Tennants in Common - Marriage split up

MichaelF

Hi everyone,

Imagine I just got married a then bought a house with my wife. I have more savings than her so we decide down the route of tenants in common as to avoid problems in the future. I own 70% of the house and her share is 30%.

If we split up and divorce, will we still be 70:30? will I be able to sell my part without problems?

Cheers !

Angry_Bear

I don't know how you could sell "your part"?

The way I understand it, if you sold the house the mortgage (and any other loans secured on it) would be paid from the proceeds and the remainder would be split 70:30 between you and your wife. However, I believe she would either have to agree to the sale or you would have to force it through the courts.

Happy to be corrected.

RAS

It depends whether you have a deed of trust explaining what happens when you break up/

Also do you have children and how long have you been married?

MichaelF

Thanks Angry Bear and Ras.

This is a hypothetical sceneario. I have no kids at the moment but I'd like to know what would happened if I had one and id been married for 10 years.

I know marriages are meant to last a life time but I'd like to know what would happen to our house if, after buying a property as tenants in common, we break up and divorce. I guess If there are kids around the situation will be different.

Looks like a Deed of Trust is a good thing to do to make things clear before hand?

Mr_Toad

It doesn't matter if you are joint tenants or tenants in common the house would be seen as a marital asset and split 50/50 in the vent of divorce.

Tenants in common is not a form of pre-nup to protect your 'share' in the event of divorce.

When used by couples it is often because it's a second marriage and one or both parties have children from previous relationships. It means that if one party dies the other does not automatically wholly own the property and the deceased can will their share to a family member or whoever they please.

So many second mariages fail to consider this and a parent may wish, and even think, that all or part of their share of the marital home will go to their child from the previous relationship if they die. By the time the family find out that the propery has the more common joint tenants in place it's too late and the property is owned by the spouse and they have little or no claim on it. Even if the deceased leaves their half of the property in their will it doesn't happen because at the time of death they no longer own any of the house to leave.

Contesting the will in court is an option and the courts would probably look favourably on the person in question because of the will but it's an expensive process.

WillowCat

In a marriage the ownership split of the marital home is irrelevant, even if 100% owned by one party.

50/50 may be the starting point of the split, but unless very wealthy needs and 'fairness' rather than contribution take priority. Ten years in and a child/children and it's quite normal for the person with care of the children to stay in the house (perhaps with a 'mesher' or delayed charge until children leave education) or for them to receive a substantial amount of the assets so they can house themselves elsewhere. Sometimes they will receive the whole of the house in return for not taking a share of any pension.

MichaelF

RAS wrote: »

It depends whether you have a deed of trust explaining what happens when you break up/

Also do you have children and how long have you been married?

Wouldn't a Deed of Trust as suggested by Ras help here? According to what you are saying MrToad and Willowcat , any asset bought during marriage will be seen as owned 50:50 regardless of who has paid for it?.

If my wife buys a flat with her money I don't see why I should co-own half of it if I have not put a penny on it.

I wonder what happens when you arleady have a property owned by yourself and then you later on get married. Would your husband/wife be entitled to 50% of it?

And one last question. How will a prenub agreement affect all these ?


Cheers !

Mr_Toad

MichaelF wrote: »

Wouldn't a Deed of Trust as suggested by Ras help here? According to what you are saying MrToad and Willowcat , any asset bought during marriage will be seen as owned 50:50 regardless of who has paid for it?.

If my wife buys a flat with her money I don't see why I should co-own half of it if I have not put a penny on it.

I wonder what happens when you arleady have a property owned by yourself and then you later on get married. Would your husband/wife be entitled to 50% of it?

And one last question. How will a prenub agreement affect all these ?


Cheers !

When you're married the concept of his and hers is largely notional as many couples find out if they end up in the divorce court. Legally it all comes under the marital asset umbrella.

If there are no children then a court would normally split the marital assets 50/50 but like everything else there are exceptions. If, for example it was a short marriage and either of you could prove that you entered into it with significantly more than the other then the court will take this into account. However, the longer you are married the split will move closer to 50/50.

With regard to your example of your wife buying a flat with 'her' money, see above. Even if she brought that money into the marriage the length of time you are married will affect a court's decision and then there's the other factor the court will look at and that's that the money was available to buy a flat because because you were using 'your' money to provide a home and for living expenses, bills, etc. which frees 'her' money up for investment. This is viewed as a team/partnership effort, not his and hers. Again see above.

If you both have a property when you get married they both become marital assets and, as above, the longer you are married the closer to 50/50 any split will become.

If there are chidren involved it gets even more complicated.

Lastly, pre-nups are not legal in this country, a court may take one into account but they are being careful not to set any legal precident.

What is it exactly that you think marriage is?

Anyone who thinks it's little more than giving your intended a nice day where she gets chance to wear a pretty dress and ring is sadly deluded. Marriage is a partnership and has legal conciquences for both parties. If either or both of you want to protect what you have then don't get married.

You really need to get proper legal advice then you'll get proper advice.

MichaelF

Mr_Toad wrote: »

What is it exactly that you think marriage is?

Anyone who thinks it's little more than giving your intended a nice day where she gets chance to wear a pretty dress and ring is sadly deluded. Marriage is a partnership and has legal conciquences for both parties. If either or both of you want to protect what you have then don't get married.

You really need to get proper legal advice then you'll get proper advice.

You are right. I may need to seek proper legal advice.
, what I don't need is moral advice. Almost 50% of marriages today sadly end up in divorce, I think knowing how this financially affect the couple and its assets is importart. That was what I needed to know, thanks.

Mummyof3boys1girlx

I'm not married my partner left me 2 years ago when I was pregnant with our 4th child. I paid deposit £21000 bought house for £135000 now valued at £225000 can anyone advise how much he is worth? We are tennants in common xx

BigAunty

Mummyof3boys1girlx wrote: »

I'm not married my partner left me 2 years ago when I was pregnant with our 4th child. I paid deposit £21000 bought house for £135000 now valued at £225000 can anyone advise how much he is worth? We are tennants in common xx

Nobody can tell you what he is worth on this forum. A solicitor will help you to agree a settlement and give you the heads up about what you could expect based on a variety of factors. You also need to find out if the lack of marriage impacts your rights (I don't know the situation for co-habitation but others may).