Splitting House

[PonderingPanda]

Asking on behalf of a friend.

Her and her DH are splitting up. Neither can afford the house so it will be sold.

They purchased the house before they were married. My friend put in a huge deposit in comparison and a solicitor drew up an agreement reflecting this so if they split she would have her input protected and would be given the greater share of the selling price.

Since they purchased the house and had this agreement drawn up they then got married and had children.

Is this deed still valid or was it declared void once they married?

Also, once the house is sold who decides how much each of them get on completion day? Can it each go into their own bank accounts/new property or does it have to go into one account and be split afterwards?

My friend is currently being an ostrich and believes she doesn't need a solicitor's input as they are going to amicably sort it between them....

[HotChocolateLover]

I’m not going to give legal advice as i’m Not trained. Just tell your friend not to be an ostrich! This may not end well and her money could disappear on legal fees. Hopefully someone else can confirm your other queries or ask a solicitor 👍

[PonderingPanda]

I totally agree!! My XH did the whole "let's not get solicitor's and be amicable" crap too.... and if l hadn't have instructed a solicitor I'd have lost hell of a lot. Luckily thanks to what I've read on here over the year's l knew not to trust him and to get legal advice.

[millymollymoomoo]

If the declaration of trust contains provisions fir what would happen in the event of marriage it’s likely to be given consideration however I think once married it’s not automatically adhered to and courts can split differently based on whole numbers of factors

A solicitor would hold the proceeds sale I believe until agreement made

However I’m not a lawyer and they should both seek legal advice

[stucknoue]

It's my understanding that all documents made before marriage are only advisory after marriage eg wills are definitely voided by marriage. If they can sit down and come to arrangement they both think is fair they will end up with more than going to court and spending a fortune on fees

[PonderingPanda]

I really wish she'd get legal advice but she won't. My biggest concern is that the house will sell, she will get what the deed states. They get divorced but because it's not been sorted as a clean break/consent order, he will come after her in the future for money.

Or... it gets to the point of selling the house and her completing on her new one and something goes wrong with the funds.

[tisonlymeagain]

Some people do manage it - neither myself of exDH took legal advice, we sorted it all out ourselves and saved ourselves £££ in the process.

[Otter71]

Do they own the place as Tennant's in common with the shares specified there or as joint tenants - I think that may make a difference.

[PonderingPanda]

I'm not sure. She showed me the paperwork and it sets out how much she put in and the percentage the house would be split when sold.

[TheRedBarrows]

But a ‘tenants in common ‘ agreement is exactly what could become meaningless on marriage, the point of marriage being that all property is the property if the partnership and jointly owned.

She needs legal advice.

[LemonTT]

There are 3 separate issues.

First is that they made a premarital agreement. In a court marriage laws will take precedence as will the rights of the children.

Second, they can work out their finances if that’s what they want to do. Indeed it is expected that they do this rather than ending up in court fighting pointlessly over fairly straightforward issues. But they should both be informed about what they are entitled to. They can find this out to some extent without legal input. From what you have said she will get a better share of the house either which way. The only other issue would be pensions and savings. Mediation might be helpful for those. It will certainly highlight them.

Finally they can still get a financial order when they divorce even if they don’t fight it through the courts.

[PonderingPanda]

My concern is that the XH could take her back to court in the future and try and get more money from her if they don't get a clean break order.

@LemonTT Would a Judge sign off on this arrangement though as it is so far in her favour? When my financial order went before the Judge, he wouldn't clear it without more information about the splitting of assets. But...we did finances before the Absolute all at once.. They are doing doing the finances and then a 2 year separation.

She said they will just keep their own pensions...

I really wish she'd get legal advice but she is struggling so much with the split. I just want to help her but l also know l need to not project how my divorce was onto her

[LemonTT]

The judge might sign it off or he might ask for confirmation that they both understand the implications entirely. Basically give them both the opportunity to get legal assurance they are satisfied with the settlement. Essentially given them the last chance to challenge it finally so neither can try to reopen it in the future.

[Collaborate]

The existence of the deed of trust is not that significant on divorce.

Contrary to what is suggested above things do not become equally owned on marriage. therefore if the property is sold and there is no divorce order to say otherwise she should get what the trust deed says.

Whether that will be a good deal for her no one can say. She needs to get some legal advice. If she's not got a strong claim for more than half of the house it might be best to sell it. take her share, then offer a clean break.