Legal Advice Required - Assets/belongings ownership during relationship split

[Stoo]

Good morning,




I am seeking some legal advice on where I stand with regards to assets I own (namely furniture/electrical items) that are currently in the house that belongs to my ex-partner.


We have split up and she is claiming that the assets now belong to her because;
a) They are in her property
b) When I moved in, she replaced her furniture/assets with my items, therefore she believes they are now jointly owned.


The items I moved in to her property are high quality, expensive items such solid oak furniture items, large LED TV and various items of crockery. Totalling somewhere in the region of around £5000.

She replaced her cheaper items with my much more expensive items.


I have had a look at the money advice service website and it states the following:
Dividing possessions if you’ve been cohabiting

If you’re dividing items you’ve bought while you’ve been together and you can’t agree who should get what, it’s useful to know what the law says.
In general terms:

• The person who bought the item owns it.
• If you have been given something as a present, you’re able to keep it.
• If you bought something between you, you own it between you – if one of you paid more towards it than the other, it would be assumed you’d divide it like that (which would mean, in practice, that one would buy the other out).

Given that I bought the items, and have the receipts for the majority of them, does she have a legal claim to the items?
She is stating she cannot afford to replace them, yet neither can I and in my eyes, I am the rightful owner.


Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.


Many thanks in advance and kind regards

Stuart

[jaguarsuk]

Re: Legal Advice Required - Assets/belongings ownership during relationship split

Good morning,




I am seeking some legal advice on where I stand with regards to assets I own (namely furniture/electrical items) that are currently in the house that belongs to my ex-partner.


We have split up and she is claiming that the assets now belong to her because;
a) They are in her property
b) When I moved in, she replaced her furniture/assets with my items, therefore she believes they are now jointly owned.


The items I moved in to her property are high quality, expensive items such solid oak furniture items, large LED TV and various items of crockery. Totalling somewhere in the region of around £5000.

She replaced her cheaper items with my much more expensive items.


I have had a look at the money advice service website and it states the following:
Dividing possessions if you’ve been cohabiting

If you’re dividing items you’ve bought while you’ve been together and you can’t agree who should get what, it’s useful to know what the law says.
In general terms:

• The person who bought the item owns it.
• If you have been given something as a present, you’re able to keep it.
• If you bought something between you, you own it between you – if one of you paid more towards it than the other, it would be assumed you’d divide it like that (which would mean, in practice, that one would buy the other out).

Given that I bought the items, and have the receipts for the majority of them, does she have a legal claim to the items?
She is stating she cannot afford to replace them, yet neither can I and in my eyes, I am the rightful owner.


Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.


Many thanks in advance and kind regards

Stuart

Hi Stuart

You are the owner, as stated on the Money Advice Service, you bought them and you own them .

If you're willing to go to court to recover them there will be fees, but if you're willing to pay then you should first write a letter asking for their return and send it to your ex. If refused or ignored you should write a pre-action letter stating your position:

1. I own them,
2. enclosed are copies of the reciepts,
3. you have 14 days to acknowleged this letter and 30 days to send me a full response,
4. if you ignore me or refuse to return them I'm going to court

If that doesn't work you'll have to make and application to the court.

My thread here tells you under what statute to file the application: http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...+of+possesions



My posts on this forum are offered based on my experience dealing with a variety of life events. I have no formal legal training and if in doubt take professional legal advice or contact the CAB. If you follow anything I write on this forum you do so at your own risk and I accept no liability for an loss, costs or other out comes.

[Stoo]

Re: Legal Advice Required - Assets/belongings ownership during relationship split

Hi Stuart

You are the owner, as stated on the Money Advice Service, you bought them and you own them .

If you're willing to go to court to recover them there will be fees, but if you're willing to pay then you should first write a letter asking for their return and send it to your ex. If refused or ignored you should write a pre-action letter stating your position:

1. I own them,
2. enclosed are copies of the reciepts,
3. you have 14 days to acknowleged this letter and 30 days to send me a full response,
4. if you ignore me or refuse to return them I'm going to court

If that doesn't work you'll have to make and application to the court.

My thread here tells you under what statute to file the application: http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...+of+possesions



My posts on this forum are offered based on my experience dealing with a variety of life events. I have no formal legal training and if in doubt take professional legal advice or contact the CAB. If you follow anything I write on this forum you do so at your own risk and I accept no liability for an loss, costs or other out comes.

Thanks ever so much for that.
Really appreciated.

KR
Stuart