inheritance

Explain to your son what you are planning to do and you will keep his share until you know he will not lose out to his ex

Yes she may well have a claim if you give your son money. If he needs money now the simplest way is to give him a loan and charge peppercorn interest on it. You would need to draw up a document and both sign it. As the money is still yours she would have no claim on it.

How is a Deed of Variation not legally binding? Bit mystified on that as I would consider it is or what's the point of it. You know your son best but perhaps rather than hand over money that could well be included in any divorce settlement why not help with stuff he made need wherever he goes to live eg furnishings, white goods. That would save his own money.

DEFINITELY seek legal advice on this. There are all sorts of reasons in which ex spouses can go after money earned or inherited after a divorce (a divorce is not the firm line that we tend to think it is). Keep it in your husband's name and then legal advice. You could always use the money later on to help him re-establish his life. A friend of mine bought 50% share in a terraced house to help out her son who got divorced. She charges him a tiny rent (you have to do this otherwise it's treated in law as a gift - I understand - and then the ex can go after it later as being an undisclosed asset, even years later, especially if there are children).

Hang on to his share. Hold it for him. If he wants to use some of it ie to buy a car, or a holiday, pay for it out of the money you’re holding for him. Don’t let him put it into a property unless they have divorced.

What is promised in a will is not likely to be included in a divorce settlement now, when your husband dies it could all have been spent on care home fees for instance.

Give him whatever you want after the divorce, normally divorces are settled on a “clean break” basis with child maintenance, and no future claims can be made. If they are made on a “spousal maintenance” basis future prospects are taken into account.

I think that once a couple are divorced and there is a clean break anything that your son 'gains' whether by working (bonus) or having a gift is his. For the time being I would hang onto the money and wait until after the divorce. If he needs it now, then make it a loan with a minimal repayment as others have said. Legal advice wouldn't hurt and you may be able to find some information on line

Usually divorces are ‘ in full and final settlement ‘ so no further claims can be made from one and other . Wait until the divorce then give to your son so he will be able to put it towards starting again.

As they have only be married a year the settlement will be low unless there is a child ( that is his). Divorces are expensive, she might get less than her costs!.

A lot surely depends on what country, or in some places, state you and your son live in. Avalon’s idea seems sound but more knowledgeable people may disagree.

I guess there are online divorce solicitors/accountants who could advise.

When I divorced I was well advised that although the divorce certificate is very important it is not a guarantee that the partner cannot come back and claim more in certain circumstances such as an inheritance or lottery win. The document that is most important is a Consent Order whereby both parties sign to say they will not in the future have a lien on the other. I did this and very glad I did, I have now for years felt safe from my money grabbing ex.

As has been said before they have only been married a year so I doubt any court would give the wife a claim on future earnings, inheritance or whatever after such a short time. The wife will just go back to living as she was before the marriage providing there are no children. If your son needs some money now to tide him over until things are settled go down the loan route as others have suggested with signed paperwork and small monthly repayments to you via a direct debit from his own account to create a paper trail but then give him the repayments back in cash each month.

I'd ask a solicitor for advice, only by getting proper advice from lawyer who knows all the ins and outs of the various laws and the whole situation can give correct advice
As for suggesting counselling, unless you know the whole story,maybe not a good idea to suggest,if not now it might happen another few years in the future and then the money certainly would be included in the settlement. and there might be children by then, be a listening ear by all means and shareany concerns, but beware of interfering in someone else's marriage

If they have a "clean break" divorce she will not be able to claim once divorced (I'm going through this at the moment and this is something I've discussed with my solicitor)

Whose to prove the money is your sons if H leaves it in his own account ?Inform your son why you are doing this and should S insist on having the money in his own account then let him have it. Not your problem any more if his wife takes some if it.

If I was you I’d park it for him because I’m pretty sure she can claim it if he had it now.

By park it I mean open a separate savings account in your names and ‘park’ it there until he’s divorced. Ask him if he needs anything maybe you can buy it and he can ‘borrow’ it .

The best course of action is to wait until after the divorce and after the financial consent order made by the court as sometimes the financial order is not made at the same time as the divorce. If no financial order is made by the court ( or if a party has lied about their finances) , an ex spouse can come back at any time for a financial settlement order unless they have remarried someone else in the meantime. There was a case in the press about two years ago about a wife who was claiming 25 years after the original divorce. In that time the man had rebuilt his life and had become a very successful businessman. The eventual financial settlement was much more than the wife would have achieved 25 years earlier, when they were both poor.

For goodness sake, hang on to the money for now; when my DD divorced, her ex tried to grab everything he could, even attempting to go after her 'future inheritance' from us. His claims were wild and unfounded but we had some terrible times, consumed with worry by solicitor's letters, and saw some very odd and unexpected things happen in court before the financial matters were signed off. Please wait until the decree absolute and the finances arrangements have been secured before you give him anything.

Financial arrangements - typos.

Divorce does not mean someone can't claim against the other! Only a financial settlement on the basis of a 'clean break settlement' can ensure no future claim. Divorce and settlement are two different things!

When I divorced we divided everything 50/50 and signed an agreement that each would not have recourse on pensions, earning in the future etc. Our son was 16, he stayed with me, there was no maintenance as I wanted a clean break, was of the mind I was whippet capable of caring financially for my son and I without being tied indefinitely to my ex. By all means ‘loan” your son money now if he needs it for the divorce and keep the rest until his divorce is final. They have only been married a year and it’s unreasonable to expect one adult to maintain another ‘forever’ if there are no children both sound young enough to start again.

Pp has suggested paying for items/rent for the son to save his money. But if it saved his money...then he would have his own extra money to be shared in any settlement. Just the same result as having given him the money.

Paying his rent for example means he has more money half of which could be claimed
To buy him a car... The value of the car will be part of his financial assets so you don't want that.

The purpose is for him to have as little as possible when it comes to settlement either in cash, in the bank, or as assets.

If he got a 'loan' from you to help him out he should be seen to make repayments to you but do not give him back the cash because once again this would mean his own (more) money would be available for settlement.

He should gain nothing until full and final settlement and until after the Decree Absolute.until

Also definitely do not trust the other party if she was to say she would make no claim.

Ignore the extra..... until.

Daividhs that's what I was going to suggest , when obtaining a divorce I have been reading about instructing a "Clean Break"

Never heard of it before. But after reading story(American based) about an ex that claimed a large amount of money years after the divorce it made me think.

The Clean Break means you cannot claim any money ie :
lottery win, inheritance etc etc after the divorce is final.

It works both ways.