Advice needed about splitting an asset after divorce

J

Joey70

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I am engaged and we are now starting to think about a date for the wedding maybe at the end of the year or sometime early next year.

I bought a house last year where I paid 135K from a road accident compensation claim from which I have a permanent injury and my partner paid 20K. The house is in my name.

If the unfortunate happens and we divorce somewhere down the line, will my partner get half the house? Even though I paid well over 100K more.

I just want to know if there is anything I can do (prenup or have the house in a family members name) to assure that I would get my 135K back if the relationship failed somewhere down the line and had to sell the house, as I would need this money to purchase a home for myself. I could not afford to hand half the value of the house over when I paid so much more than my partner.

I know it isn’t too romantic thinking about this before we even get married, but I just want to be safe and not have to lose tens of thousands of euro that I got because of a permanent injury that I received due to a road traffic accident.
 
Are pre-nuptial agreements are recognised in Ireland? My husband and I signed an agreement before we got married, however I suspect family law would override anything if it came down to a day in court

This has been discussed before, not sure if anything has changed recently: http://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/pre-nuptial-agreement-a-few-weeks-before-wedding.187049

Edited to add: "There is nothing in Irish law which stops a couple intending to marry from signing a pre-nuptial agreement. Such agreements can serve as guides for the courts injudicial separation and divorce cases, however, the courts are not obliged to enforce them."
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/e...s/getting_married/pre_nuptial_agreements.html
 
Please excuse me if this is a silly question, but when you say 'family law', would that mean a family with kids? or would family law apply to husband and wife who have no kids. We are both in our 40's now and don't have any kids together.
 
Pre Nups have no legal standing in Ireland

HOWEVER...........

You say you are in your 40s. You are getting married. Does family law apply to you? Yes, it applies to married people whether there are kids or not.

Ask yourself this question - does your spouse-to-be have his/her own property? If not, what would his/her expectation be about this house? That it would be where s/he would continue to live if you separated?

Did you not have any conversation about house ownership when you bought? Other that it is in your name?

Since you don't appear to have had the conversation back then, would you consider the prospect of having the conversation now? You may find s/he will be horrified that you are thinking like that - human beings have the most extraordinary capacity not to deal with issues but to shuffle around them

If you can reach an agreement on how the house/sale proceeds would be split, then record it in writing and both sign it. And after that, you should both go and see a solicitor each and ask for a letter confirming to each other that you've each had legal advice and understand the consequences of what you've signed

A Court would at least consider that in the event of a marital break up- maybe not as a Pre Nup but as an acknowledgement that one party put in a great deal more money than the other

mf
 
Surely if there was to be a divorce down the line the decision re assets would be made on the basis of need? For various reasons, I contributed a good bit more to the deposit on our house than my husband (we weren't married at the time). But we've since had 2 kids so if we split up surely their welfare would be paramount in a decision over assets? I'm the main earner and I can't see any judge giving me a larger portion of the house and leaving my husband as the principal carer with less ability to get a new home?
 
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