i want to give my sister a large sum of money

[bednobs]

The problem is that she is separated from her useless Finance Specialist of a husband. If i give her a large sum, if they got divorced could he claim any of that money? (it will be significantly more than he will earn in 10 years)

[cathfromsaron]

i would give her 'access' to the sum, from your own pocket and not actually part with the money officially until their divorce is settled!

cath x

[bednobs]

i don't really know if she ever plans to divorce him though, and i want her to have it out right, not have to ask me for it. She lives abroad

[Jemisa]

Can I be your sister?

Jem

[cathfromsaron]

then open an account only known to you and her!

yes he can claim from all her assets should they divorce!

[bednobs]

it's a large amount - people will know she has money because i hope she will spend it. SHe might buy a house or something - i think he'd be quite interested to know where the money came from

[bednobs]

perhaps i'll make her divorce a condition of getting the money

[Slapshot]

Speak to a lawyer, he/she might be able to give you a clever solution

[tiggerblue10]

Open an account for her in your name and give her a debit card so that she has access to it. If its in your name he shouldn't be able to gain from it I would have thought.

[ubasses]

speak to a solicitor and see if you can put it in a trust to protect it.

[Prudie]

And check on the tax situation bednobs. I didn't think you could gift more than £3000 a year without tax being paid. I could be wrong of course.

[ubasses]

You can give as much as you want as a Potentially exempt transfer, but if you die within 7 years there will be tax yo pay on a sliding scale.

[boxtops]

why don't you keep the money in a separate account in your own name, and just transfer any to her as she needs it?

You'd need to be careful about the legalities of it though, when I was in insurance you could take out Gifts Inter Vivos insurance in case anything happened to you within 7 years of the gift, to do with tax liability on large bequests.

[boxtops]

^ what ubasses said

[hc4361]

If she buys a house or any asset whilst she is married then husband may well have a claim.

The only thing I can think of is a trust but I don't know enough about them especially when the beneficiary lives abroad.

[ladyalex]

Some banks do a 'Third party interest' account.
Open an account in your name with her as the 'third party' and she can operate it as if it was her own.
I have one for an elderly relative from the RBS which works very well.

[hc4361]

That doesn't deal with the problem of marital assets though

[cathfromsaron]

let her choose the house and buy in your name?

[hc4361]

What country is she living in?

[ladyalex]

If you mean the third party account, hc4361, I think it does. The account would be in bednobs's name, not her sister's and would remain her money.
It just means her sister can access it whenever she wants.

[ubasses]

problem is if her sister withdraws the money as purchaes an asset her husband would then probably have a claim on it.