How to divide belongings after a relationship ends

Bobbygirl123

My fiancé and I just split up. We are joint tenants renting a property. He has left the property and informed the letting agent that he has left. Does this mean that he may no longer enter the property without my consent? What does it mean for his belongings left in the property?

MEM62

If he is still on the lease / AST then he has a right to be there.  You will need to take out a new rental agreement in your name only if you want exclusive rights.  As for his belongings, you need to come to some arrangement with him in respect of collecting them.     

Bobbygirl123

If furniture was gifted to us both when we moved into the property then does he have a right to take these? He is claiming they were gifted to him by his parents and not us so they belong to him. He also gave me his car 18 months ago when he was given another car. The car is in his name - do I have any claim over this as it was gifted to me?

silvercar

Bobbygirl123 said:

If furniture was gifted to us both when we moved into the property then does he have a right to take these? He is claiming they were gifted to him by his parents and not us so they belong to him. He also gave me his car 18 months ago when he was given another car. The car is in his name - do I have any claim over this as it was gifted to me?

There needs to be some reasonableness here. If his parents knew that you were going to be splitting up, do you think they would have gifted the furniture to you both or to him?

Did he give you the car to use or to keep? Did he keep it in his name when he "gave" it to you?  

tightauldgit

Bobbygirl123 said:

If furniture was gifted to us both when we moved into the property then does he have a right to take these? He is claiming they were gifted to him by his parents and not us so they belong to him. He also gave me his car 18 months ago when he was given another car. The car is in his name - do I have any claim over this as it was gifted to me?

If the furniture was genuinely gifted to both of you then it's half yours, if the car was genuinely gifted to you then it's 100% yours. 

Of course, you may have to have a bit of a legal wrangle to enforce that so probably better that you just come to a sensible agreement between the two of you. 

tightauldgit

silvercar said:

Bobbygirl123 said:

If furniture was gifted to us both when we moved into the property then does he have a right to take these? He is claiming they were gifted to him by his parents and not us so they belong to him. He also gave me his car 18 months ago when he was given another car. The car is in his name - do I have any claim over this as it was gifted to me?

There needs to be some reasonableness here. If his parents knew that you were going to be splitting up, do you think they would have gifted the furniture to you both or to him?

Did he give you the car to use or to keep? Did he keep it in his name when he "gave" it to you?  

That the parents couldn't see the future is completely irrelevant. All that matters is the intent at the time. If it was intended as a joint gift then it is a joint gift. Equally the 'name' on the registration is irrelevant to ownership - if he's handed her the keys and said 'here you can have my car now' then it can easily be construed as a gift and now her property.

Bobbygirl123

He said I could have the car and gave me the keys and I have been driving it for the last 18 months. The car registration and tax is still in his name. He can't prove that he didn't gift it to me and I can't prove that he did. He was gifted another (better) car by his mother which is why he gave me his car. I sold my car at the time and put the money into our joint account. I even suggested he pay me back the money from my old car and he said this was an audacious request.

He also cannot prove that the furniture given to us was actually just to him , short of a verbal/written confirmation from his mother but I am not sure how much validation this holds.

Does anyone know if I have any legal standing on any of this?

silvercar

What do you think is fair? From what you have posted, you keep the property (albeit a rental), the car and the furniture. He needs to find somewhere else to live. 

tightauldgit

Bobbygirl123 said:

He said I could have the car and gave me the keys and I have been driving it for the last 18 months. The car registration and tax is still in his name. He can't prove that he didn't gift it to me and I can't prove that he did. He was gifted another (better) car by his mother which is why he gave me his car. I sold my car at the time and put the money into our joint account. I even suggested he pay me back the money from my old car and he said this was an audacious request.

He also cannot prove that the furniture given to us was actually just to him , short of a verbal/written confirmation from his mother but I am not sure how much validation this holds.

Does anyone know if I have any legal standing on any of this?

The legal standing on gifts is quite clear. If it was given as a gift it's yours and there's no takesies backsies. If you don't give him the keys of the car back then he would have to go to court to get an order for you to return the vehicle to him and he'd have to convince a judge that on balance the car wasn't a gift - which if there's nothing saying that he expected you to give it back or pay for it at some point is going to be difficult for him. 

Have you been insuring it, maintaining it, etc? Do you have the only keys? Did he have any use of it? Any evidence you can gather will help. 

The furniture would be a little more complicated practically because he owns half of it. So either you split it 50/50, or one pays the other for their share and keeps the lot. Legally the same principle would apply but you do owe him half the furniture or equivalent cash.. 

tacpot12

While you are legally the joint owner of the furniture and might be the sole owner of the car, enforcing these rights when there is nothing written down is going to be expensive. It would probably be better for you to just move on.

If the money you got when you sold your car went into the joint account and was spent jointly, there is an argument that you should receive half the money, but presumably the money was spent in ways you agreed with at the time - I don't think your request was audacious, but I don't think that he should have agreed to it either.

I think if you are reasonable about the seperation then he will reasonable in return and might agree to give you the car formally. You need a receipt from him. You might look up what We Buy Any Car would offer for it, and offer him half of this amount (and expalin how you have arrived at this amount). He dount he would want the expense of running two cars, and selling it would also be a hassle for him.

Furniture has a very low value when secondhand. If he wants it, I would let him have it in exchange for a sensible deal on the car, and then replace the items via eBay where you will get good stuff for very little money.    

tightauldgit

tacpot12 said:

While you are legally the joint owner of the furniture and might be the sole owner of the car, enforcing these rights when there is nothing written down is going to be expensive. It would probably be better for you to just move on.

If the money you got when you sold your car went into the joint account and was spent jointly, there is an argument that you should receive half the money, but presumably the money was spent in ways you agreed with at the time - I don't think your request was audacious, but I don't think that he should have agreed to it either.

I think if you are reasonable about the seperation then he will reasonable in return and might agree to give you the car formally. You need a receipt from him. You might look up what We Buy Any Car would offer for it, and offer him half of this amount (and expalin how you have arrived at this amount). He dount he would want the expense of running two cars, and selling it would also be a hassle for him.

Furniture has a very low value when secondhand. If he wants it, I would let him have it in exchange for a sensible deal on the car, and then replace the items via eBay where you will get good stuff for very little money.    

Not necessarily. Possession is 9/10 of the law and all that. If she has the car and the only keys then it will cost nothing to keep it until such times as he obtains a court order otherwise. Same with the furniture. He can't come and take it away without her agreement or a court order.

I agree in principle with the idea of coming to a reasonable compromise but there's no reason to give up your rights just to appease people.

People trying to pull takesy backsy on gifts because they broke up with someone are pathetic, petty and more than audacious. Quite frankly anyone pulling that stuff can get right in the bin.