Is this possible regarding house and marriage?

[Houseinthecountry]

Hi
I need some advice!

My partner and I plan to get married and as we can't afford a big mortgage due to the number of rooms we will need for our blended family, my partner's mum suggested she sign the house over to us, and we build an annex and pay the mortgage on that.

The problems we have, are in order to do that, I would need to put in 200,000 to his mum, as my share of the house in case we ever split, meaning I'd get a fair cut if back if we had to sell up and to protect my partner not losing out on his inheritance.

My mum was planning on giving me money towards a deposit, but nowhere near that amount, and I don't have that sort of money either.

I suggested that if we get married, we get a legal document drawn up so as I have no claim over the house if we split, but get whatever I've put into the mortgage including deposit etc.

He said it wont hold up in court. Is this true? We dont have children between us and we wint be having any either.

Many thanks

Bad bad bad bad bad idea.

• The agreement may or may not hold up in court in the event of a divorce. The courts will do what they deem to be fair regardless of what the agreement says. Usually they'd uphold it because if you and he agreed to it at some stage then you clearly believe it to be fair - but they aren't obliged to.
• If you cannot get a mortgage then MIL cannot sign the house over to you for you to pay the mortgage. That cannot happen. You're flat-out not allowed to do that. If you could get a mortgage on her house then you could get a mortgage on any other house, if you can't get a mortgage on any other house then you can't get one on hers.
• MIL could be assessed for deprivation of assets and the house may need to be sold to pay for care in her old age - then you're left with nothing. If MIL passes away in the next few years (for any reason) you could have to pay hefty inheritance tax on the property.

This is a genuinely, very bad idea for so many reasons but it's also not even technically possible. Have you actually discussed this with a professional? Honestly, if you hadn't said you and DP have been together so long then I'd think you're being scammed.

You can get a declaration of trust deed drawn up and they certainly do stand up in court but in these circumstances I agree with some others about intentional deprivation of assets. Best to see a solicitor.