Advice needed re:property sale

dolce_vita

Tipustyger wrote: »

No profit has been made as the education centre was run by my dad. Those attending were charged nominal sums (a couple of £s a week) and these were put towards the running of the centre.

What sort of education centre was it?

A clown school?

flying_solo_2

"The trouble is he mentions mediation. Now should this go to mediation and the other guy puts this forward as his side, what then? "

One would hope common sense would prevail.
Lets consider: Millionaire marries loved one(gender not important)takes a vow love honour obey richer poorer etc etc.The lover sticks around long enough to consumate and begin married life then leaves.There was a time when this was enough to pretty much guarantee the loved one a massive share of the million with little consideration to other factors.However today it would more often be seen for what it is 'moneyhungry' greedy opportunism with the strongest of arguments failing to convince the powers that be that they 'deserve it' because they married into it. Not the same i know but similar principal,the marriage vow was broken. The undertaking of having a joint interest and responsibility was broken in op's situation.

kunekune

This looks like a case of a presumed resulting trust. My understanding is that there was a contribution to the deposit, and the name was put on the deeds in order to ensure that it would be repaid. I think it would be difficult to deny this was intended to give the ex-friend a share of the property, especially as there doesn't seem to be any other repayment vehicle in place. The trouble is: what share?

Basically, if one person is on the title of the property as joint tenant, but they did not contribute half of the value of the deposit/mortgage repayments, then the courts will go behind the 'written version'. This is one of the situtions where 'equity' gets involved to prevent unconscionable behaviour.

What is most likely is that the ex-friend will be entitled to the same proportion of the property that they purchased in the first place. This probably is less than they are trying to get, but is also more than the original 'loan', as they will get the proportion of the increased value.

My advice would be that a lawyer is needed in order to help sort this out but, if the facts are clear, then it can probably be settled.

MissMoneypenny

Tipustyger wrote: »

The property has been used by my parents as a non-residential adult education centre since it was bought.

Tipustyger wrote: »

No profit has been made as the education centre was run by my dad. Those attending were charged nominal sums (a couple of £s a week) and these were put towards the running of the centre.

So the friend put money towards a business for your parents and his name was put on the deeds. Did the friend take any money out of the business?

Tipustyger

dolce_vita wrote: »

What sort of education centre was it?

A clown school?

I realise there are two sides to every story and I have only given one. Dolce Vita you've made your position clear. However, your recent comment strikes me as both unwarranted and inappropriate. It is clear my father made a mistake but that does not mean he can't be helped with constructive advice.

guppy

I think your family should seek legal advice. Maybe it can be funded from the eventual sale of the house.

If you think all parties might be prepared to try mediation, then this might be a cheaper and less confontational solution. However £150k is a lot of cash, and you don't really want to negotiate a solution that would leave you worse off.

I don't think anyone here has enough information about your case to give you sound advice, and you don't want your Dad to do anything silly again. So do yourself a favour and speak to a professional before you decide how to proceed.

flying_solo_2

Tipustyger wrote: »

I realise there are two sides to every story and I have only given one. Dolce Vita you've made your position clear. However, your recent comment strikes me as both unwarranted and inappropriate. It is clear my father made a mistake but that does not mean he can't be helped with constructive advice.

Seems to be the nature of the game with dolce vita!! take a look at the other highly intelligent postings made by this poster :rolleyes:

Tipustyger

Many thanks for everyone and the helpful commenst on how to help my dad. I'm booking time with a legal professional asap and, fingers crossed, something good will come out of all this.

guppy

Best of luck