Can She Claim Half The House?

[NoMercy]

My husband's best friend and his wife have just split after 4 years of marriage. Neither has any children.

During this marriage he's loaned her around £16k to set up her hair salon and for their trip to Australia last Christmas.

It turns out he owns his mother's house (she's late 70s) and basically the wife is saying she has no intention of repaying the money she owes and if he tries to recover any of the money, she'll go for half his mother's house.

She has previously been blacklisted and has brought no assets into the marriage.

Can she legally make a move on her mother in law's house which is in her estranged husband's name?

[tamborine]

She can claim any property in hubby's name. Best put MIL's property in her own name pdq. Complete AP1 form here.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/change-the-register-ap1

[NoMercy]

So is she really entitled to half of everything? I kinda thought those days were over...

[Peter Pedant]

hi baby doll
my view is yes she can
and he should bite her hand off if she is not gonna go for the house.

I can see why they are getting divorced
and he/they both need to see a lawyer if this sort of argee-bargee is how it is gonna be. [ but dont litigate all that does is fill the lawyers pockets with his moolah]

husband and wife loans are in a special category anyway. Sounds like a good deal to me

[Bearing in mind I am not a divorce lawyer]

[Peter Pedant]

oh answer 1 has a tax implications
( transfer of a house not his first residence at below market value) - and he should see an accountant before doing that.

[NoMercy]

She says there's no one else involved, but I reckon that's a big fat lie.

I guess he should just cut his losses then. He has other savings here and there and she's threatened to take half of everything if he pursues the money she owes him.

[kvalidir]

I'd take the first loss if it were me. £16k isn't much in the big scheme of things to not have to worry about what she's going to do next, but make sure he gets it all wound up watertightly and legally so she won't be a recurring problem.

[Hopkirk]

Yes she might come back later and claim anyway

[bednobs]

i get all my law knowledge from judge judy, so don't pay any attention to my answer. If they were married and went on holiday together, unless there was anything i writing, it would be hard to say that the holiday money was a loan that needed to be repaid That's what JJ would say anyway!

[Garaman]

He loaned his wife money for their trip to Australia! I can't imagine loaning my OH money so we could go away. If one has money and the other doesn't, the one who has money pays.

[NoMercy]

They actually went to Australia separately. He was out there nearly a month watching the cricket and visiting relatives, she flew out to join him for Christmas. She'd also been to NZ just prior, on her own, and he lent her the money for that.

[Garaman]

Doesn't sound like a marriage to me.

[NoMercy]

Maybe not but my question relates to whether she can claim half a house which belongs to her estranged husband, albeit on paper.

I don't like her btw but that's irrelevant.

[bednobs]

.regardless of whether she would be successful, she could certainly try which would be expensive in itself

[NoMercy]

That's just the thing, bednobs, she lives an extravagant lifestyle, flies business class, drinks Cristal and drives a new Merc but never has any money left at the end of the month. I doubt she'd be able to afford a solicitor and I wonder whether he should call her bluff.

[Hopkirk]

A risky strategy I would have thought, as she has the law on her side.

[Hopkirk]

She might find a no win no fee solicitor willing to take it on.

[Barmaid]

He needs a solicitor and he's unlikely to get one on a no win no fee for divorce. As it's a short marriage he may be able to persuade the court that each leaves with what they put in.

[Peter Pedant]

thx barmaid
short and sweet as ever

[Baldric]

How much does a Hitman cost nowadays?

[ummmm]

Depends Baldric. You could get a coke head quite cheaply :-)