Wills better than prenuptials in divorces?

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  1. #1

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    Wills better than prenuptials in divorces?

    I have been informed that drawing up a Will here in HKG, will protect your assets if a divorce occured, ie if I put all my assets in a will for my family to inherit everything, then any future spouse would not have a right to any of the assets if thats the way I wanted it to be. This is probably how all these mega stars here in HKG protect their assets when they divorce.
    useful comments appreciated

    thanks in advance


  2. #2

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    I am not a lawyer, but as I understand it, if you are domiciled in Hong Kong and all your assets are in Hong Kong then maybe. But if, say, you are domiciled and the bulk of your assets are in the US then having a will drawn up under HK law isn't going to change much in respect your wife's right to inheritance.


  3. #3

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    If you are thinking like this, perhaps the safest thing is not to marry?


  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by MovingIn07:
    If you are thinking like this, perhaps the safest thing is not to marry?
    Or stay away from gold diggers

  5. #5

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    Having been totally stuffed in my divorce you would think I would err on the side of prenuptials, but no I agree with Moving - if you are thinking like this then don't get married.


  6. #6

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    Hmm - I am not sure that drawing up a Will will offer much (if any) protection upon divorce. Surely a Will only deals with assets upon the death of the party making the Will? Until such time, any assets held by any party to the marriage are up for grabs. If what you claim is true about making a Will then it puts the weaker party at a severe disadvantage and would doubtlessly be challenged.

    I actually diasagree with previous posters about pre-nuptial agreements. I think they can be a good idea in second marriages in mid-life when one or both parties may have assets acquired pre-marriage to protect. In younger marriages there are often not so many assets to protect and any assets are jointly earned so rightly fall in to the marital pot

    However, in some jurisdictions such as England & Wales, pre-nups are not legally binding but do carry weight provided both parties have taken proper legal advice and one party did not sign under duress.

    Better not to marry at all, I'd say - especially a second time.


  7. #7

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    If you want to protect your assets, you might want to consider setting up a trust. Whether a trust can protect your assets from divorce depends on the terms of the trust, why it was created, the timing of its creation and the way it is administered. But obviously the courts' powers means the protection is only available up to a point. You need to talk to an estate & trusts lawyer.


  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Claire ex-ax:
    If you want to protect your assets, you might want to consider setting up a trust. Whether a trust can protect your assets from divorce depends on the terms of the trust, why it was created, the timing of its creation and the way it is administered. But obviously the courts' powers means the protection is only available up to a point. You need to talk to an estate & trusts lawyer.
    Claire is right - seems it is a trust, not a will that the OP is after.

    As for the stars, tycoons, etc., trusts indeed used to be very popular, but mostly because of favorable tax treatment (no estate/inheritance tax) - until the abolition of the estate/inheritance tax in 2006.
    Last edited by beachball; 17-12-2008 at 11:47 AM.

  9. #9

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    thanks for the excellent and useful responses.
    for a full proof protection other than not marrying, would just transferring my properties, accounts etc to my family members be more useful?


  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by nixodian:
    thanks for the excellent and useful responses.
    for a full proof protection other than not marrying, would just transferring my properties, accounts etc to my family members be more useful?

    of course they would appoint me as benefactor in their will and if this is disadvantageous to this regards, then l could be left out.

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