Survey question about money and ethics

[Anonymous]

What? I thought it's something between business partners. It's not her money. It's the money of whoever inherits it. Law tells who gets the money.
I was going to say that I would double the money in two months and then give the partner their money.

[Anonymous]

F

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This would never be your spouse’s to access unless you commingled the funds.

This wound up being anti climactic.

And as always shows why "more details" is so necessary.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]OP here, so let me explain why I feel it is mine and not shared. My wife and I are going to get separated. About a year ago a relative passed away and unexpectedly left me a fair sum. Even then my wife & I kinda both knew things were on the rocks, so I only told her about a tiny part of this relative's holding. She knows nothing of the major windfall. This relative was not on her side of the family. The trust wasn't set up correctly so the funds have been held up. With a bit more delay I think I can probably keep it all. Or I could funnel the money into another. Either way, regardless of legal claim, it becomes practically difficult to do anything about this after separation. I just need to keep her in the dark a bit more. We're splitting all the other assets. She doesn't really need extra. And if we had separated just a bit earlier, she wouldn't have any claim on an unrelated person's inheritance. Why should she now have a claim by this chance? It's MY relative. And -- despite the fact that I'm telling her our split is mutually amicable -- she's never really respected or appreciated me. Why should I even consider sharing?[/quote]

As others have said inherited money is not considered a marital asset unless you do mingle it with other marital assets. However, since you know you are going to be inheriting a substantial sum, you can afford to be generous with the divorce settlement. You don’t have to but if you have children with your spouse, it is really nice if they can benefit from it in both houses and they see you acting in a positive way toward their other parent. Even if you do not have children, this is a person with whom you shared your life and were prepared to be with for a long time. I am sorry it did not work out with her, it sounds like she initiated the separation.

[Anonymous]

F

What is the source of the money’s preference?

Do you care about keeping this person in your life moving forward?

Don’t be greedy. Money really is not the most important thing. I

[Anonymous]

OP-you asked, “why should she benefit by the mere chance that it came thru before you were divorced.”

I say, “ why should you benefit from the mere chance that it was delayed due to being set up wrong. “
Your reasoning is not objective at all.

Be the bigger person. Do you want her to walk away with evidence that you are dishonest? Do you care what your family, including your kids, think about your character?

[Anonymous]

F.

The anticipated guilt of doing otherwise or fear of a lawsuit and/or time/mental cost of being sued would be too much for me.