remarriage

[rabbits]

Hi, hope someone can help, I am going to a solicitor next week, but would appreciate any thoughts. I have been divorced from a very wealthy man for about 17 years. We get on very well, he is over 70 now. he is concerned that our kids will have to find �250,000 death duties when he goes. He wants us to remarry (in name only, no hanky panky) which would leave me as beneficiary. He trusts me (rightly) to carve up his estate to the children. I was thinking that in order to protect myself as soon as we were married I would re-draw my will, which would share everything between my children. Having said that, even if I did not do a new will and it would be left to him, I would trust him to divide it between the children. What do you think? As I say I am off to solicitor next week, but just wondered if anyone can see any pitfalls. Would be nice to keep it out of the clutches of the taxman!

[lady_p_gold]

Well it sounds ok, however he is over 70 you say but lots of my parents' friends are living way into their 90's and beyond. What if you did meet someone else and fell in love and then were in the situation that you are married again and could not really get out of it without the death duty thing arising. Is there no way of setting up a trust or something (I am sure someone else will answer about that) or some other way of doing it. If you think my scenario is very unlikely then I suppose there is no pitfall unless it could be proved that you live apart and have only done it to avoid tax in some way, but again I am not an expert on that. Emotionally would it make you feel different? I think that is the key question.

[Loosehead]

There are much better ways to protect money from the tax man. I'm surprised he managed to get wealthy without knowing that, anyway. Ask an IFA, there are various methods available. For example he can set up a trust with you as trustee, no marraige necessary. The options are many and varied and too lengthy to go into here but any half decent IFA should be able to help.