can i gift my house before divorce?

just wondering... i dont want to loose my house neigther want to share 50% of my property. we are goin to divorce soon and has no children. in this matter can i gift my house to my familly member so once the divorce is done i can have it back? i paid mortage 7years and bought it when i was single. he was in the house for only 11 month and paid few bills. thanks

Hi
Welcome to wiki, but sorry you find yourself here,
My initial thought is that a judge would see straight through this and concider that the asset was still yours.

No one can offer a view on possible settlement without knowing a little more if you post the following details a knowlegable wikipeep may be able to offer some advice

Your respective ages;

The number of children you have and their ages;

How many nights the children spend with each parent;

The length of your marriage and any period of pre marriage cohabitation;

Your respective incomes;

Your respective outgoings;

Your assets - both soley held and joint;

Your liabilities.

LB

If the fact that your ex was only in the house for 11 months reflects the length of your marriage, you should be able to keep the house without having to play these sorts of games. After a short marriage, if there are no children, you usually take out what you brought in. So if the house was yours before marriage, you should be able to keep it. You may have to pay your ex a small amount of money to get him to settle without an expensive battle, but nothing like half the value of the house.

Best wishes,
Sadie

No you shouldn''t gift the house away. The courts have powers to order the transfer of property back if there has been a disposition to prevent a spouse from making claims. Alternatively the value of the property can be factored into the settlement. Apart from the risk of penalties and and sanctions trying to hide/dispose of property just complicates settlements and protracts matters leading to greater financial losses in the long term.

In any event after a short relationship it''s unlikely your wife will be able to claim 50% of what you own unless you have very little to start with.

I am 27 female and has no children. I got marride on 2008 but my house was rented for 3years. Bought the house on 2006 when I was single and we both stayed at my mum house just to save money so we can use them on the house. Then we moved to my house on 2011 and got seperated on nov 2011. Which is only 11 month. Then he is staying in his uncle house for free of charge. All the money he earn is sent to backhome eigther his acc or his parent acc in backhome. Will judge is goin to search where is his money is goin to? He never keep money in the bank? Our marrige is now 5years but he is in this country for 4 years and we both stayed on the house for only 11month, Is there anything I should do to declare I am seperated? Or the paperwork such as bills and stuff will proff that I live alone in the house for past 1 years? I so dnt WANa loose my property.

Sorry I thought you were the husband but It makes no difference. If you are a woman the same law applies and honesty is the best policy. Paperwork can indeed be used of evidence of separation if there is a dispute.

Rather than think of schemes to avoid a fair settlement (one that complies with the law) it would be more constructive to find out where you stand and what your options are. Each case depends on the specific facts and without details of the value of any assets (including pensions) held in sole or joint names, liabilities and respective incomes from all sources it is difficult to comment.

Generally 5 years is still a shortish relationship and it''s unlikely your husband will be able to claim 50% of the assets. Cohabitation before marriage is sometimes added to the length of the marriage but not usually when there are no children and the finances have been run independently.

With a short marriage each party may take away what they brought to the marriage and share any increase in the value of assets during the marriage. However the needs of the parties plays apart in particular for housing and sometimes when one party is more wealthy and/or the other party has been dependent on them it may be reasonable for wealthier spouse to pay *something* towards rehousing and a period of readjustment. That It''s unlikely to be deemed reasonable for one party to live in privately owned property if the other spouse is staying with relatives and can''t afford to rent or buy their own property.

As far as incomes are concerned each party can more or less do what they want with their income after separation. When one party is finally struggling and the other has the ability to help out financially the lower income spouse may be able to make maintenance. If your husband has disposable income to send money abroad it will be difficult for him to argue that his needs for housing are that great.

It would be very different of course if there were large amounts of investments or savings being transferred out of the jurisdiction of the UK courts. In this case you would be well advised to see a lawyer with a view to freezing the assets until the finances can be sorted out.

My ex is asking for 50% of my house and she only lived in my house on and of for 8 months before we were married. Its been rented out before we got married until present day.