We are often asked to advise about the impact of inheritances on the division of assets of separated parties - “I received an inheritance during the marriage, how will that be taken into account?” or “I am going to receive an inheritance, do I have to give half of it to [my ex spouse]?”.
The law can consider the impact of an inheritance on division of property between parties including inheritances which occurred during the relationship and inheritances which have been received after separation (and where parties have not formalised any formal property settlement agreements). Generally, the law needs to look at the current value of property between the parties or either of them, take a backward looking step in assessing the myriad of “contributions” each party made (including via inheritances) and then take a forward look step and make appropriate adjustments for the “future circumstances” of the parties.
An inheritance is usually seen as a special contribution on behalf of the person who received the inheritance (due to the relationship being between the person who received the inheritance and the person who has provided it). What weight will be placed on an inheritance in determining the overall property settlement between the parties will depend on many factors, including when it was received, the amount of it and compared to the property pool to be divided, what contributions has the other party made, what other property is there to divide.
We are able to advise you about the impact of inheritances on property settlement matters including options to protect future inheritances from being dealt with in a property settlement.
