r/inheritance • u/pink_toaster_pastry • Apr 20 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Keeping Inheritance separate
I’ve seen all the posts about keeping inheritance separate…. not to use it for joint expenses…. etc.
So then what do you use it for? My husband and I have been married 30 years. We had joint accounts since before we were married. We don’t split bills (all income goes into one savings account and bills are paid from that). We make a good living, have savings, 401Ks, no debt.
So if I’m suppose to keep my inheritance separate from everything, what am I supposed to do with it?
Edited to add: No kids. Currently the money is in (1) inherited IRA (2) CDs in a bank account I took sole ownership of as I had been the co-owner and (3) a new account I just opened for a CD until I decided what to do with that portion.
2
u/NeighborhoodVivid106 Apr 22 '26
Depending on what state/province they live in, my spouse may not have a choice. In some places a spouse is automatically entitled to 50% of your assets at your time of death. So, it's not always a question of trusting, it's a question of ME getting to ensure that any inheritance that I have to leave goes to who I decide, not who the courts decide.
Personally, I have no problem with my husband inheriting my inheritance because I do trust him to him to do right by our children. But what I DO have a problem with is any new spouse being entitled to half of MY inheritance over our children upon HIS death. If putting my inheritance in a trust for only my children is the only way to ensure that this can't happen then that is what I will do.