Selling Investment Property to Father ahead of Divorce.

Charlie1985

Hi All,

Looking for some advice here. My marriage to my parter has unfortunately broken down after 8 years and we are now at the brink of a divorce. Since we had our first child 2 years ago my wife has to some extent isolated me from the relationship to the point we have been sleeping in separate rooms for the past 2 years.

My question is around assets. Since being married we have always lived with my parents as we were unable to get a mortgage due to her bad credit rating and poor financial planning (another story for another day that broke much of our trust early on). However about 3 years ago I purchased an investment property in my sole name as a pension pot. I paid the deposit and have also paid all the maintenance. She has not contributed a penny. I know she will be entitled to something from the divorce however it would nice to safeguard this property as it’s everything i have worked for.

My question is am I able to sell this property below market value to my father? If so how long do I need to wait before starting divorce proceedings so that it does not look like a deliberate disposition of assets to the court?

Any advice on how I can protect my financial future would be really appreciated.

Kind Regards

Charles

Savvy_Sue

I'm not convinced there is anything you can do which doesn't scream DDA - because that is what you want to do, isn't it?

Gavin83

Charlie1985 said:

Hi All,

Looking for some advice here. My marriage to my parter has unfortunately broken down after 8 years and we are now at the brink of a divorce. Since we had our first child 2 years ago my wife has to some extent isolated me from the relationship to the point we have been sleeping in separate rooms for the past 2 years.

My question is around assets. Since being married we have always lived with my parents as we were unable to get a mortgage due to her bad credit rating and poor financial planning (another story for another day that broke much of our trust early on). However about 3 years ago I purchased an investment property in my sole name as a pension pot. I paid the deposit and have also paid all the maintenance. She has not contributed a penny. I know she will be entitled to something from the divorce however it would nice to safeguard this property as it’s everything i have worked for.

My question is am I able to sell this property below market value to my father? If so how long do I need to wait before starting divorce proceedings so that it does not look like a deliberate disposition of assets to the court?

Any advice on how I can protect my financial future would be really appreciated.

Kind Regards

Charles

Well you can sell it at below market value but expect her to be awarded at least half of its true value. In terms of how long you can wait there isn’t really a time limit but you’d be looking at decades before you had half a chance.

Whatever way you look at it this is a marital asset and these laws exist for a reason. If you fully expect to lose at least half the house in any divorce you won’t be disappointed.

AskAsk

i am afraid you are stuffed.  no way out.  this is the problem with marriage and divorce.

pphillips

No way of safeguarding the property, the best thing you can do early on in the divorce process is start a conversation about how all the marital assets should be shared between you and seek help from a solicitor and mediation when needed.

tacpot12

Don't forget that assets include pensions. If she has any sort of pension provision, you may be able to receive more of the property value in exchange for less of her pension. Even if you had invested in your pension instead of property should be entitled to half you pension if she had no pension of her own - this is one reason why husbands would be advised to ensure their wives have as good a pension provision as their own. 

I'm sorry but it is likely that you will have to sell the property or give her some of its value. If it is a property she might consider moving to. Might she be able to get a mortgage to buy the property from you if she already owns half the equity in it? 

Charlie1985

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice. Really appreciate it during this tough time. Is there anything I can do with the property to put it in some sort of trust for my child?

Alternatively as our divorce has not started yet what if I just sold the property whilst we are still together and gift the money to my nieces and nephews? Would that not work as there then is no property to divide?

Just trying to think out aloud for possible solutions. Thanks again everyone.

AskAsk

Charlie1985 said:

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice. Really appreciate it during this tough time. Is there anything I can do with the property to put it in some sort of trust for my child?

Alternatively as our divorce has not started yet what if I just sold the property whilst we are still together and gift the money to my nieces and nephews? Would that not work as there then is no property to divide?

Just trying to think out aloud for possible solutions. Thanks again everyone.

no, you can't do anything.  it has to be part of the divorce settlement.

pphillips

Charlie1985 said:

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice. Really appreciate it during this tough time. Is there anything I can do with the property to put it in some sort of trust for my child?

Property trusts in favour of a child of the marriage do sometimes form a part of the financial settlement and as with any other marital asset, it would be subject to negotiation.

Savvy_Sue

If you don't believe us OP, go and see a solicitor. 

You cannot do anything which takes this outside the negotiations for the financial settlement. 

AskAsk

My friend got divorced recently.  he had been separated for more than 5 years and he had bought a house with his brother when he moved out of the family home.  at the divorce proceedings, he had to prove that his brother actually owned half of the house as his wife's solicitors were concerned he actually owned the whole house and just added his brother's name to the title deed so that he could avoid the whole house being part of the divorce settlement.

his brother had to show proof that he paid half of the money from his bank account.  so it can go into details this far back.

he was also told to stop using his savings to go on holiday as that was considered raiding the joint assets, when the savings were actually his own savings built up during the 5 years of separation!

so OP, just take it on the chin and let the court deal with it as there is nothing that you can do, unless you can negotiate a deal with your ex on the asset split rather than let the court decide.