gifted money claim help

[shaggybfc]

Hi, I'm looking for some advice on a situation my daughter has found herself in.
So the Story is; she was in a relationship and was in the process of buying a house. To cut a long story short, the relationship, became strained and they decided to take a break. Her partner then gave he a sum of money, saying it was a gift, but she understood it to be a payment to buy her out of her interest in the property (which her ex carried on buying). Now 8 months later, he has written to her saying the money was a loan and he wants it back, threatening her with legal action. She used the money to visit NZ, so not much left.
The question is, does he have a case and should she pay this money back?
Thanks for reading and thanks for any advice.

[nemesis45]

Re: gifted money claim help

Hi, I'm looking for some advice on a situation my daughter has found herself in.
So the Story is; she was in a relationship and was in the process of buying a house. To cut a long story short, the relationship, became strained and they decided to take a break. Her partner then gave he a sum of money, saying it was a gift, but she understood it to be a payment to buy her out of her interest in the property (which her ex carried on buying). Now 8 months later, he has written to her saying the money was a loan and he wants it back, threatening her with legal action. She used the money to visit NZ, so not much left.
The question is, does he have a case and should she pay this money back?
Thanks for reading and thanks for any advice.

HI welcome to LB.

Unless there is some written statement/agreement about the purpose for the money handed over it will
be her word against his in court.

nem

[des8]

Re: gifted money claim help

Hi, I'm looking for some advice on a situation my daughter has found herself in.
but she understood it to be a payment to buy her out of her interest in the property (which her ex carried on buying).
.

Was the property registered in joint names, and has the register been amended to his alone?
If so that could tend to support her account.

[shaggybfc]

Re: gifted money claim help

They were waiting to exchange contracts , and it was at this stage the parted. My daughter contacted the solicitor to say she was retracted her name from the application.
Thanks

[des8]

Re: gifted money claim help

The deposit is normally paid when contracts are exchanged, so probable that their solicitor was holding their funds.
It would not be unreasonable to argue that the money was a return of her share of the deposit

[shaggybfc]

Re: gifted money claim help

Hi all, thanks for the advice so far:
latest developments on this:
My daughter has now left the country and does not plan to return any time soon. She has received a latter from her former boyfriends solicitor stating that his client intends to take this to the small claims court unless she pays back the money. They have given her 7 days to repay this money in fullor as an agreement of £1000 / month. The letter also states that my daughter had offered to repay this money in a facebook communication between his mother and my daughter.
Questions now are:
Is a facebook conversation admissible as evidence?
Is this letter just a scare tactic,hoping that she will give in and repay the money?
What will happen if it does go to court, with her not being in the country?
If it does go to court,what is the likely outcome?

Thanks for any further advice

[des8]

Re: gifted money claim help

If it goes to court, and she does not enter a defence, the claimant can obtain a judgement in default.
What happens after that will depend on which country she is in, and the action(if any) taken by her ex to pursue her overseas.

Impossible to say what weight will be given to "evidence"taken from Facebook.
Does your daughter admit she made that offer, and what were the circumstances that led to it?

Could be just an idle threat, but might not be.
Without knowing the full details of any claim and any defence put forward, it is not possible to hazard a guess at the outcome.
In any case the small claims court is always a bit of a lottery

[shaggybfc]

Re: gifted money claim help

Hi and Thanks,
yes, she said she did, but also said that his mother was 'bullying' her, and she said she'd repay to keep the peace. She is currently in New Zealand.
Can she enter a defence from oversees?
I'm sure this is not just an idle threat as they have gone to the trouble of employing a solicitor,so it's more than likely to go to court.
Thanks

[shaggybfc]

Re: gifted money claim help

Hi,sorry, forgot to add, should she acknowledge this letter, and should she respond in anyway?
Thanks

[des8]

Re: gifted money claim help

The offer to repay was of course made to the mother and not the ex, so it may not carry much weight

Do the ex's solicitors know that your daughter is o/seas?
Court papers must be served on the proper address of the defendant, which must be within England or Wales.
The claimant can apply for the papers to be served elsewhere (substituted service), but the court will need to be assured the papers will eventually reach the defendant.

Ensure the solicitors know of the overseas move, and that no post will be forwarded from UK.
Any court papers received at any UK address should be returned to the court unopened, and marked "gone abroad"

From:http://findlaw.co.uk/law/dispute_res...cs/500437.html "a County Court Judgement can only be obtained against a UK resident and cannot legally be obtained against a debtor that is living outside of the UK".

Even if she gets a CCJ, it will be virtually impossible to enforce it.
If they try under reciprocal agreements, she just explains to NZ court she was unable to defend and wants the judgement set aside.
So her credit file in uk will be shot for 6 years, but will probably have no or only minimal effect in NZ

[shaggybfc]

Re: gifted money claim help

Hi, thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it.
So, I've written to the solicitors and explained that she has not lived at the address they had written to for over 2 years, detailing that she had lived with her ex, their client during this time. I've also told them that she lives overseas.

Question now is, if there is a court judgment made against her, will it affect my credit score or be associated to my address?
Thanks

[des8]

Re: gifted money claim help

Solicitors/ex would be foolish to even issue court proceedings, as it will cost them money without any real hope of getting anything back.

A ccj (if perchance one is ever issued) should not be associated with you in any way