My husband and I bought an apartment after we got married which was registered in our joint names at the Land Registry . I paid approximately a third of the cost, using money I inherited. The remaining two thirds came from loans guaranteed by a mortgage taken out by my husband and myself, although the payments were actually made from my husband’s bank account. All the loans were repaid in full several years ago. My husband and I are now in the process of divorce. He claims that he is entitled to two thirds of the sale value of the apartment as he paid off the loans which accounted for two thirds of the cost. I feel that I should have two thirds as I used my inheritance money to pay a third of the cost of the apartment, and I am entitled to half of the remaining two thirds paid for by the loans my husband and I took out, that is a further third. Who is right, my husband or me ?
By: דיאנה שאלתיאל•Published on: 12 May, 2022Neither of you is right ! The fact that the apartment is registered in joint names at the Land Registry is the key factor here. Assuming that the apartment is registered in your names in equal parts it will normally be divided accordingly between both of you as spouses. The fact that one party used money gained as a gift or by way of inheritance and used this as part payment towards the purchase of the apartment does not act in his/her favour and give him/her greater rights in the apartment. Nor does the fact that the mortgage repayments were made from only one spouse’s bank account ( and not from a joint account, or from both parties’ accounts) , help that particular party gain more rights in the property either.