Cutting spouse out of an early inheritance!?!?

Hello people!

I would very much like to know if someone could shed any light on what the law says about this...

My wife received an early inheritance from her grandfather. It wasn't much, but £10,000 nevertheless.

We have been a couple and lived together for 10 years, and been married for 4 years. There is no prenuptial agreement in place and all our finances have been jointly shared. Not to mention that we also have a company together which has pretty much just been the two of us, and we do own my parents some loan that they signed on our behalf when we were starting out.

Ok, probably needless to say.. we are going through a very tough period in our marriage and frankly.. most likely it won't survive out this year.

Now, she has her own account abroad (Scandinavia) and this inheritance money was deposited into this account. Furthermore we've had another £3,500 put into that same account. So £13,500 all in all. But when I ask my wife how much is on the account now it's only £2,000. OK!? I know where £6,200 of this £13,500 went but the remainder ca. £5,200 she can't account for.

Just so you know... I know those aren't massive amounts of money, and I am not trying to be anal about this. But under the circumstances, which I don't wanna go into details here, it's important I know my right, no matter how petty it seems.

First of all, just looking coldly at the law...

Don't I as her husband co-own all money she is given, and vice versa?
i.e. we share our "wealth" and "losses" (in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health...) ?!?!

Secondly, we need the money and should be paying off debt, which isn't either that much, but debt nevertheless. If this is going to be a battle, I mean the divorce, couldn't I demand to have access to this money, and to know what this missing £5k went on?



...Again, I know those figures aren't worth bending your back over for... but it's a start for me to figure out my right, cause the eventual financial side of our imminent divorce would actually handle much bigger sums.

Hope someone knows anything about this!

Thanks,

Hamlet

I think the marriage vows should be re written for the bloke thus
"With all my wordly goods I do thee endow and what's mine being a bloke is now yours and what's yours is... uh... oh... uh
eerrrmmm are you sure this is right,vicar?OK and what's yours as a woman is still yours!Amen."
Good luck trying to get a share of her inheritance tht's in a foreign bank account!
Last time there was that big a miracle a big Star was over a stable in Bethlehem!
all the best
Pete xx

Yes Pete an echo of my words. Try I bought half a house into the marriage. She bought a debt. We bought her business on an agreement the solicitor winged about being unfair. Yep 20% of our profits went to her father partner on the pretence that it was family and we would expect to get it back as inheritance. F**** the fact that we were struggling for 10 years and I was doing 2 jobs. Add in that the pot includes the inheritance from my parents and grandmother who are probably swivelling at high speed in their graves having all lived abstemious lives to save. I wonder what my legal arguement would be regarding what I would have expected to get as a result of the tansferring money to her side of the family whilst leaving our family working like hell to make ends meet on the fact that the inheritance would be returned to us. Of course wills can be changed. So like foreign bank accounts chances are as good as making tea in a chocolate teapot. Pty the vows dont read...Whats mine is mine. whats yours is ours as that is what is being said at the moment by her. As she lives a life of luxury we struggle to meet the bills. Im still thinking of ways to wipe that smile off her face. Give me time.!!!! No Im not being nasty but if it wasn't for my daughter who is at uni and we are using her student loan as a buffer we would be bust.

Ok, but seriously, all sarcasm aside...

If I was given £50k tomorrow, it would be pretty weird if I got myself a brand new BMW, and stacked the rest aside in an off shore bank account and I wouldn't share the money with my wife... no matter how bad the marriage's gone.

Just plain and simple... is it legal to not account for any money or gifts to the other spouse, especially if there is no prenuptial agreement in place.

No matter how far fetched it is to correct the situation in practice... i.e. getting the money from the foreign bank account.

Hamlet

Hi Hamlet and welcome. I see you think it is pretty weird if you got £50k and bought a new BMW. Keep watching the site and you will see that this is exactly what people do. Mine went and bought a house...technically half the mortgage is my debt. By the way she already had a flat to live in. Then came the new furniture...curtains..wait for it...at £100 a square metre !!! 2 new plasma screen TVs, 3 expensive ski trips, only stays in £200 a night hotels, etc. Her last clothing item was £575. One item. Me and my daughter are struggling as I said ..ie one bulb on at a time..only work electrical items on off peak and heat the house with scrap wook on a woodburner. At a rough estimate she has spent...yes spent or hidden £200k in 2 years. So as you can see it doesn't matter what figures are involved someone loses out. Thus this post !!! Take care Polar. PS this happend to both sexes by the way as you will see from the struggling mums and struggling dads whilst the other half skips off spending money like water and on their new other halves.

Hey Polar!

Thanks for the comment. At least I know I am not the only one dealing with some weird behavior from somebody you thought you knew so well.

Hmmm... I know this 10k is not something I am going to lose any sleep over. But I know there is a bigger case on the horizon which I know will be a battle, well it already is, and this 10k issue was just an easy example.

Basically my wife seems to be taking the weirdest things for granted, like when it comes to even split our belongings... not only did she just assume certain things were rightfully hers without ever having a conversation about it with me, but she also came to our home with her brother to pack her stuff (not moved out yet though), and the whole thing was very uncomfortable not only for me, but also her brother, whom I like very much and like his company anytime... but not maybe exactly that moment.

I was just spinning in my head between just say f****k it, let her just take whatever she wants, and then just fighting this arrogance with resistance questioning her and telling her off for being so selfish. Oh dear... this wasn't supposed to be easy I guess.

Hamlet

Oh Hamlet the site is littered with posts regarding the behaviour of someone you knew so well. (or thought you did)
So welcome to the site of battered, bruised, depressed, worried, anxious people and those who are recovering with the help of Wiki, I have waited 17 months for the one particular answer I was looking for to come up !!! One hint though. Trust nobody you know unless you are 100% sure. Move outside your circle if you want info...ie anonymous on Wiki or people you didn't know as a couple. Take care Polar