Divorce is a highly stressful time for all members of a family, not least of all the separating couple at the heart of it.
During this difficult time those individuals have to consider their future financial needs and of course, the needs of any children. Therefore focus is given to the assets in the matrimonial pot and how those assets can be fairly divided.
However, an important consideration for the Court’s when dividing assets on divorce is the parties respective future financial positions, which will include the consideration of any inheritance. This is a ‘grey area’ as there is usually no certainty as to when a person will inherit or indeed how that inheritance will affect them financially.
Inheritance in divorce proceedings
As such future inheritance prospects tend to be given more weight where one of the parties is likely to inherit in the near future and the inheritance can be quantified.
There are ways of protecting against inheritance claims and this should be explored with one of our Wills, Trusts and Probate team but trust arrangements and variations of a will can deter the Court from placing too much emphasis on future inheritance in matrimonial proceedings.
The other point to bear in mind is inheritance received during the course of the marriage and whether this should be considered as matrimonial or non-matrimonial property. The difference being that the sharing principle with a starting point of equality applies to matrimonial property but not non-matrimonial property.
The most common way inheritance becomes matrimonial property is when it is used to discharge a mortgage on the former matrimonial home. If this is done during the course of the marriage then it is likely that the additional equity in the home is considered matrimonial and the court is unlikely to give much weight to an argument that one party has contributed more towards the assets on this basis alone.
It is always best to seek advice on this complicated and unclear area of family law.
How Nelsons can help
For more information or if you need help through the divorce or financial process, please contact a member of our Family Law team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.