Ex-husband doesn’t deserve share in property

Dear Mrs Macaulay,I was living with a man for 11 years before we got married. He is the father of my two younger children. We got married in January 2000 and divorced in December 2010.

About three years into our relationship I started the process of buying a house. I had just had the first child for him — my third child — so I decided that I would put his name on the title as I was thinking it would be the best way to build the family. I was, however, mindful that I had two children that were not his, so at the interview I chose tenants-in-common ownership.

At the time the downpayment was about $54,000 and he gave me $11,000, saying that was all he had.

Shortly after we acquired the house, we moved in. This was about March of 1994.

I was the main breadwinner as he was hardly working, so I was responsible for all bills and the mortgage was deducted from my salary. Occasionally he would go on the farm work programme and when he was overseas I would be solely responsible for taking care of the kids (another child was born in 1998). Whenever he returned he would hide his money and refuse to even help to pay the property tax.

Throughout the time we were together there were extended periods when he was in Jamaica and not working and I would borrow money to buy different vehicles, register them as taxis, and give them to him to drive so he could help with the feeding of the family. I would be paying the loans and the insurance on these vehicles without any contribution from him.

In 2003 I borrowed some money from the credit union and did an addition to the house. I was the one who paid back the loan without any contribution whatsoever from him. This was also salary deducted.

We have been divorced from 2010 and I have approached him many times to get his name off the title. I asked him to tell me what he wants from me and he told me that if I touch his property he is going to lock me up. He insists that half of the property is his and he doesn’t want to sell. I do not think he should get half as he has not contributed to its improvement or even made any contribution to the original mortgage.

My children are grown. One is still living with me but will be getting married shortly and will be moving out. He has been living overseas since January 2011 and has not once returned to Jamaica. I want to move on with my life and need to settle this issue.

This is such a common situation between the sexes, whether married or not. In my experience, neither party ought to decide to add the other party’s name to a title of property they are purchasing, for the reason that it would make a more stable family life or some other esoteric romantic reason. Decisions about property should only be made from a business viewpoint, which I know is very difficult when one is romantically involved with the other party. But believe it or not, I have encountered couples who have handled their properties in a scrupulous business manner and those marriages remained intact. I have gone on about this point, not to make you feel bad, but to hopefully assist others.

Anyway, you were divorced in 2010 and it is now 10 years after that, so you are too far out of the one-year limitation period under the Property (Rights of Spouses) Act, in which case your ex-husband cannot apply under it for a declaration that he is entitled to 50 per cent interest in the property on the basis that it was your family home. His statement that if you touch his property he is going to lock you up is empty nonsense. His insistence that he is due one-half of the property interest and he does not want to sell is pure bravado, because it is really up to you to do what you must to protect your interests and obtain your real entitlement. That means getting a lawyer and taking the matter to court, as only the law has the last word, and not your ex-husband.

Get your lawyer to apply for a declaration that you are the sole owner of the premises as your ex-husband holds the part registered in his name in trust for you, because he failed, refused or neglected to meet his part of the understanding and agreement between you both for him to contribute to the acquisition of the property, even if it was on the basis of ‘as best as he could manage to contribute’. Even with this, he did not do anything in place of contributing actual monies (this could include housework or taking care of the children), while you were out earning the bacon, and you were forced to solely pay the entire mortgage owed and also the loan for the addition made to the house in 2003. Then, in addition to that, you also borrowed money to purchase vehicles for him to operate as taxis when he was unemployed, but despite his income from these ventures he still did not offer and certainly did not contribute a single cent to the repayment of the loans, nor did he pay any instalment of the mortgage or provide for the children or towards the household expenses. He was your healthy and able-bodied husband and was not your child for whom you would have a legal obligation to maintain.

I therefore trust that you will do the right thing by taking the matter to court and ensure that you are put in the position that you can fully utilise your whole property and decide what you want to do with it. He only contributed about four per cent of the deposit to purchase the property and not even that percentage of the purchase price. I doubt that his $11,000 will even amount to one per cent of the purchase price and the interests in the property.

You have nothing to fear from taking the matter to court, but everything to gain. And you can ensure that your children benefit from your hard work and not the moocher who was your husband.

Do not let him use you again to financially better himself. Please take control of your life as you did by working hard to not only purchase the property, but maintain the children. Enough is enough and he should be thoroughly ashamed of himself, but he clearly has no self-pride. You are right when you say you do not think he is entitled to a one-half interest in the property, as he contributed nothing, save for the $11,000 and not one cent more. So, please let the law protect you, by giving you your due and him a flea in his ear.

Go and retain your lawyer and file your claim. You have all the evidence to support you claim, to a successful end.

Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law, Supreme Court mediator, notary public, and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@jamaicaobserver.com; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5. All responses are published. Mrs Macaulay cannot provide personal responses.

DISCLAIMER:

The contents of this article are for informational purposes only, and must not be relied upon as an alternative to legal advice from your own attorney.