find some way of proving that it was done without your knowledge/agreement.  

NorfolkBroad said:

He left me registered as his spouse on his pensions but after contacting 2 of the company pension schemes they are saying it's at the discretion of the trustees whether they will pay me his death benefits and that I have to prove I was still financially dependent on him to be considered. 

That presumably depends on the actual terms of that pension i.e. whether a divorced spouse still counts or not without someone else being nominated.   Maybe that will end up with the children instead?

Good Luck - you've got a tough situation.

Second thought...  No will so no named executor.  Does that mean you are doing the probate?

sheramber

My husband named me as beneficiary on his pension.


he left a will leaving everything to me.

The trustees still conducted an enquiry into who should get he payout before awarding it to me.

So , being named as beneficiary does not mean automatic payment to you.

turnitround

My brother died, his wife was still named as beneficiary but as they had been divorced 5 years they did not pay it to her. There was no will, everything, his pensions and company payout went to his son.

NorfolkBroad

I've already cleared the debt he left in his name as he got a CCJ registered at my address and I didn't want baliffs turning up. He was an additional user on my credit card so paid for an HGV refresher course/test and consequent hotel accommodation on it plus for repairs to his car when he crashed it which all amounted to about £5k. I've paid that off as the account was in my name too.

He doesn't strictly have an estate other than what was left of his Universal Credit payment so there is no probate as it's under £5000. Our daughter is trying to sort all the legalities and the cremation out as I wasn't allowed to do anything because of the divorce.  The interest in the property in France won't actually pass to him/our children until his mother dies due to the way inheritance law works there.

Spendless

Your daughter is aware that if she sorts out the funeral she becomes responsible for paying for it?

Were your children minors at the time of the divorce? 

I wasn't aware that being petioner allowed a divorce to be finalised without a financial agreement being reached.

Won't his estate include the house you are living in if his name is still on it along with yours, so upto 50% of any equity?

I also think you need legal advice. 

NorfolkBroad

No he waited until the youngest was 18 before he left. The house was owned as joint tenants so as I understand it each of us own the whole house jointly and on his death his interest in it automatically passes to me as the surviving tenant. It can't be passed on in a will (which is non-existent anyway.)  I just had to fill in a form for the Land Registry and send it with a copy of his death certificate to get his name taken off the deeds after notifying the mortgage company.

Flugelhorn

NorfolkBroad said:

No he waited until the youngest was 18 before he left. The house was owned as joint tenants so as I understand it each of us own the whole house jointly and on his death his interest in it automatically passes to me as the surviving tenant. It can't be passed on in a will (which is non-existent anyway.)  I just had to fill in a form for the Land Registry and send it with a copy of his death certificate to get his name taken off the deeds after notifying the mortgage company.

yes fortunately you do own it all - any further payment of debts / funeral expenses etc should be out of estate (what there is of it)