Legal owners

[EULB]

If my parents 'lent me �80k 10 years ago to by a house and i knew it was only to get me on the housing ladder. Me and my wife are now getting a divorce and my parents say that the house is legaly thiers as thy paid for the house directly from their accounts to the solisitor's even though they put My Wife's and My Name's on the Deed's.

[PinkFizz]

If you name is on the deeds then the house is legally yours surely.

[redcrx]

are you saying that although you realise it was their money you have no wish to return it?
Ive heard of this before and trust is often broken by someone and the funds are hard to get back.
Your parents should have made sure your solicitor put details of the money on record.
In a fair world, you should really reimburse your parents, before splitting any equity between yourself and your wife.

[Ethel]

Are you and your parents trying to find a way of not giving your wife any share of the equity of the house?

The house is legally yours and your wife's- your parents could have declared an interest by putting a charge on the property when it was bought . But it seems they didn't.

[lady_p_gold]

The house belongs to you and your wife. If you divorce then she will be entitled to her share regardless of where or who the funds came from.

[Pippa68]

Unless there was a written agreement in place your parents will be having trouble proving the loan was indeed a loan & not a gift.

Your names are on the deeds, not theirs. It is their fault for not making it an official loan.

My parents lent me a deposit for a house ~ they wanted it to be a gift, but I didn't. I typed out a 'promissory note', signed & witnessed, that I would repay the money within 5 years ~ which I did..plus interest.

[kwicky]

There was a high profile case like yours recently where the parent (I believe Sir Alan Sugar) supplied money towards a house for his son and the wife insisted it was a gift when he married. I did not read about the outcome but the precedent may help your case.

[themas]

In some situations (e.g. bankruptcy) the beneficial interest in a house is considered as well as the legal ownership. If your parents paid for the house then they could argue they had a beneficial interest in it but:-

1. You need a solicitor to advise you whether this type of interest is considerd in divorce proceedings: &

2. As already said, you would have difficulty proving it was not a gift.

[Law1]

Take note of what Ethel, Pippa and Themas state, they are on the right lines.