Can my partner's wife claim on my property/income?

Hi, my current situation is that I have just sold my house and am looking to buy a new property. My partner left his wife 4 months ago and wants me to buy a bigger property so he can live there with me and maybe have his 3 kids over in the future (at the moment they are not allowed anywhere near me). The property will be in my name, he won't be able to contribute anything except maybe £30 towards food as he has a fairly low income of around £15k and he has voluntarily agreed with his wife to paying their own mortgage of £400 a month plus £70 a week for the kids (age 6,3 and 1). His wife does not work. For me to buy a bigger house would mean me taking on a bigger mortgage which I could do as I have an income of £42k and no children. My question is, if we do live together and my partner and his wife divorce later on, will she be able to make any claims on my property and also will my income be taken into account when maintenance is decided upon? I really want us to live together but a lot of my friends are warning me against this as they say I could lose out financially later on.

If property in your name and H put no capital in and the only contribution he makes is to say utilities -NO

Wll my income be taken into account when maintenance is decided upon- well is it a SM case? What is his wife's income + CB + Tax Credits etc?? I suspect it is not if she works a min 16 hrs and gets Tax Credits

For CSA -NO

People involved in divorce proceedings almost always want to know on what basis the Courts divide up the matrimonial assets between husband and wife if the Courts have to decide the issue. Indeed, this is what is at the heart of most divorce cases. If there is a dispute it is more likely than not to be about money. In fact, the relevant principles are set out in Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 which, essentially, reads:-

"25 (1) It shall be the duty of the court in deciding whether to exercise its powers .... to have regard to all the circumstances of the case including the following matters, that is to say -

the income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;

(b) the financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;

(c) the standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage;

(d) the age of each party to the marriage and the duration of the marriage;

(e) any physical or mental disability of either of the parties to the marriage;

(f) the contributions made by each of the parties to the welfare of the family, including any contribution made by looking after the home or caring for the family;

(g) ...the value to either of the parties to the marriage of any benefit (for example, a pension) which ... (by reason of the divorce) ..that party will lose the chance of acquiring;..."

THE CRUNCH...and other financial resources...can include your inc/capital but that doesn't mean his ex gets a share it means your financial position may be relevant...as an example if H argues W who lives in FMH with young C should sell so he can get his capital of say £50K as he says he needs it to buy a house is going to fail to persuade Crt to order a sale if say H and G/F live in her house with plenty of equity and/or H & G/F are on good £ so can get a mortgage and maybe W couldn't raise £ any other way to pay H!!

Hope this helps

My partner's ex is trying to claim that becuase I have a house, he doesn't "need" any money from the house he bought and paid for. On that basis, she is requesting a full transfer to her name. This has been taken into account by the Courts, but we haven't got to Final Hearing yet, where they will be likely to order a Mesher because he doens't need the money now as he lives with me.

My advice is DON'T COHABIT!!!!

She will almost certainly get SM because of hte ages of hte children by teh way (my partner's ex will get nominal maintenance even though she earns in excess of his earnings, because the children are young)

Thanks for the replies. Well, I feel a bit clearer regarding my own finances but now I hear of the experiences of the other lady here I'm a bit worried about my partmer's situation for his own property. His house is in joint names which they have owned for 7 years but in all that time his ex has only worked maybe 6 months so all the mortgage has been paid by him so far. His ex's only income is CB and TC. He still wants to keep the house in joint names & pay the mortgage even if they divorce so his kids can stay there until they are old enough to leave home (I know could be a long time). But could she still get the house in her name only when she isn't earning anything to pay for the mortgage?

Regarding the co-habiting, my partner has few options where to live in his current financial situation. While he is paying most of his income over to his wife and for the mortgage he could only either live with someone who already is self-supporting and doesn't mind his lack of contribution into that house or live at his mother's where he wouldn't even have his own bedroom. So not many options at the moment.

Hi CarolD

You say it's 4 months since your partner left the marital home - its really early days to sort out finances!!

At the moment your partner is not considering his future at all (which is probably due to the huge emotional turmoil he is going through).

Whilst I'm sure that you are quite happy to financially support him, his ex & his kids (by keeping a roof over his head) he should also consider that should your relationship breakdown he has no home and no ability to raise a mortgage (as he will be tied to the mortgage on the FMH). How would he manage? How would he be able to have a fulfilling relationship with his children if he cannot have them to stay?

This also affects your standard of living!! Whilst its wonderful that he wants to provide so much for his ex-wife & children, you both also need to consider YOUR futures too!

as i understand it his wife stands a very good change of getting the house in her name the court put the needs of the children above all and to maintain their standard of liveing, as to your partner obtaining a mesher order even with a small charge back dowtfull the children are very yough and meshers work best when the youghest child is a teenager suppose he couls ask his x if she would agrea to one if he was flexable to trigger events and variations.
I also agrea with the last answer can you really live supporting your partner for the next 17 years,a glimmer of hope your partners x may meet someone that would ease things a bit, think long and hard and i wish you luck for the future,dudey

You say the wife has a good chance of getting the house in her name only. But if his wife did get the house transferred across in her name only how would she be able to pay for it if she is not working? Would that mean my partner effectively paying for it still through maintenance or would she claim on benefits to pay the mortgage? Wouldn't she have to buy him out (although this would be impossible due to her having no income)? Surely my partner should get something out of the equity of the house which he has been paying into for the last 7 years? Or is this because he could move in with a new partner without needing money to set up in a new home? If he stopped at his mother's until a divorce went through would this change things? Sorry, for all the questions! We are still trying to understand how all this works. I am willing to support my partner and I know it will be hard but I don't want him to lose out when the finances are settled because of being with me.