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Civil Partnership Act 2010

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  • 04-02-2018 3:09pm
    #1
    fifigogo
    Registered Users Posts: 87 ✭✭


    My brother and I own a house in joint tenancy. I went abroad for a few years and met someone and had a baby. I am back in Ireland now with my son and my partner was granted a stamp 4 visa(parent of an irish citizen child) has been living in the house for 6 months. My brother and I have been talking about our options now. We really want to hold onto the house and keep it as a future asset rather than sell but my brother, understandably, is concerned that my partner may have some automatic rights on the property. Does my partner have any rights?


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    #2
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    fifigogo wrote: »
    My brother and I own a house in joint tenancy. I went abroad for a few years and met someone and had a baby. I am back in Ireland now with my son and my partner was granted a stamp 4 visa(parent of an irish citizen child) has been living in the house for 6 months. My brother and I have been talking about our options now. We really want to hold onto the house and keep it as a future asset rather than sell but my brother, understandably, is concerned that my partner may have some automatic rights on the property. Does my partner have any rights?
    She could do, if you and she break up. This could arise in two ways.

    First, if you and your brother financed the purchase of the house with a mortgage, which you are still paying, and if she makes contributions to your joint finances which directly or indirectly assist you in servicing the mortgage, then the courts could hold that she has acquired a part-share in the house through her financial contributions. At this stage that would be (at most) a very small share, but the longer the relationship, and her financial contribution, continues, the greater her share.

    Secondly, on the breakdown of a non-marital relationship like yours, if you have been together for at least two years and have a child together, the courts have the same powers to order maintenance, transfer of assets, etc, as they would if you were married. This could include an order transferring her a share in the home.

    This is all very nebulous and you really won't know what claim, if any, she can make with respect to the house unless and until your relationship breaks down, which hopefully it won't. And, even then, her claim will depend on the facts as they are then, not on the facts as they are now.


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    #3
    fifigogo
    Registered Users Posts: 87 ✭✭fifigogo


    Peregrinus wrote: »
    She could do, if you and she break up. This could arise in two ways.

    First, if you and your brother financed the purchase of the house with a mortgage, which you are still paying, and if she makes contributions to your joint finances which directly or indirectly assist you in servicing the mortgage, then the courts could hold that she has acquired a part-share in the house through her financial contributions. At this stage that would be (at most) a very small share, but the longer the relationship, and her financial contribution, continues, the greater her share.

    Secondly, on the breakdown of a non-marital relationship like yours, if you have been together for at least two years and have a child together, the courts have the same powers to order maintenance, transfer of assets, etc, as they would if you were married. This could include an order transferring her a share in the home.

    This is all very nebulous and you really won't know what claim, if any, she can make with respect to the house unless and until your relationship breaks down, which hopefully it won't. And, even then, her claim will depend on the facts as they are then, not on the facts as they are now.


    But only my share of the house would be affected if she were to make a claim right?


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    #4
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    fifigogo wrote: »
    But only my share of the house would be affected if she were to make a claim right?
    Yes; I don't see how she could claim any share of his 50%. But in practice it could affect your brother quite significantly, e.g by leading to the forced sale of the house.

    This problem was always going to arise when either or both of you got partnered up. As it happens, you have acquired a partner first, but it could still be that he meets someone, and then his relationship breaks down, and it could be you and your GF who find that your happy home has to be sold because of his relationship breakdown.

    There's nothing you can do that will completely eliminate this risk. The risk can possibly be managed by (a) you and your brother having a clear understanding about how co-ownership of the house will play out as your circumstances change in various ways, and possibly (b) you and, when it becomes relevant, your brother entering into cohabitation agreements with your respective partners which deal with interests in the house. Might be worth spending a few shillings on a consultation with a solicitor to see what can be done. Managing eveyone's expectations at this stage, when everything is hunky-dory, might reduce the risk of problems arising in the future, and might reduce the scale and complexity of any problems which do arise, house-wise.


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