Gift to one partner in a marriage , treatment in later house sale

I have a child in a marriage which is under considerable strain partly from financial difficulty paying the house mortgage. Shared mortgage payments .
I am in a position where I could offer a lump sum as a gift to one partner to assist in the mortgage repayments.

In the unfortunate circumstance of a marriage break up I will be grateful if anyone can advise me as to how my gift would be treated.
If the house should be sold, and profits divided between the partners , would the fact that one partner used my lump sum to assist in
mortgage payments be reflected in a larger share of the sale profits to that partner.

If anyone can advise me of a more secure way of making a gift I will be grateful.

I have not yet sought legal advice on this , but would be grateful if anyone can offer advice .

Thanks for all replies. nodo

Will your lump sum be used to clear a chunk of the mortgage?

Is it a large enough amount that you could put a charge on the house, so if its sold you get your lump sum back? (Which you can always regift to your child if you want).

Thirsty said:

Will your lump sum be used to clear a chunk of the mortgage?

Is it a large enough amount that you could put a charge on the house, so if its sold you get your lump sum back? (Which you can always regift to your child if you want).

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Would require both parties to sign up to that. The conversation required would hardly help an already strained situation... 'my parent thinks we'll split up...'

Get legal advice on it.

Before you do anything, make sure you're not putting them in a position that they can't avail of (or benefit from) a PIA for example, if that's a more appropriate course of action.

If you do help, in the circumstances I'd suggest to give a loan rather than a gift. Charge 0% interest, repayable in X years time or immediately on sale of the property. Get it legally documented, and signed, etc.

As @Thirsty mentioned, you could even have a charge on the house if you wanted to (secondary to the mortgage) so the house couldn't be sold without you getting your money back. This might be more acceptable to both parties if its seen as an intersst free loan rather than a gift.

Then you could extinguish the loan over time if you want.

@nodo Call it a loan and call the interest a gift. That interest should fall within the €3000 a year exemption.

Edit: crossed with RedOnion.
You can charge interest and then gift the value of the interest back. That (Hopefully) avoids an legal issues around the other party saying the entire loan was actually a gift in the event of a breakup.

Lend it to both of them and get them to sign-up to it. There’s no need to mention any concerns about the relationship. Then, if the property is sold, claim your money back. But get advice.

Thanks to all for your replies. Certainly the loan , with interest as a gift , seems the way to go. Some good ideas from you all to discuss with my legal adviser. nodo

Hi nodo

Can you give us some numbers here?
Value of the house?
Amount outstanding on mortgage?
Amount of arrears?
Are they subject to repossession proceedings?

No matter what you write down or do, if they split up, there will be a real mess. I think your contribution might make the mess worse.

It might be better for you to keep your money and use it in the event of a break-up. For example, if they split up, you could use your cash to help your child buy their spouse out.

As they are under financial pressure, it is unlikely that the lender will allow one of them off the mortgage.

If there is negative equity, your money could come in handy in doing a deal, especially as part of a PIA.

Brendan

The financial difficulty seems to be a contributory factor though. Maybe the life raft of a few bob albeit with legal protection for the OP might save the day?

House value about € 300000
Mortgage outstanding about € 200,000
No arrears but I think strain of repayments adds to an already fragile
relationship.
Points made taken on board by me
Thanks for all ideas.

It sounds as if this marriage is going to end. The financial problems might be a contributory factor or might be just a scapegoat.

I would definitely keep your money so that it can facilitate a purchase in the event of a breakup.

Brendan

I would regretfully have to agree with your first paragraph.
Keeping my money would seem to be the safest thing to do.

Thanks to all who gave advice. Nodo