beneficial interest

[cousin jane]

ex partner is getting very nasty and says he is going to register a restriction on my property to claim a beneficial interest. he says once he gets the restriction put on property this will mean he will be able to move back into property as a benefical interest will mean that he will have use of property and an equal share of the equity. he also says he will be able to get loand and use the property as security. i have had the property four years and he lived in it with me for 2 of them. is he right? he moved out a year ago (his choice) we had a joint bank account and all the bills including mortgage went out of that account, although the property is in my sole name.

[Peter Pedant]

You need advice
Go and see a lawyer who does family and land

[Ethel]

The purpose of a restriction is simply to notify potential buyers that the property is in dispute and cannot be sold with 'absolute title'.

It stops you selling it and running off with all the profits. It does not give him any other rights or prove a legal right to the property.

[cousin jane]

thank you. i have spoken to a solicitor but he wasnt very helpful. i have offered him some money but he said he would settle for nothing less than a 50-50 split. if i cannot get him to agree will i have to take him to court. i do not have any money really to take him, i know i could allow the restriction then fight it when i come to sell in the future, but would be be better to fight it before it actually gets put on the register. do all cases like this get allowed a restriction by the land reg? it seems very unfair especially as its him who is not prepared to negotiate.

[Ethel]

He will have to prove an interest before the restriction is put on - by going to court to get a beneficial interest.

[innocenti]

Let him take you to court. He cannot get a beneficial interest without going to court first and you can object then.

[froggequene]

Stop offering your ex money - if you only lived together he's entitled to nothing but if he can prove he contributed that's another matter. Let him do the hard work & in the meantime, find a better solicitor.

[Whoever]

Just in case this ends up going to court it might be a good idea to get a copy of all your bank statements together in advance and put together written notes of what he contributed. Do you still have a joint bank account? If not, I would have thought that him opting out of that would have lessened any claim he might think he has (which I don't think is justifiable if the property is in your name only). If you still have a joint account, I would open a new account in your own name if you don't have one already and have your salary and all outgoings transferred to that one. I would also contact your bank, if the joint account is open, and notify them that there is a dispute over the account and see if they can temparily freeze it. And don't offer your ex boyfriend any money. That makes it look as if you feel he has a legitimate case against you.
And it goes without saying, to think very hard before you co-habit again without ensuring you have some written agreement about how finances are managed, just to protect yourself.

[MustafaTickl]

It is possible for your ex to make a Unilateral Statement to the Land Registry which will result in a Restriction being placed on your title. If you object to the Restriction the Land Registry will then establish a Tribunal and appoint an Adjudicator to sort the matter out. Until the the matter has been concluded by the Adjudicator (and any appeals heard) the Restriction will stay on your Title, which stops you from selling or re-mortgaging. He cannot do any of the things that he says until the matter has been decided at the Tribunal. Stall him so that he does not approach the Land Registry, sell the property without him knowing and squirrel the money away !!!

[cousin jane]

thanks folks. we no longer have a joint bank account, we have split up and have nothing more to do with each other as much as possible, but he has now told me that he has paid �40 to the land reg to get a restriction, my concern is how these things work, if interest is granted i don't want him to be able to move back into property with me.

[MustafaTickl]

It is not just the Land Registry fee that he has to pay - there is another legal to go with it. I have already told you that if the Registrar accepts the application and enters a temporary restriction your ex can do nothing whatsoever until the Adjudicator sorts it out. Even then the Adjudicator may decide that the matter has to go to a Court in which case he will instruct your ex to commence proceedings in x weeks. If he fails to do so, and many do not, then the restriction is cancelled and the matter is at an end. It can be up to a couple of years before it reaches the Adjudicator. In the meantime you are what is known as a Sole Proprietor in Possession and he cannot enter the property without your permission and if he attempts anything just call the police who will deal with him as the law allows under the Harassment Act.

[123everton]

I'm no lawyer but I would'nt worry too much about it as he only lived with you for 2 years, even though he contributed towards the mortgage you could quite realistically say that he had to live somewhere during that time and wherever he lived he'd have to make a contribution towards his keep. After all you're not his mother!
Mustapha I tried to send you a PM the other day if you can could you contact me about a previous thread, I love anecdotal history.

