Property Ownership...

[user1479220378]

My Wife had an affair and our Marriage ended in April 2016. I have moved into temporary accommodation away from my wife and 5 children. Our family home is currently valued at £300k (we have had 4 valuations that all arrived at this figure). In 2009 we built an Annexe to accommodate my Wife's Parents and her Sister. All the valuations we have had for the family home have arrived at a figure of £220k before the Annexe was built and £300k as the property stands now. The Annexe consists of a self contained "Flat" downstairs where my Wife's Parents live, and, two bedrooms and one en-suite upstairs which is connected to the main property and is used by my wife and 5 children (and myself prior to my Wife ending our Marriage). The Annexe was paid for, in full, by my Wife's Parent's and we had an agreement such that they didn't have to pay me (as the Land Owner) any money for the Land they took to build their Annexe – which included the demolishing of my garage – as well as the daily use of the surrounding land, Driveway, gardens etc, and, in return I would be given ownership of the upstairs 2 bedrooms that are part of the Annexe. My Wife's Parents have since reneged on this agreement and have said that it “never happened” and that the agreement was in fact that we only had USE of the extra Bedrooms but ownership stayed with them. Bearing this in mind I have asked my Wife's Parents to pay for the Land that they took to Build their Annexe (as well as the rest of my Land that they use on a daily basis) but they refuse to do so and (wait for it....) they have been to the CIB who have informed them that my Land is worthless..... Obviously I know that this is complete rubbish, but where do I stand legally? NOTHING is documented regarding ownership of the Annexe - the Mortgage and complete ownership is soley in my name. My wife and her Parents are telling me that I should accept £110k from them, ie, half the value of the House prior to the building of the Annexe. Help!!!

[Penfold007]

As your 5 DC still require housing and their mother is the resident parent you were always going to get a smaller portion of the value of the property. Your ExIL's own their portion to £110k seems about right. What has your solicitor said?

[user1479220378]

Hi Penfold,

I haven't spoken to a Solicitor yet, but I will. It seems CRAZY to me that someone can build on my Land and not have to pay anything for the land? My wife is the adulterer yet I'm expected to walk away and give my land away for free? Does that make sense?!

[Phillipa12]

But how much is that section of land worth that the actual annexe is on? An estate agent could say not a lot as who would want to buy a plot of land right next door to a house with no available parking, garden or access, in essence all the annexe has done is increase the value of the marital home because at the end of the day its an extention that you didnt pay for.

[Hotwaterbottle1]

Your wife having an affair I'm Fraid has no bearing in relation to finances when it comes to divorce or financial settlement.

[Trifleorbust]

I don't get it. You own the house jointly with your wife and there is no legal agreement with the in-laws WRT the annexe. Surely they don't have a leg to stand on?

[Trifleorbust]

By that I mean they may have paid for it but that doesn't mean they own it. They haven't paid you for the property, they have simply paid for something to be built on it. Difficult one.

[ChristinaParsons]

If you are sole proprietor on the land registry office copy. It belongs to you outright

[Trifleorbust]

Giving this a bit more thought (and I am not an expert - hopefully some more experienced people will be along shortly), I see it like this:

• You made a fairly daft agreement with your in-laws where they paid for an extension to your property, they 'owned' some of it and you 'owned' the rest, but there was never a legal agreement.
  
• They now dispute the agreement as you understood it and want the whole value of the extension as far as it seems to have added to the value of the property.
  
• You feel that you are not being compensated for their use of your property to turn a substantial profit on their investment.
  

Questions:

How much did the extension cost them to build?
Was there in fact no legally binding or written agreement?

I would look for a compromise here. If they want to renege on what was agreed, say that's fine, but that does not mean the starting point is that they get what they want! You begin with the reality that you own the property outright and they have paid for a valuable alteration.

However much that alteration cost, they get that back as a minimum.

Now, there is no way the cost of the extension (c.40k?) would have resulted in a 70k profit for them without the ability to piggy-back off the value of your property. AND there is no way your property would have increased in value so substantially without their capital. Therefore, I would offer to agree with your ex DW that you will both repay them the total cost of the extension plus half of the profit after sale. Seems fair to me. The rest of the value should be split between you and your ex in whatever ratio the court decides upon, as they will anyway.

[Trifleorbust]

Half of the profit after sale of what is estimated to have been added to the value of the house, if that makes sense, not the total profit.

[Stitchfusion]

Why are you walking away?
Why have you moved out?

Dont give me any bullcrap that its because she had an affair. Thats not a reason to destroy yourself financially. Work out why she had an affair, and come to some sort of mature and sensible decision as to how you can continue to be civil to each other, co-parent, and not destroy each other

[Trifleorbust]

And actually I think I misread the figures here. They want you to accept £110k from them and then they keep the house, which is worth £300k, because 6 years ago it was worth £220k... Hmm. This not only ignores the fact that they have only been able to turn this 'profit' using your property to do it, it ignores any increase in the value of the property that would have occurred anyway in the last 7 years. Dubious, to say the least.

Right, that's me done. Get legal advice, pronto.

[TwitterQueen1]

How much did the annexe cost to build? I would deduct that amount from the overall value, since you said the DPs paid for it, and then split the rest 50/50.

The incremental value of the build is yours (IMHO) since the house and land are yours.

[Shiningexample]

Adultery isn't relevant here
Sounds like they are trying to pull a fast one
You need professional advice

[Manumission]

So they've pretty much gifted you a free annexe extension then. How generous of them.

Get proper legal advice and consider moving back in until this is resolved.

[kittybiscuits]

'My land, my house' - is this how you always refer to the joint property of yourself and your ex?