Legal Question in Family Law in United Kingdom
divison of property after a split
I have a freind (female)who has done something very stupid. She has
owned
her house for a number of years and struggled with a mortgage ect.
about
three months ago she met someone and almost staight away he wanted to
move
in so he did. They made plans to buy a bigger house but he told her
that
before they did he would like another car and asked her to add this to
her
mortgage as he could not get credit. She did this and a new car was
puchaced using her cheque for ?17,000. He has always maintained that
she
would get her money back as they were getting a mortgage together for a
bigger house. He left her pretty much as soon as the car arrived and is
now
telling her that there is no way he will pay for this car even though
he
now has the car. The ironey is that he is now back with his
ex-girlfreind.
Under law anything bought by her before they got together is hers
anything
bought by them whilst together belongs to both of them and anything she
bought after they split is hers. is this correct ? If so I would argue
that
the car is not legally his because it was her cheque (money) that
bought
the car ?
My conclusion is that he hoodwinked her out of ?17,000 and his
ex-girlfreind was in on it. Is th
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: divison of property after a split
Your friend was indeed stupid, but also kind hearted and does not deserve the situation which has come about and which is very far from unique.
The sole issue here is whether the money provided by your friend was a gift or a loan. It seems quite obvious that it was intended to be the latter, but if court proceedings are brought (as would appear to be the only possible action here) it is near certain that this trickster will put in a defence alleging that the money was a gift.
Before any action is taken, and particularly before any expense is incurred, the evidence which is available to show that this was a loan rather than a gift should be considered. If you or your friend would like an opinion on this, please do not hesitate to get in touch directly.
Andrew Dutton
Legal Zone
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