[MustafaTickl]

Hello 123everton. Shall be pleased to hear from you anytime at [email protected]

[loader]

i am in avery similar situation. the process that i am going through is as follows. it seems like me you have a bullying ex. like you i own the property in my sole name, paid the 5% deposit, no written or verbal agreement that he would be entitled to 50% of the proceeds. i got a solicitor to write to him and reqest tha he vacate. about 2 months later i received a letter from his solicitor claiming beneficial interest and that they would be registering a restriction on the property and that my ex would provide evidence of financial contibutions to support his claim, which he did and on the disclosure he called evidence his contribution was minimal in relation to the outgoings on the property. we are at a stage now wherebt the restriction has been lifted, and instead signed an undertaking that i would not do anything with the property until all matters were resolved. he went to a mediator, he had to this because of legal aid rules. (you maybe eligible, check it out) over the period i kept detailed financial records of who paid what and when and i suggest that you do the same and then you will get a clear picture of his actual contribution, it will give you a starting point to move forward with it. what you dont say in your post, did yourF ex live in the house at the time of the purchase, or was it later on. from what i understand cohabitation is a very grey area of the law, and cohabitants unlike married couples have to prove their their interest in the property.by virtue of their contributions and their intentions when they bought the property. grt yourself a good solicitor, preferably by recommendation. Or indeed try cab for starters.whatever you do do not offer any money, that is like admitting that you owe him, let him do the work. good luck!!
Iwish you well

[jaycee401]

thanks loader, mines a bit different in the fact that the house was originally (we had joint bank account and everything was paid 50/50)in his name but we lived together from the start, we then split up after 4 yrs and he just wanted out of the property, he agreed to sell it me for �x and gave me a letter saying that this is what he was selling it me for. The transfer took place for the amount requested into my sole name. He moved out of the property 3 months before the transfer took place. I did everything legal and above board with a solicitor, he chose not to use one but was advised to on several occassions. I also received a settlement of �25k from ex hubby and used this money for a new kitchen, windows etc all which I have proof for, He basically left me for someone else then that person did not want him, so he wanted to come back to me, I said no and from then on he has harrassed me up to the point where i had a police caution on him. He is now left with no one and its just sour grapes.
Hope it goes ok for you.

[elaine120]

Well - he seems to be a complete idiot, and I've got one of those too!
Basically I bought a house put down 50% deposit (I had 3 houses previously so had built up alot of equity) then moved house and my ex lived with me for 9 months, working on the house (which I don't deny), I paid the mortgage and the house was solely in my name, anyhow when this house was sold, we lived in a house that came with his job (minimal rent of �200) per month, which enabled the purchase or a property in Wales. This property needed modernising and again he did work on this property. We split up about 2 months ago and now he has decided he has a beneficial interest and has asked me for �30 000 - apparantly calculated from the first house proceeds. I had the Wales property recently valued and it is now worth less than the actual purchase price (18 months ago) even though the modernistaion is almost complete (and approximately �20 000 has been spent on it - from the original house proceeds) He is refusing to accept that he should also take the hit for the property price downturn even though we split recently not at the time of the first house sale.

[sallygrundy]

Hi, can anyone help me? I bought my house in my sole name with proceeds from my seperation. I was in a casual relationship with somebody that never lived with me but stayed over occasionaly. He wanted more from the relationship than i was prepared to give and then became, to put it lightly, a pain. He constantly damaged my house and my car, eventually setting my car and house on fire while i was in bed. The idiot is in prison serving 4 years for this. He is now trying to stake a claim on my house which is 3 weeks off completion, this is yet another power and control issue of his. He has no bank statements or proof that he contributed to my mortgage or anything else and the longest he stayed with me was 2 months while the sale of his own house was going through, which he later pulled out of. That was back in 2007, its rediculous that he can even be allowed to do this. What proof will land registry ask him for, how long will he have to provide it and how the hell can this be allowed???? I have had 2 friends stay with me also over the years and my daughter are they also allowed to do this. It will make me think twice about helping somebody out again.

[sallygrundy]

Hi can anybody help me ? My ex partner from back in 2007 has found out im selling my property and has threatened to register a claim on it, as far as i no this hasnt yet been done. I bought the property on my own and all my legal documents state this. The deposit and most of the legal costs came from a second mortgage i took out on a house i owned outright. This i can also prove. Hes saying he lived with me and earned a significant amount of money (which he didnt so also cant prove) and that he payed all the mortgage. This idiot is in prison serving 4 years for arson with intent to en danger life as he set my car and house on fire while i was in bed, this wasnt the only damage he caused to my house or car as he had perviously smashed windows and broke in. This is obviously just another power and control issue with him in that he can halt the sale of my property which is 2 weeks off completion. Hes also getting legal aid as he is where he is and i have to pay for a solicitor for being a law abiding citizen, totally wrong. What evidence will he have to provide how long will he get to do this? The longest time he stayed with me was almost 2 months while he was going through the process of buying his own property and he had nowhere to stay. He pulled out of the sale of this in the end. I had 3 other people stay with me over the course of 2007/2008 who are willing to make statements to say he never lived with me, one is my daughter who always lived with me till getting her own place in 2009 and 2 friends who left partners at different times and i put them up for 6 and 8 months. Will there statements count? Does anybody no the process that this will follow and how long it will take. Its disgusting that this is even legal to do with no evidence. How can a solicitor even take on a case without any evidence and charge the public to do this. when in prison you should lose all your rights to this kind of service, especially when your in prison for doing such a terrible thing. Any advice will be greatly appreciated, thank you