can i put a charge on my ex wife's house ?

[ajc123]

I recently purchased a block of land in Australia in my sons name with my money, He has since returned back to the uk and is refusing to sign the land back to me, His mother is a big influance in the matter and i feel that she is telling him not to sign it back to me. Can i put a charge on her house in the uk as i feel that she is responsible for his actions, although his is now 19 and lives with her. Are there any other routes that i could take ? Any advise would be most appreciated.

[Ethel]

You will have a real problem you bought the land - why didn't you buy it in your own name?

Legally your son owns it, and you will have to prove you have a beneficial interest. That will not be easy if your son claims it was a gift.

You can try and put a charge on her house, but as she is your ex, your son is 19 and the land in question is in another country, you won't have much luck.

[ajc123]

thanks for your answers,
I actually live in australia and was going to build a house on it for him to live in. He signed the papers for the house to be built and i again was going to pay for it, the work on the house has begun and we recently received an invoice in his name from the builder.
As for him saying it was a gift, i also have 3 other children and niether of these have received any gifts, as it was a fair amount of money, i would not have enough for any of the others to have the same. and if it was a gift would it be classed as a capital gain in the uk. I thought you can give your children money but over a certain period of time. ie 7 years, otherwise this would be classed as an inheritance tax.

thanks again

[bednobs]

if indeed you son owes you mney then you cant legally get his mum to pay it. I don't understand why you bought the land in his name though, if it wasn't a gift to him?

[Ethel]

Australian law applies and I know nothing of Australian law.

Inheritance tax kicks in on death, in the UK - if you die within 7 years of giving the gift it is subject to Inheritance tax.

Was you trying to avoid some sort of tax by buying it in his name? It just doesn't make sense from this end to do such a thing if it was never meant to belong to him.

As it stands at the moment, he is the legal owner.

[Barmaid]

You need to take legal advice pronto. Australian law is extremely similar to here. If this were a UK case, you would have a real problem with the presumption of advancement. Ie, if you as a parent buy something in the name of a child, unless you can prove otherwise, there is a presumption of advancement (this only works in parent/child, spouse to spouse or fiance to fiance situations) and is an old legal trust presumption. You cannot pursue his mother.