Partner abandoned house - does she have a share?

Puddingface

Hope this is the best forum for advice:

SYNOPSIS: House bought in joint name 36 years ago with his partner. Partner moved on within weeks of the purchase, she never did nor never has contributed anything towards the house. He never did anything about sorting this out. What is his position?

Ultimate example of someone burying their head in the sand. My cousin let his partner and her two children move in with him. After about 9 months together they decided the house was too small so he bought a much bigger property (6-bed mansion of a place). Sold his house (which was in his sole name) and put his partner’s name as co-owner of the new house.

Within weeks the partner moved on to live with another guy, initially leaving her kids with my cousin before coming back a week or so later to fetch them. He has never heard from her since.

Having lived alone rattling around in this 6-bed behemoth of a dwelling for nearly 37 years, he has paid for the mortgage, all the upkeep and repair costs, never having any contact with his ex-partner, and no way of knowing how to get hold of her.

It’s a desperately sad story: the kids' bedrooms remain virtually untouched after all these years, he has never been able to move on, and the breakup of this very short relationship devastated him and has left him quite recluse. He pays a cleaner to come in weekly and clean the 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 reception rooms, and kitchen. Although he’s only ever decorated the one bedroom and reception room he uses, the rest of the house is immaculately clean and preserved like an early 80’s museum.

Now approaching 65 and finally talking about reality and sorting himself out for the future, what is his position regarding ownership and relative share of the house which, if I recall correctly, cost £22k back then, and I guess would now be worth £500k+?

I realise this is probably one where there’s a need for a good solicitor – but curious for any advice in terms of what to expect. Is there any kind of argument that she abandoned her share of the property. And what is the position given that she never contributed anything whatsoever towards the house, it being funded entirely from the sale of his own house and the joint mortgage (that she never paid a bean towards).

debtisnotme

If its in joint names the starting position is 50/50 and it would up to him to either convince her to sign away her share of the house or prove (possibly via court) that she hasn't contributed to the house in anyway. Does he even know how to contact this woman?

davidmcn

She's not likely to be entitled to much, but he'll need to make attempts to find her anyway - which could be difficult if he's picking up the trail from 1980. Best to get some tracing agents on the case.

pinkshoes

Just incase she wants to try and claim half (unlikely she would be entitled to this...) he could calculate her contribution that she then owes for the last 36 years?

As above he needs to trace this person and get her off the deeds, perhaps offering her a nominal amount to do so.

00ec25

by "partner" do you mean married to the cousin or not?

are they his kids or not?

your post lacks keys details in amongst the rest of the guff. Yes she is a legal owner so is entitled to something, yes she has a claim, how big a claim depends in part on the answers to the above questions...

given she is most likely now ensconced with someone else in a property she may well own I doubt she'll be too pleased to be "reminded" that she has committed SDLT tax fraud when buying and not declaring the fact she owns a second property. It may be in her interest to walk away and continue to forget- although his problem will be the fact her signature may be required on the sale document for the Land Registry.

TBagpuss

He will have first to locate her, then to either reach an agreement with her or, of that is not possible, to make an application through the court under the Trust of Land and Appointment of trustees Act. (ToLATA). He needs to speak to a solicitor who has specifc experience of ToLAT claims.

THe start point is to look at the deeds / Land Registry information, which means that the starting presumption would be 50/50 split.

However, the court can alter this if the Judge accepts that there was an agreement or joint intention to change that split. Intentions can be inferred from people's conduct, so the length of the separation, your cousin's contributions in paying the mortgage, and the partner's lack of any interest for the past 36 years are all potentially relevant.

Given the length of time involved, finding the ex may be the hardest part - he may need to get private investigators involved, but as a starting point, try things sch as google, facebook etc to see if he can locate her, before he pays for a detective.

elsien

As already asked, partner or wife?

davidmcn

00ec25 wrote: »

by "partner" do you mean married to the cousin or not? are they his kids or not?

I would presume "not" in both cases, as you don't usually "let" your spouse move in with you, or refer to your children as "her" children.

she may well own I doubt she'll be too pleased to be "reminded" that she has committed SDLT tax fraud when buying and not declaring the fact she owns a second property.

Only if she happens to have bought since the additional dwelling supplement came in, and her share of the 1980 house counts as a major interest i.e. worth over £40k - which sounds unlikely from what we've been told.

Also to bear in mind given the OP's cousin's age - there's a fair chance she isn't still alive. Which would complicate things further, to say the least.

getmore4less

legal owner does not mean she is entitled to anything,

beneficial ownership determines the interest in the property.

One scenario is she has died and no one is claiming any beneficial interest(because no one knows) get the death certificate and she is removed from the legal title.
How you deal with the beneficial interest...............

Others scenario involve negotiation with the ex partner, their POA or her beneficiaries.

.

getmore4less

davidmcn wrote: »

I would presume "not" in both cases, as you don't usually "let" your spouse move in with you, or refer to your children as "her" children.

Also to bear in mind given the OP's cousin's age - there's a fair chance she isn't still alive. Which would complicate things further, to say the least.

The reality is it can simplify considerably.

Two owners no grant of administration needed.
Death certificate removes her from the legal ownership.

The remaining owner and a new trustee(appointed by the remaining owner) take advice(or just decide) on the beneficial interest in the property.

Puddingface

debtisnotme wrote: »

Does he even know how to contact this woman?

She had a large number of siblings that all lived in the local area, and I doubt she moved far away. He obviously knows the names of the two boys, so there's a another line to follow - I suspect it wouldn't be too difficult to track her down - doubt a tracing agent would be needed.