Father-in-law wants to gift my husband a house – in my husband's name only

[esgill]

My husband's parents have been undergoing a painful divorce for the past five years, arguing via their lawyers about the financial terms.

Now, my father-in-law contacted my husband to say he wants to give him money to buy a house – on the condition it's only in his name. My husband argued over this – but his dad basically said his way or the highway. He says it's not about trust but what else is it – I guess he's disillusioned after five years of legal battles.

Our question: how enforceable is this, actually? His father is abroad, in another continent. We're married, without a pre-nuptial agreement (though we got married abroad, I wonder if we'd need to do anything to legalise it here?

Otherwise, my husband said we could change the contrast so it's in both of our names. (is that easy to do?)

We have a young daughter and I have no intention of leaving my husband unless he does something insane like cheat on me. We've been together now for 10 years and know each other for a further four when we were friends. But I want security, for me and my daughter.

Doesn’t matter if it’s only in his name. If you’re married it’s 50% yours unless you sign a contract - like a post-nup in your case - that says otherwise. And even then, after five years or so it’s considered out of date and unenforceable unless updated.

Because there are lawyers here and it’s free? Why wouldn’t I use a free resource before jumping into spending money?😅

Thanks all, very grateful for your help! I’m less worried now :)

I received a large sum of money from my parents for me and DH to buy a house. More than 25% of the cost. 9 months later he left.
It was only due to residual guilt that he didnt claim half that money. I was unemployed and had been a SAHM for 10 years. If he had done that I would have been screwed. ExDH, despite having a stable career was in much harder straits financially after we broke up.

If I was going to gift a large sum of money to my children I would want to protect it so it benefitted my child and their children and not their ex. I dont think that's unfair or capitalism. I understand your FIL's pov.

In your position I would be grateful of the security and reduction to my living costs and I would put every spare penny i had into savings to protect me in the future.

@esgill

FiL is hurting, enjoy the guilt gift! 😂

I don't know really how they know, but banks have a duty to report unusual sums of money going into an account, and the police and government departments can ask to see bank account details if they think there is a need.

I am not sure, offhand, the details, but I am sure you can look it up on the government website.

Show me in the government website where it says there is no gift tax in the UK.

The Government website dealing with tax on a gift from overseas to a child is down at the moment. Perhaps Ms Reeves is exploring the possibility of another kind of tax, bearing in mind the large number of wealthy people who have left the UK since this government came into power. As there is so much on the internet about just this, chances are she will.

I have found this on Ai, so it seems to be a very complicated question to answer.

Do I pay tax on gift money from parents overseas in the UK?

If you receive a cash gift from the parents outside the UK, it is usually not taxable until the donor has the assets of the UK or the money is transferred to the UK bank account as part of a property. However, if the parents are residents of the UK tax, standard heritage tax rules apply if they pass within seven years.(13 Mar 2025)

Totally agree with this. If it were the wife’s parents proposing to buy a house in her name only, the replies would be somewhat different.

If it were me I would put the house in trust for my child, that way if the marriage endures the spouse benefits as well. If the OP in this case could never afford her own property because of unreliable freelance work, why should she walk away with a sizeable chunk of the fruits of someone else’s efforts if they split up? It’s up to her to contribute to the housing needs of the family too, surely?

Does FIL have property or business in UK?

Because you’re likely to get a load of old baloney. People always think they know… Solicitors do free half hour appointments. Book one of those or go to the CAB.

Very weird take. I earn more than my husband – in fact he is a stay-at-home dad. But freelancing makes it much harder getting a decent mortgage.

Nope.

if you’re married it’s your house too.

you are not talking about gift tax (there is none), you are talking about the tax residency rules and the exposure of an individual to tax on their own wealth if their residency status means they are subject to UK tax rules.

So many people seem unable to appreciate that a gift is not income, it is a gift. You never pay UK income tax on money gifted to you.
A gift is not capital, you do not pay UK Capital Gains Tax on money gifted to you.

The donor on the other hand may be subject to UK inheritance tax if they are resident in the UK for tax purposes. Inheritance tax may be payable when that donor dies, but it is not a gift tax, it is a death tax.
(The circumstances where the amount of gifts given to someone else by the deceased in the final 7 years of their life affects the amount of inheritance tax payable by the deceased's estate is way outside relevance to this thread)

@llizzie When you* *quote AI you reveal you dont - and didnt - know what you were talking about.

There is no gift tax in the uk - it really is that simple. Better to say nothing when you dont know and just mislead.

Can you show us a gov website that shows us that there is a gift tax. Gov will tell you what does exist rather than list what doesn’t.
You may be confusing ‘gift tax’ with the rules on IHT re gifting. This is not a gift tax but an IHT exemption allowed for gifts older than 7years.

Yep take the money and nod and smile. He’s not going to be in the solicitor’s office is he. Unless he wants his name on it?

I agree with you OP. A person is either married (with all that entails) or they are not. Your PIL’s bad marriage has absolutely nothing to do with your own, and the fact that your FIL is attempting to bring discord to your marriage is disgusting. In yours and your husband’s shoes I wouldn’t take the money, because it sets a precedent that would make me uncomfortable: that you are disposable.

I also find it interesting that you say your husband is the primary parent: is he a SAHD? Because that would then put you in a very difficult position should you ever divorce because you could be in the position of him being regarded as the resident parent, and you being kicked out of your home if it’s still in his name. That is a risk I would not be willing to take.

I think you are being unfair to other posters here just because they would protect their own children first. You don’t get to call someone unkind because they have a different viewpoint to you. With all due respect you are family in name only. You can’t expect your spouses parent to feel exactly the same love for you as his own children first. I would do the same and I am certainly not unkind or a capitalist. I will never apologise for putting my own children first. I also suspect if the sexes were reversed here the answers would be very different. It’s irrelevant anyway as he isn’t putting it in trust so you don’t need to panic about it.

I would also put my children first over their partner, but the OP is the mother of a very young grandchildren. What does the fil expect will happen to the grandchild if, as he thinks will happen, his son gets divorced and the child's mother is kicked out of home?

I’m still surprised that so many posters are suggesting that the OP and her husband lie to his father. I think that would be a really shitty and underhand thing to do. If the OP and her husband don’t like the offer then they should discuss it with her FIL and see if there is a way to make it so everyone is happy.
If not then they should decline the offer. I wouldn’t consider lying in this situation. The FIL is willing to give a whole HOUSE to the OPs husband for her to use too and yet there are so many posters happy to treat him like dirt.

"yet there are so many posters happy to treat him like dirt."

Of course, this is MN
As others have suggested if it was not father but mother the tone would be different.
Bottom line is they are married, short of retaining ownership himself, (rather pointless if the objective is tax planning) FIL will not be able to favour husband over wife if the marriage goes pear shape as the divorce overrules ownership.

Buy a second property in your name only. It's a win win.

i just copied the information I found.

If the OP's FIL is an expat, Ms Reeves is apparently preparing to tax them as well.