transfer of home ownership

[rita2007]

hi

does anyone know how long it takes to transfer home ownership to another family member (next to kin)?

many thanks

It can take a while if you have a mortgage, as the lender may have to give consent to the transfer, eg if a husband and wife own a property jointly, they get divorced and the wife stays in the house, sometimes the husbands share will be transferred to the wife and another person.

Timing wise, if no mortgage, then it should be done within 3 or 4 weeks.

Is this one of those transfers by elderly parents to their children, to avoid nursing home fees? If so, be v. careful.

I think we need a bit more detail to properly answer your question, tbh.

ok, the truth is i think my husband may try to transfer two of his investment properties to his mom - as i blabed to him that i have seen a divorce lawyer to be on safe side so i am protected. help?!

any other advice in light of this?

I am absolutely not an expert in these matters but it would have to be done through the Land Registry so there would be a date noting when the transfer took place and you would presumably be able to challenge the transfer as an attempt to hide or dispose of marital assets.

i hope so. many thanks :)

The court can review any transfer of assets he makes unless he receives a fair price for the asset and the person receiving the asset acted in good faith. For transfers made less than 3 years before you apply for ancillary relief (i.e. the financial settlement) it is up to him to prove that the transfer was legitimate. For transfers made before that it is up to you to prove that the transfer was not legitimate. So, unless his mother pays a fair market price for the investment properties, transferring them to her will not make any difference to the financial settlement - they will still be treated as belonging to him.

did you mean to say 'The court can not review any transfer of assets he makes unless he receives a fair price for the asset' ?

No, I meant what I said. If he receives a fair price for the asset the courts won't review the transaction.

If his mother pays him, say, £250,000 for a property worth £250,000 it will not be reviewed as it makes no difference to his net worth. However, if she pays him £5 for a property worth £250,000 the courts can review that transaction and, for the purposes of the financial settlement, act as if the property still belongs to him.

If he thinks he is able to hide assets in the divorce by transferring them to his mother he is in for a rude awakening. Note, however, that it will be up to you to prove that he owns these properties and that they have been transferred to his mother at significantly below their true value.

thanks so much for your advice :)