my wife is trying to sell our house

andyscd

hi everyone

me and my wife own two houses, one with a joint mortgage which i have lived in for 18 years with a previous partner, and she owns one in just her name, but in her old married name, which we rent to her daughter. we are splitting up and she wants to transfer ownership of her house to her daughter who has a very poor credit history, and keep our joint property, which i think is unfair. we were talking about it calmly, then out the blue she turned nasty at the moment im living at a neighbours and she is in our house. is there a way i can stop her transfer ownership of her house, as i thought that because we are married the house is automatically half mine. i was thinking of seeking an injunction but im not sure if i can do this. im not intending on making her sell, we have 2 houses and i think its only fair we have a house each.
she was a widow, she sold her old house to buy out my ex, and bought the house in question with the rest of it. the (unofficial) rent we get from one house pays for the other house.

please help

go_cat

Did she own the house before you were married?

G_M

me and my wife own two houses, one with a joint mortgage which i have lived in for 18 years with a previous partner, and she owns one in just her name

So you and your wife do NOT own two houses!

There is only one way to stop her selling if it is in her name - a court order.

Unlikely to succeed unless perhaps as part of a divorce settlement, but I'm not an expert in marital law!

jackomdj

The way I read this you both brought property into the marriage, subsequently mortgaged one property (yours) in joint names.

What did the money go on? Personally (IMO) I would say it all should go into a settlement pot to get divided, unless the value of the two properties is vastly different (ie if one of you brought in £200k worth of assets and the other £100k, net of mortgages, then this should get taken into consideration)
Get yourself some proper legal advice!

Emmzi

andyscd wrote: »

as i thought that because we are married the house is automatically half mine.

Maybe, maybe not. It's a lot more complicated than that. You will need to go through a lot of personal data - get a lawyer, and get one fast.

Debt_Free_Chick

I don't think it matters if she transfers the house to her daughter. I think she will still have to declare it as part of the matrimonial assets anyway.

You really ought to talk to a solicitor

DVardysShadow

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

I don't think it matters if she transfers the house to her daughter. I think she will still have to declare it as part of the matrimonial assets anyway.

You really ought to talk to a solicitor

I could not agree more.

I think that if OP does have a claim on the asset value of the property, any move to transfer it to her daughter would be viewed as concealing assets in some form or another. So a shot across her bows in the form of a solicitor's letter now [assuming that the solicitor views it in the same way] would be the right thing to do. Letting it happen, and the daughter dissipate the value and then make the claim might be an exceedingly hard way of treating the soon to be ex.

sandsni

andyscd wrote: »

the (unofficial) rent we get from one house pays for the other house.

I take it neither of you has ever declared this income to HMRC? I hope it doesn't come back to bite you on the behind.

Ulfar

sandsni wrote: »

I take it neither of you has ever declared this income to HMRC? I hope it doesn't come back to bite you on the behind.

Given that this house is in the ex-wifes name only then she is the one that has avoided tax, so I don't think the OP should worry about her dropping him in it.

He does however need to seek the advice of a solicitor and quickly.

sandsni

Ulfar wrote: »

Given that this house is in the ex-wifes name only then she is the one that has avoided tax, so I don't think the OP should worry about her dropping him in it.

He does however need to seek the advice of a solicitor and quickly.

Apologies, my understanding from the original post was that the OP wanted to show that both houses were owned jointly by both him and his wife because they were married, even though one was solely in his wife's name. There will be a potential tax liability on the income either way, but you're right, if he doesn't in fact own the house then he won't be personally liable for any tax on it.

celiacelia226

I am not a lawyer, to the recommendations can not to tell you.But I think your wife just to get the house to your daughter, there is nothing bad.