My husband has 2 private pensions. He is retired. Rather than turning them into annuities, he made them into draw-down pensions. So we manage on his state pension and my Pip and he can take out extra funds when he needs to.
He had to talk to a financial advisor who questioned him about the wisdom of this, and in particular asked him about my financial needs in the event of his death. One of the arguments DH made is that because my health isn't great he'll almost certainly outlive me. There's no real medical reason for this. I am disabled and have chronic health issues - which mean I cannot work - but may have little bearing on my lifespan, and he is 8 years older. DH persuaded me to sign to agree to the way the pensions are paid, despite my misgivings. I'm really not sure what the wisest decision was.
Now, he is talking about leaving one of those pensions to one of our children. (because the other one is much better off).
I am really quite alarmed about the fact that I am not due my pension for another 7+ years and might struggle for money. He feels that if he leaves everything to me his kids won't appreciate that he personally left them anything.
I was often unable to do the work I wished, even when well, as he chose work that meant he had no input into child care (long hours, weekends, sometimes away from home), and then I was unable to work or claim full benefits because of illness and his income and assets. My pension provision is basically the state pension.
I think he should at least wait until I am state pension age before giving away one of these pensions. Also, we are planning to move home, we need to move to a bungalow, and it will be more expensive than the terrace house we are selling, so most of our savings will be eaten.
His attitude is that if things go awry the state will look after me. With the government we have, I am not too confident on that point.
Does anyone know what my legal rights are on this? I don't want to make it into a battle, but I want to know that I'm stating my position from a reasonable and informed standpoint.
He's not callous. He's just always been very controlling about money as he thinks he knows best. I had an accident which included some brain damage, and that does affect my memory and slows down my ability to calculate and think things through. This does impact how he views my cognitive ability, though I think the way he sees it is unrealistic. It takes me a good while longer to do things mentally than I used to, but I get there. His impatience makes him take over rather than my total inability.
Since our daughter is also disabled, and is on means-tested benefits, I'm not even sure he'd be doing her a favour. I would always do everything to help her but I know she wouldn't want me to struggle either.
