Is my inheritance fair game in divorce settlement?

maryrr

I will be initiating divorce proceedings soon - does husband have claim to property I inherited from my father while married?

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118534945#Comment_118534945

But that was the judge's decision - the point is, it was up to the judge to decide whether your prior-to-relationship inheritance would be divided between you and your ex or not. He decided not, in those circumstances, but another judge in other circumstances might make a different decision.

Everything is in the mix for the financial settlement on marriage breakdown. That doesn't mean that everything will be divided - just that it can be.

And of course assets can be taken into account without being divided. Suppose you had inherited a large fortune. The judge might decide that no part of that fortune would be shared with your ex but that, since you had so much money, there was less need, or no need, to give you any share of your ex's assets, or any right to future maintenance when, if you hadn't had the inheritance, they would have ordered either or both of these things.

Basically, on a divorce the court has very wide powers to order the payment of maintenance (either periodical or lump sum), the transfer of assets from one spouse to another or the sale of assets and division of the proceeds, the adjustment of pension entitlements, etc. In exercising these powers, the court not only may but must consider income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each of the spouses concerned has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future. So any or all income or assets which either spouse has, or which they both have jointly, can be the subject of a court order splitting or transferring it.

But this does not translate into an automatic 50/50 split of everything. What the court is trying to do is to make financial provision for each spouse and for any dependent members of the family "as is proper having regard to all the circumstances of the case". The court will look not just at the income and assets that each spouse has, but also at their financial needs, obligations and responsibilities; the standard of living they enjoyed before the divorce/separation; the age of the spouses; the duration of the relationship; any physical or mental disabilities; the contributions each has made to the welfare of the family; etc. Only after looking at all these factors does the judge decide what is the proper financial settlement. If a transfer of some of your inherited assets to your partner was necessary in order to provide for your children, for example, any judge would do that in a heartbeat.

Housefree

Yes

GerardKeating

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058229303/is-my-inheritance-fair-game-in-divorce-settlement

Do you have childern, whom you wish to leave some property to in trust till they are 18 ?

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058229303/is-my-inheritance-fair-game-in-divorce-settlement

All your property, and all your spouse's property, is in the mix for the financial settlement. How each of you acquired your property, or when you acquired it, is irrelevant.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118524143#Comment_118524143

Thanks for that Peregrinus. I too had wondered about that recently. After an order of divorce if I inherit something, can my ex spouse try and go back to court to claim that too, or is the divorce settlement final? Thanks for all your very useful information.

Caranica

Divorce settlements aren't final but not easily revisited either. My solicitor said I had to be sure that everything was future proof in so far as possible.

boardlady

As above, you can try and future proof your settlement. In my case, my legal team made not returning to the courts in the future a condition of agreeing to a particular financial concession. The order does not contain the usual 'liberty to apply'. Of course, these things can be revisited but it has been made far more difficult to do so.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118524143#Comment_118524143

When I separated, the Judge wouldn't countenance my ex taking a bite of my prior to relationship inheritance and said basically it was ringfenced.

Taxation should be kept out of families and inheritance tax is wrong - IMO.

cnocbui

I understand that, but the Judge explicitly rejected the request and stated that it was not eligible for consideration as established legal principal, or words to that effect.

Obviously he could consider the inheritance in his head, but he rejected the explicit request to make a judgement against it on the basis of established precedent.

You clearly are far more knowledgeable about this than I, and I bow to that.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118538952#Comment_118538952

Some judges in family law cases talk a lot of shite because there is no one there to hold them to account. What one judge says in a low level court can't be inferred to be a general principle universally applied.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545842#Comment_118545842

This one was president of the circuit court.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545862#Comment_118545862

Most unlikely, but even so, it doesn't mean it was correct.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118534612#Comment_118534612

Could they try? Yes

Would it be successful - that depends on circumstances. It would probably be unlikely but not guaranteed to not happen. If one ex-spouse was now destitute and the other inherited 5 million, then the destitute one would have a good change to have terms revisited.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118534945#Comment_118534945

There is absolutely nothing wrong with inheritance tax any more than any other tax. In fact, it could be argued that it is altogether a fairer tax for society than most other taxes.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118549682#Comment_118549682

The Judge was a stand in. His name is on the judgement and I looked it up on the internet. You are correct, it doesn't necessarily make him right.