The Court of Appeal has ruled that a homeowner must give up half of her interest in a property to a man with whom she last lived with 17 years ago in what the court said was a warning for those couples living together without any formal legal agreement.
Had a clean break order been made this would have prevented this action taking place.
Patricia Jones was told that her former boyfriend Leonard Kernott was entitled to 50% of the house in Essex despite the couple splitting up in 1993. She paid the deposit on the house and paid the mortgage for the eight years that they lived in the property together although he gave her money each week for expenses. When they split up he stopped making payments towards the upkeep of the property and gave her ‘little or no contribution’ in terms of maintenance towards their two children.
Two previous hearings had ruled that he was only entitled to 10% of the property but now the Court of Appeal has increased that to half. Had the couple been married their assets would have been divided up in a divorce settlement overseen by the courts.
Appeal Court Judge, Lord Justice Wall said: “This is a cautionary tale, which all unmarried couples who are contemplating the purchase of a residential property as their home, and all solicitors who advise them should study.”
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