This guide will tell you what to expect equally from your property if you're seeking for divorce.
My house is registered at the Land Registry in my name only. I married my partner in July – now he wants a divorce and I’m worried I’ll lose half the house
Q When my parents died, they left me money which I used to buy my house outright, with no mortgage, in November 2015. It is registered at the Land Registry in my name only. My partner pays the household bills but I pay for food and the council tax.
I am not in full-time employment. Recently my partner asked me to marry him and in July this year I did, but now he wants a divorce. Is he entitled to 50% of the house? EL
A Not necessarily. How you split your assets – which include everything that belongs to either of you, not just things that you own jointly – on divorce depends on the financial agreement you come to or if you can’t agree, what a court decides is fair.
Given the shortness of your marriage, it may be that a court would think it appropriate for you to each walk away from the marriage with what you own in your sole names and to split jointly-owned property down the middle.
Currently, the courts generally try not to make orders that require former spouses to share “non-matrimonial” property. This means property acquired by gift or inheritance or acquired before marriage or civil partnership, and that would seem to exclude the house you bought before you got married.
However, the house could have to be shared if it is needed to meet your former husband’s financial needs after the split but that wouldn’t necessarily mean that he would get a 50% share. When deciding the division of assets, the courts take into account how long you’ve been married as well as your ages, ability to earn, property and money, living expenses, standard of living, role in the marriage and whether there are children involved.
But leaving the decision over how you split your assets to a court – by applying for a financial order, which costs £255 – may not get the desired result for either you or your former husband. Because the house is in your name and because the marriage will have been so short, I strongly recommend that you get professional legal help so that you and your ex can come to an agreement that you both think is fair.
*** This article is based on GUARDIAN UK
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