Unequal house deposit

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If someone inherits money when young, buys a house and lived in it whilst single, sells it for £250k, and uses that full amount as a deposit to buy a new house with their partner (while mortgaging the rest), I understand that a Declaration of Trust can be used to specify the contribution each partner made to the property.

However, what happens if the couple then gets married? In the event of a divorce or separation, would the spouse be entitled to half the house, potentially overriding the terms of the Declaration of Trust? Is there a way to protect this?

Thanks.

Hi

As I understand it, marriage supercedes the declaration of trust. So the family court on divorce can ignore a trust whilst applying the principles of family law. But the document will remain evidence of the intentions of the parties. Similar to a pre-nup in England. Not binding but indicative of intention at the time.

This article is helpful on the point
www.elitelawsolicitors.co.uk/declaration-of-trust-for-property/

Can't say I fully understand your question, but I owned a house without a mortgage when married exh. Although his salary and pensions were far more than mine the house was deemed to be the marital home .... Had to negotiate hard to keep it.

If it’s you with the money ?

I would definitely NOT put that much deposit down , I’d put in as much as the other person
Then 50/50 on mortgage . You could put xxx money after deposit into isa , or use it to pay towards your half if mortgage monthly payments

when there’s an unequal amount like this it causes all sorts of arguments, like you say deed of trust is ok whilst you live together but not as husband/wife

I'd buy the house as tenants in common.

Say house is £500k
You pay £250k deposit.
£250k mortgage - pay half each.
You have a 75% stake, partner has a 25% stake.
I'd get a prenup If I were to get married. Though doesn't protect you fully.

I wouldn't get married. I had a DoT but when we divorced it all got put into the pot and split 50/50. I lost £100k's

Just thinking logically, if you pay the deposit and go 50/50 on the deeds, you are essentially just giving away half the deposit if your partner decides in a month's time they want to end it all. That would be madness, surely?

Yes, she’d be entitled to half the equity of the house. Other factors include if it were the marital home (a strong argument for it being a joint asset uh should both benefit from), or if children are housed there and to go on to live mostly with their mother. Unfortunately a declaration of trust is not a 100% guarantee to protect funds, neither is a pre or postnup. For clarity I was a family law paralegal.

It would not be 50/50 in a month of marriage. Length of marriage matters.

Everything would be 50:50 as a start point on divorce, so it doesn't matter whether you put your money into a house or savings or pension, you're still likely to lose half of it. If the money discrepancy between the two of you is huge, safest thing is not to get married, unless other perks of marriage would outweigh the risk for you

As @TizerorFizz says, it would not be a 50/50 split in a short marriage (5 years or less). Unless there are children involved, the courts are likely to return pre-marital assets to whoever brought them into the marriage.

Whilst a pre-nup is not of itself legally binding, the courts will uphold a properly executed pre-nup provided certain conditions are met unless it would be manifestly unfair to do so, e.g. the couple have had children but the pre-nup fails to make adequate provision for them.

Thanks. But say if I put the money into isa/savings, would they not be entitled to that anyway?

If you marry then yes, everything goes into the pot to be shared between you.

Yes but depends on the factors mentioned earlier. A higher deposit usually gets a lower rate mortgage too.