infidelity clause on Deeds?

MatthewCTorquay

Hey Guys,

Myself and Fianc! currently live together in a house I own and am solo on the mortgage.

Now we are due to be married next September (2015), however we are looking to add her to the mortgage and deeds to the property at this time.

Now she is going to be providing 20k, obviously when I purchased the property I paid the full deposit and mortgage alone until now. Circa 90k.

Now she would like a mortgage that if anything was to happen between us she would only be entilited to her 20k back, I would get my 90k back then the rest would be 50/50. Which I am happy with and I understand you can do by asking for a different type of Deed.

However is also asking regarding a infidelity clause? This would mean that if either one of us was to commit adultery this would negate the ownership of property?

Is this such a thing that can be done?

Thanks!

DevCoder

Anything is possibly legally. A solicitor could write a legal contract between yourselves.

Not a great basis to start a marriage in my view though, kind of casting doubt. Whatever happened to the virtues and values when entering into marriage

Also, you will struggle to get any mortgage company to agree to this, the mortgage would be in joint names, and unless the non adulterous partner could prove affordability of the whole mortgage payment then they wouldn't remove the name from the mortgage contract.

So the house could become the other persons property but both would possibly still be paying for it.

duchy

Seriously ?

So if one of you cheats then what happens to the house exactly ?

(Incidentally if my fiance suggested this - He wouldn't be my fiance anymore)

MatthewCTorquay

The one who commits the adultery would forfeit there 50/50 and only be entitled to the original money added therefore for her it would be 20k.

For me would be 90k if I was to commit it. The victim would then get there original money plus the rest of the house money etc.

duchy

Sounds insane
If she doesn't trust you then she shouldn't be marrying you.

How would it be proved anyway ?
Realistically if either of you did cheat- with so much to lose financially you'd deny it - or would she then hire a private eye to take photos of you in the act ?

Is she usually a drama queen by any chance ?

I'd leave the deeds as they are-if you are married more than five years it'd be fifty fifty anyway

MatthewCTorquay

No idea I just see it as being practical to be honest.

DevCoder

I don't see it being that practical really, it implies a lack of trust from the off.

ACG

By cheating on the other person what makes you think they should have to give up their share?

Getting your original amount back and splitting the rest is perfectly fair and reasonable, to have to give up anything over and above that because you cheated isnt a reason to forfeit your financial gain (in my opinion).

If my gf cheated on my, I would still be of the opinion she is entitled to her share of the property.

Pidge_jen

Your solicitor will ask you during the contract negotiating if you want to be known as joint tenants (50/50 split with ownership passing to each other in the event of one dying) or if you want to be known as tenants in common, where you have an inequitable split, which will be written in the contract I.e. 60/40, 70/30.
Not sure about the infidelity thing. I'm sure you could get it drawn up but unless they are caught in the act, it would be hard to place the burden of proof so would probably get thrown out in a settlement anyway. Also what constitutes infidelity? Flirty texts, drunken kiss?? Physical or emotional? There are so many definitions of it so if you do put something in be careful to be very specific about what constitutes infidelity. Though I'm hoping if you are getting married, this shouldn't be a problem

Thrugelmir

MatthewCTorquay wrote: »

The one who commits the adultery would forfeit there 50/50 and only be entitled to the original money added therefore for her it would be 20k.

You'd need to prove it in Court possibly. At great expense. Is it really worth the hassle.

If you have children then may become redundant in value anyway.

TBagpuss

You can write whatever you want into a pre-nup or into a declaration of trust for the house, but a court in divorce proceedings would not be bound by a clause like this. Adultery does not affect the financial entitlements of either party in a divorce and I think it is very unlikely that such a clause would be upheld.

And adultery can be very difficult to prove. Not to mention - what happens if your marriage breaks down and you both have other relationships?

such an agreement goes directly counter to the way that financial settlements are determined in divorce law (in England and Wales) and I think the most likely outcome if you did have such a clause would be (i) any divorce would get a lot more unpleasant and (ii) a court would disregard it and might well decide to disregard the rest of the agreement as well.

I suspect your partner either has a deeply suspicious nature (in which case, get out now while you still can) or has been watching to much American TV!