restrictions on my property

[nvqwomen]

can anyone help, my husband and myself brought the house we are living in, my husband father put money in the property to help us buy the house and said it was a gift, but we have found out since that he has put restriction on the house, itis now being sorted out with our solicitor as it is in the purchase file that it was a gift, but also with out us knowing we signed to say that the restrictions can be put on, but as i said it is in the hands of our solicitors, my question is,we have found out now that my husbands father has run himself in to high debt,one is his credit card and he gone over is overdraft by as much as �1000, can the bank and the credit card dealer put a resrictiononon the house so when and if we sell the house they can get there money back.

[themas]

If the house is just in the names of your husband and yourself then I don't think your father-in-law's creditors can put a charge on your house.

However, if he became bankrupt it is possible that the Official Receiver would look into what he had done with the money he borrowed. If his charge (I assume your word restriction actually refers to a charge) was still in place the OR would regard it as an asset which could be claimed for the creditors. It is even possible that this could happen if the charge had been removed, because the bankruptcy forms require information to be provided about any interest he had in any property in the last 5 years.

To combat this you would have to show that the money was really a gift and the charge should never have been put in place.

[nvqwomen]

Thankyou Themas for answering my question, our solicitor is on holiday at the moment, my husband and myself was a little concerned, but many thanks

[Peter Pedant]

Oh this is quite a technical point.

purchase of a house in the name of another - is covered by a 1767 case Dyer v Dyer and there is a presumption that a trust is created basically preserving the rights of the person who has given the money.

however .... in the case of a parent giving money to a child for a house, which isyour case, there is a further presumption that the gift is ouright and without strings. This is called advancement. But if he gave it to both of you, then does the rule apply to you, who are not a child ? Good question

and also the rule can be modified (so it goes back to being a trust again) by a document saying its only a loan.

Hence it is VERY important to see the documents you signed when you bought the house with some of your father in laws money.

In Manchester it is very common for rich daddies to give their daughters money for a house and make sure that they keep a handle on the mun mun. This means that on divorce the rich daddy doesnt give 'his' share to the now divorced husband. Swings and roundabouts. erm and sons too.

I think you are gonna have to wait for the lawyer to come back from hishols

[nvqwomen]

Thankyou peter for your response. i understand what your saying, it did say in the purchase file that it was a gift to my husband, but like you said i think i will have to wait for my solicitor to return from his holiday , but many thanks for your time.