To refuse 25% vs 75% split ownership of house?

He should have the full amount of the money his mum put in, in the event of divorce. The rest should be 50/50. Anything either of you earns during the marriage is for both of you and 50/50 split in the case of divorce. Don’t sign the document until you’ve had your own independent legal advice.

That’s not true.

They can do a declaration of trust to define ownership percentages.

It's not technically an inheritance, it's a gift of money, so it would be counted in divorce proceedings afaik.

Why don't you take your 50% of the funds from the property you've just sold, leave and apply for a divorce?

Sorry last message app won’t let me edit!

what I was trying to say was weirdly that

In the UK, inheritances are generally considered non-matrimonial property. This means they are not automatically included in the division of marital assets. However, if the inheritance was mingled with marital assets or used for the benefit of the family (e.g., to purchase a family home), it may be considered part of the marital assets.

Legally, I am pretty sure he can't ringfence and inheritance.
I looked this up for a friend some time ago.

Inheritances are part of the joint pot.

The only way he could do this as a Declaration of Trust so the house was more in his name (his assets) which is what he's asking OP to do!

Legally, I am pretty sure he can't ringfence and inheritance.
I looked this up for a friend some time ago.

Inheritances are part of the joint pot.

The only way he could do this as a Declaration of Trust so the house was more in his name (his assets) which is what he's asking OP to do!

I've pointed out several people we know where the wives no longer work at all for a variety of reasons. But he says I don't know what their arrangement is at home, and starts to yell and gets nasty.

It's not like we've just met and are getting married for the first time where I've arrived with only the clothes on my back and he's providing everything. Although that is literally the way he sees it a lot of the time. That I'm sponging off of him and contributing nothing

It's fine for him to ring fence his inheritance, but that amount, not a percentage of the house, so that if it goes up in value, you get 50% of any increase on divorce. It does appear he is very materialistic and not really understanding that marriage is a partnership. You sound unhappy, so I hope you make the right choices for you.

In that case the bare minimum amount you should agree to is that he protects his deposit from mom and the rest is split 50:50. This will protect your asset for the future.

I've not had a chance to read all of the replies yet. I've spiralled down into quiet. A depressive and anxious state today and haven't been able to concentrate much.

But to clarify the comments about prenuptial assets and agreements, we don't have anything like that. The document he wants me to sign is a Joint Ownership document, that would stipulate the split of ownership between us for the new house which would then change the ownership from Joint Ownership (50/50) to Tenants in Common detailing the split of the property.

We have always had separate bank accounts with me just transferring a portion of my monthly wage to him to put towards the mortgage, bills etc. There's never been any specific breakdown of what my money would be used for because it's not enough to cover the mortgage alone, or the rest of the bills.

I used to think I was just dumb and couldn't remember anything, but it was my undiagnosed ADHD that made (makes) it really hard to retain information, remember details, figures, amounts, etc.

I can never remember how much our bills are no matter how many times he tells me. I've never had sight of any of his accounts. I know he's invested quite a lot in crypto (probably £40k+), along with small amounts of stocks he owns and other bank accounts. But I've never had any access to them. Our finances have always remained separate, so when I say I've got £1000 in savings, that's literally all I have access to. I had another savings account he helped set up for me that's probably got £15k in it now. But that's it.

I could not afford a mortgage or home (or even a flat) of my own where we live which is important for the children.

In short: we have sold our house and are hoping to exchange on a new home soon. Husband wants to have the house 25% in my name while the other 75% is in his name.

I don’t know how much info or back story is.l needed to provide additional context, but I will try and summarise below:

DH and I have jointly owned our current home for 15years. We also jointly own a flat that we'd like to sell in the next couple of years. We are upsizing soon to a larger home to accommodate our family.

The new home is roughly double the size and value of our current home. We were only able to purchase the new house due to a substantial amount of money that was given to us from his mother (essentially an early inheritance). The money from his mum is roughly 25% of the total value of the new house.

I work full time while DH runs his own business. He makes approx 3-4 times as much as I do, and is able to write a lot of the family expenses off under his business. So while he says he pays for everything, that isn't 100% true because some bits such as mobile phones, and other small expenses are written off as business expenses.

We live a good lifestyle. I don't ask for much. I give DH 40% of my paycheque each month. I put 14% into a long term savings account, some goes into short term savings, credit card payment, life insurance, etc. I put 14% into my monthly spending account to cover things for myself such clothing, hair cuts, activities, coffee / meals out with friends, etc.
I don't eat much while at home, so I don't cost a lot to 'keep around'. I also pay for some of the children's clothing, a weekly activity class and other bits when they need them.

DH covers the bulk of the household expenses including school fees, children's activities, the bulk of the mortgage, household bills, etc. A lot of the monthly expenses would be viewed as luxuries, but he refuses to compromise on them for the sake of the children.

DH has several expensive hobbies that require a lot of space which is partly why we have had to move into a much larger home. Without them and the space they require we could make do with a smaller home. He wouldn't like that though, as he likes the 'status' and feeling of achievement that comes with a larger home.

DH has always had big aspirations and has done everything he can to make those happen. I am appreciative of this and have benefitted from them (house, etc). I have had a rough time career wise not living up to my (and his!) full aspirations and potential due to undiagnosed ADHD for 40years.

DH has always said I need to contribute more, and doesn’t think it’s right that he pays for everything. He says I don’t contribute anything and basically thinks I sponge off of him.

He doesn’t like my very small group of friends because the majority of them are divorced and / or aren’t high earners and are sponging off their wealthier husbands.

DH and I haven’t got the greatest relationship, but I would never leave him. He claims the same about me, but is verbally and emotionally abusive a lot of the time and has threatened me with divorce quite a few times over the years, but then says he’d never actually do it.

We are now at a cross roads where he is essentially making me agree to and sign the papers that say I’m only entitled to 25% of the house in the event of divorce. He claims he’s STILL giving me 25% and believes he’s being generous because I ‘don’t contribute anything’ and haven’t put any money towards the down payment.

I pointed out that I give him 40% of my paycheque (with plans to contribute almost 50% in a couple months), but he said he has nothing to do with that because it’s the vale of the house and the money that his mum has given to us. So he’s trying to protect that because she wanted to give it as a gift so she could see our children have a nice house.

I do understand his point of view on that and the fact that £400k is essentially his inheritance. But for years and years he’s made me feel worthless because he’s always said he wished I earned more and I don’t contribute anything. But I work my ass off and have had my own struggles with ADHD that have held me back in so many areas of life and my career. As much as I’d love to I can’t go back in time and change that.

Now he’s being nasty and saying I’m showing my true colours and being greedy by wanting more than 25% of the house in my name. He keeps reassuring me that if something else happens like death it’d would all still go to me. But that it’s only if I divorced him that the 25% would come into play. He keeps saying if I divorced him, because he'd never divorce me. But it would be divorce in general.

I realise this has been long, and thank you for reading if you got this far.

I’m so hurt and upset right now I don’t know what to do. He’s throwing insults at me now insisting I’m only in it for the money and I’m showing my true colours, and just trying to make me look like a selfish evil person. I don't know what to do. I don't like fighting or arguing and I don't like being difficult. He's pressuring me to do this and I don't feel comfortable with all of this.