Hi guys, I'm hoping someone here could give me their opinion.....I'm recently separated from my wife, and am now in the unenviable position of living with my parents until can get on my feet again. I moved in with my then girlfriend back in 2011, she had previously told me that she owned the house but when I moved in that changed to the house being owned by her parents and we both had to contribute toward the rent....I just took what she said at face value and for the next 10+ years paid half the rent which was given to my wife via bank transfer and then apparently she paid her parents. In 2019 I enquired about the situation with the house and was told the house was hers for as long as she was alive, but when she died the house reverted back to the family estate...I wasn't at all happy with this as she could have been hit by a bus and the next day i'd be out on my ear. I asked her if she would consider us buying our own place but the water works were turned on and the conversation was shut down.................when I had to move out of the house recently a friend urged me to check with land registry to see what the situation with the house actually was. Turns out she is listed as the sole owner and has been since at least 2013.
*interlude* I'm a retired police officer, I am 41 and was medically retired back in 2019, she is currently a police officer.
I can see two possible scenarios here.
Firstly, she has simply been pocketing the rent all these years
Second, her dad transferred the house to her name for tax reasons....so it's possible she was paying her parents all these years but on paper the house is hers.
In the first case this would appear to be a case of fraud, and in the second she may be guilty of aiding and abetting tax evasion. Either is a dishonesty offence and either would most likely get her fired from the police should the authorities find out about it. Thankfully I have a saved text message from her from January where she confirms I was paying her rent, so she can't deny it.
So....am I right in my interpretation of the situation?. I spoke briefly with a solicitor (I'm going back to begin proceedings once I've obtained copies of old bank statements etc to prove I was giving her money) and he was of the opinion that I'd most likely get around 30% of the house, but no more as we were only married since 2016....however I'm hoping the fraud aspect can be used as....motivation...for her to do a deal and with luck I can get closer to 50%....He suggests I file for divorce from her for unreasonable behavior for lying all these years about the house and taking rent off me for a house she owns.
I'm pissed that I was lied to for 10+ years but I'm also plenty pissed that she kicked me out of the house in late December after I had a meltdown (she wasn't present in the house) due to undiagnosed PTSD....and far from giving help or support I was barred from entering the house, she barely kept in contact with me and then after weeks of stringing me along finally told me that we were finished....which nearly sent me over the edge again. Then when I finally get down to the house to collect as much of my stuff as I can, I find she has boxed everything of mine....even down to soaps etc I had bought for the bathrooms....man what a cold b**ch.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2022 08:21PM by dredd1981.