Ownership of car after breakup

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fangs

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Just looking for an opinion here on best way to go about this. Facts below

1. I sourced and bought the car and have receipts proving this etc. - worth 14-16k
2. Car is registered in ex-partners name. Not registered in my name as I drive a company vehicle and my no claims bonus is tied up with company. She has main insurance on car and I'm a named driver. (reason why car is registered in her name)
3. She is in possession of car.
3. We have split up recently and she is intimating that she won't give the car back (she considers it a gift)
4. I have told her I expect car back etc. but willing to give her a loan to buy a cheaper car she can afford.
5. We don't have any written agreements as to what would happen in event of splitting up
6. Understanding between us was that car was for dual purpose, she uses it for commuting to work and we both used it then for evenings and weekends

What's the legal position with regard to ownership (registered owner or person who paid for it?) and what is best way of getting possession of car if reasoning doesn't work?
Appreciate your help folks
 
Can you prove it’s yours? As in payments on a loan? ootherwise I’m afraid she can prove it’s hers and you can forget about it / put it down to experience.
 
Whose receipt is the name in?

Did you pay the garage by transfer from your account?

How long ago since car was bought?

Who paid has paid for repairs?
 
fangs said:
1. I sourced and bought the car and have receipts proving this etc. - worth 14-16k
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Proof of beneficial ownership of the vehicle right there, no ifs, ands or buts. Name on registration document proves nothing in terms of ownership and insurance details don't either. The log-book/registration document states specifically that possession of it is not proof of ownership of the vehicle.

It's yours, get it back. BTW your partner may have made an erroneous mis-leading declaration on the insurance proposal document. "Is the vehicle yours and registered in your name?" from memory is a question that arises.

Solicitor's letter with copies of invoices/receipts is the way to proceed I think, with 7 days to act, otherwise report it stolen.
 
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Thanks for your response guys. Yes, I can prove I paid for it (cash by bank transfer) and arranged for the purchase and transport in from UK. The receipt is in my name. The car was bought last September, so no maintenance / repairs etc yet. As I say, the car was registered in her name originally for insurance reasons only. I live and learn. Thanks for the clarification anyway, if she doesn't play ball, solicitors letter it is.

If she ignores the solicitors letter, whats the next step after that? Courts or as you say report it stolen? As she is the name on the registration document, does that not confer ownership?
 
mathepac said:
...The log-book/registration document states specifically that possession of it it not proof of ownership of the vehicle.
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I thought that just means possession of the log book doesn't prove ownership. If I stole a log book it doesn't mean I own the car, I need to register a change of ownership.

mathepac said:
It's yours, get it back. BTW your partner may have made an erroneous mis-leading declaration on the insurance proposal document. "Is the vehicle yours and registered in your name?" from memory is a question that arises.
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It is registered in their name and I'm sure they will claim they own it. They could claim it was a gift.

Not sure you can report it stolen if you're not the registered owner and Gardai probably wouldn't be impressed chasing up on a stolen car that's in the possession of its registered owner.

Finance companies would have a loan agreement in place to claim ownership.
 
Read my post again and read a registration document. The OP has an invoice from the seller as well as receipts for transport from the UK. VRT receipt on credit card or cheque statement?
 
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But surely that’s all noise if the car is registered in the other person’s name?

If I register a car in your name and you’re driving around in it, does it really matter if I can demonstrate that I paid for it? You can just claim that it was a gift from me and to any outsider, that’s what it looks like.
 
mathepac said:
Read my post again and read a registration document. The OP has an invoice from the seller as well as receipts for thransport from the UK. VRT receipt on credit card or cheque statement?
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I have a receipt for the bracelet I gave my wife last Christmas.

If I pay for a car but then register it in my wife's name, it won't be trivial to prove I still own it.
 
There's a lot of irrelevant noise in here but I'm not the person making it.
 
EmmDee said:
I have a receipt for the bracelet I gave my wife last Christmas.

If I pay for a car but then register it in my wife's name, it won't be trivial to prove I still own it.
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A bracelet is not a car and a car is not a bracelet, I'd have thought that was obvious, but by all means try showing up at your LA motor-tax office and asking to register and pay motor tax on a bracelet. Also OP did not say he and his partner are married.

In the UK, they make it a little easier to understand by specifically referring to the person/company whose name appears on the registration document as the "registered keeper". Maybe we need to make that distinction here as well instead of using the terms "registered owner" and "beneficial owner".

If the OP's partner has no beneficial interest in the car, then it cannot be validly insured in her name as she has no beneficial interest in the car.
 
mathepac, why is this so difficult for you to understand? I go out to Joe Duffy Motors today and buy a car. Except I register it in your name and you drive around in it for months. In my view, I own the car. We fall out and there’s a dispute over the ownership of the car. I claim it’s mine and have a convoluted story about my company car. You just say that it was a gift, that you’ve been using it almost exclusively for months, and that it’s registered in your name. Yours is the more likely story. Yours is the one that the available evidence points to.
 

You do realise I wasn't suggesting you pay for anything with a bracelet - the point was that paying for something doesn't give an automatic entitlement to ownership. Likewise the married question is another straw man - it's irrelevant

By being the registered owner, the partner has the default ownership. The OP would have to prove the reality is different. Having receipts isn't an open and shut case. Anything can be purchased and gifted. And it is validly insured as the question is whether you are the owner - not the purchaser. And the standard record of ownership is the registration.
 
What is not in dispute is:

  1. OP has paid for the car
  2. It is registered in ex-girlfriend's name, insured also for the best part of a year
  3. Ex-girlfriend is in possession of the car

Therefore can claim it was a gift. The burden of proof is on the OP to prove that it wasn't, and with no written agreement in place that will be very difficult.
 
You broke up with your partner. Move on with your life. You have a company car. You were offering her a loan to buy another car. Why not use that money to buy yourself a car if you want a car that badly? I remember paying off a girlfriends credit card bill of thousands when I was in my 20's and she was stressed out. We broke up six months later. I never expected her to repay the money to me. It was my decision at the time to help her out and I was glad to be in a position to do so. Life is too short. Move on instead of looking for legal battles against someone you used to care about.

Even though now that I think of it, I could do with the money now....... Wonder is she on facebook....
 
If she claimed it was a gift, would CAT apply?
 
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