Tenancy in Common

Weebreagha

My niece cried when he future husband passed her a form in the mortgage advisor’s office( friend of his family) and told her to sign it or they wouldn’t get their new marital home. The marriage didn’t last a year and she has since discovered she signed a tenancy in common agreement. She knows ignorance Is no excuse but does she have any rights. It was to protect his larger share of the deposit. 

EssexHebridean

How is the property actually registered - Tenants in Common in equal shares? Or otherwise? 

RAS

Tenancy in common does not limit the amount she might be entitled to per se. It is often recommended to older people who want to protect part of their assets for their children, and normal for unmarried couples.

What she appears to have signed is a deed of trust, which decides how the asset is split between the owners? It is normal,for both parties to take independent legal advice before signing. In the absence of that, the assumed share is 50/50.

And as the marriage lasted only one year, unless they lived together for a substantial time prior to marriage, the divorce settlement would return them both to a close as possible to those before marriage. Did they have any children?

And what exactly does the deed of trust specify as the split?

Weebreagha

Thank yay Hank you for your reply. They don’t have children. They’ve been together for 6 years. She moved from Scotland down South. He called it a tenancy in common. She hasn’t seen it since. 

Weebreagha

She has asked for a copy now but hasn’t received it yet. 

Weebreagha

She simply signed it without any information. 

EssexHebridean

Weebreagha said:

She simply signed it without any information. 

And without taking the independent legal advice that she should have been advised to seek, presumably? (Edit - in fact that's a good point - allowing it sounds as though the broker was complicit in this - was she advised of the need to take independent advice?) 

Schwarzwald

Weebreagha said:

...The marriage didn’t last a year ... It was to protect his larger share of the deposit. 

So what is she aiming for?
He put in a larger deposit.
They divorced within one year
Is she now trying to get half of if because she "feels" that would be fair?

saajan_12

Weebreagha said:

My niece cried when he future husband passed her a form in the mortgage advisor’s office( friend of his family) and told her to sign it or they wouldn’t get their new marital home. The marriage didn’t last a year and she has since discovered she signed a tenancy in common agreement. She knows ignorance Is no excuse but does she have any rights. It was to protect his larger share of the deposit. 

What exactly did the tenancy in common agreement say? 
If they weren't married at the time, and he put in more of the deposit from his own funds, then sounds reasonable if he has that much more of the sale proceeds. 

Note that would only determine what their respective shares of the house are within the marriage. Their overall assets would still be split in divorce proceedings, eg in a long marriage or if children involved they might be pooled more, but with such a short marriage, likely both parties would keep what they came in with. 

What is she getting and what rights does she want? 

Weebreagha

They aren’t divorced. She didn’t know what she was signing. She feels it’s fair for him to get his deposit back but wants to know what she had signed and why none of it was explained to her.

Schwarzwald

Weebreagha said:

They aren’t divorced. She didn’t know what she was signing. She feels it’s fair for him to get his deposit back but wants to know what she had signed and why none of it was explained to her.

1- not knowing what ones signs isnt a valid excuse for an adult

2- nobody on this forum will be able to answer what she has signed, she will need to press her husband to hand out a copy to her and also explain why he apparently rushed her into signing it