Divorce question re ownership of house

[JellyBelly10]

I won't go into all the details of why my friend is thinking that she might end up divorcing, but basically her husband of about 3 years is absolutely horrible to her two sons (in their 20s but still live at home) and is emotionally abusive towards her and she's extremely unhappy. The background: My friend got divorced from first husband about 10 years ago and owns her own house outright, no mortgage. A couple of years ago she got married to a man who had previously only ever been renting, so he moved into her house with her and her two sons. Unfortunately it is becoming clear that the marriage is not going to last and after just a couple of years this man presumably stands to get half of the value of her house if they divorce (does he? I'm new to this!). Is it possible for my friend to transfer the ownership of the house into her grown-up son's name (from previous marriage), so that if/when her and her new husband divorce he won't get half of her house? Thanks.

She needs proper legal advice - he might have a claim on the house but as it's a short marriage that might be taken into account.
My dfil was married for just over 10 years before he got divorced from smil. She had a house before she married fil which she gave sold to her ds. We we told at the time that it was considered to be a long marriage and she was entitled to more (over 10 years) but it was a few years ago so this should be checked.
She originally wanted half my dfil 's house ( he had lived there 30+ years so lots of equity) the sales value of her house was disregarded but eventually she was awarded half of the increase in value over the 10 years and he had to sell to pay her off.

Hello. A court has the power to make any order it wants in relation to property in divorce so the name on the deeds is not that important. The important factors will be where any children under 18 live, financial means of both parties, He certainly is not automatically entitled to half the value of the house but what he is entitled to depends on their financial situation and agreements made when he moved in. Also if he has contributed to the mortgage while they were married and was there an intention for him to be an owner. All these factors play a part in apportioning assets. I would advise your friend to seek legal advice from a solicitor.

Regardless of the name on the deeds or who paid for it the former matrimonial home is usually considered a family asset to be shared according to a checklist of factors and not necessarily 50:50.

There is no point in signing over a property to prevent or reduce a spouse's claim. A dim view is taken of disposing of assets and it won't help your friend. Apart from sanctions, penalties and running up the legal costs the value of property may be "added back" and taken into account when sharing any other assets. Alternatively the court can set aside the disposal and order a sale or transfer the property to the other spouse.

Every case depends on the particular facts and your friend would be well advised to see a solicitor to find out where she stands and what options there are.

As a friend the best support you can offer is a shoulder to lean on if required but third parties siding with one party or taking on disputes between the spouses as their own tend to make matters much worse. Rather than taking sides very often it is better to offer an impartial or alternative view from the perspective of the other spouse. That is where the benefit of professional counselling comes in.