Gift of equity

briza

Hi, after some info.....a year ago my mother in law gifted me half her house to buy. my marriage to her daughter has now gone south, my mother in law lives in a annexe in the garden and we also have a 13 year old daughter....my wife or was, isn't on the mortgage or deeds as she got bad credit....it is purely my mortgage, there is about 200k of positive equity in the house of which my ex wife says its all hers as that is what her mother gifted her......I still live here for now, I can afford to keep paying mortgage and all the bills, but can she get me off the mortgage and is she correct in saying all the equity in the house belong to her because it was her mum who gifted it....the term is for 14 years, and if I keep paying it, can she force to buy me out if I refuse and say no I want to keep paying it......her mum is 73 years old....I'm just thinking it will be a good investment for our daughter if I keep the mortgage and pass the house to our daughter in the event of my death....any advice will be welcome thank you....

housebuyer143

Who is on the title deeds? If it's you and not her then technically it's yours, but you know the mother in laws intention when she gave it to you and being your wife and having a child will literally entitle her to probably half of all assets etc anyway. Might be worth splitting the ownership equally or finding a solution you are both happy with 

chanz4

Your ex can come after you until 18 of child or finish college, however as married if over 5 years shes entitled to half

Scorpio33

As chanz4 states, if it is not a short marriage, its irrelevant where it came from or who paid what, or whose name is on what. All assets (& debts) are considered marital assets. The total pot is then split. 50/50 is the starting point, but then things like earning power, who looks after the children, age etc come into play to adjust that. 

If it were me, I would get a valuation now, work out work the equity is and agree that split. 

Sounds to me she is going to want to be awkward, so you can say to her, she can have the value of what her mum in law put in, but as its your house, you keep the house. Depending on the figures though, that may make her worse off. You can also say you both agree to put the house into your daughters name (rather than yours), but even then, she will need a trustee if she is under 18 and has capital gains implications if she buys elsewhere later, as well as potentially causing mortgage issues.


If it went to court, it depends on the judge and it depends on where your daughter will live (and who looks after her the majority of the time). They can't force a sale if she is living there the majority of the time and she is under 18.

briza

housebuyer143 said:

Who is on the title deeds? If it's you and not her then technically it's yours, but you know the mother in laws intention when she gave it to you and being your wife and having a child will literally entitle her to probably half of all assets etc anyway. Might be worth splitting the ownership equally or finding a solution you are both happy with 

Just me on the deeds, and just me on the mortgage, I'm fortunate enough to be able to keep paying the mortgage...I haven't a problem sharing the assets I just don't want to be shafted and end up with nothing....

briza

chanz4 said:

Your ex can come after you until 18 of child or finish college, however as married if over 5 years shes entitled to half

Ye I haven't a problem with half, we been married for 10 year's, I'm happy to keep paying mortgage until she in a position to take it over....and buy me out...

briza

Scorpio33 said:

As chanz4 states, if it is not a short marriage, its irrelevant where it came from or who paid what, or whose name is on what. All assets (& debts) are considered marital assets. The total pot is then split. 50/50 is the starting point, but then things like earning power, who looks after the children, age etc come into play to adjust that. 

If it were me, I would get a valuation now, work out work the equity is and agree that split. 

Sounds to me she is going to want to be awkward, so you can say to her, she can have the value of what her mum in law put in, but as its your house, you keep the house. Depending on the figures though, that may make her worse off. You can also say you both agree to put the house into your daughters name (rather than yours), but even then, she will need a trustee if she is under 18 and has capital gains implications if she buys elsewhere later, as well as potentially causing mortgage issues.


If it went to court, it depends on the judge and it depends on where your daughter will live (and who looks after her the majority of the time). They can't force a sale if she is living there the majority of the time and she is under 18.

I work away and pay.all the bills now anyway, and I'm happy to continue to do that, I will change my will and leave my daughter (13 atm) as sole beneficiary of the house should I die....if that's possible....but as long as she.cant force me off the mortgage then I'm happy