Wife tells foreign husband he has no share in marital assets

Dear Mrs Macaulay,

I am a foreigner and I have been married to a Jamaican woman for five years. My wife had a small and uncomfortable house when we met. I enlarged this small house and renovated the old part of the house to provide comfort for both of us, and her adult daughter. I often came back to Jamaica and did construction work. I also took care of the area around the house —  ie, fences, garden planning, utility, facilities, etc.

Because of her adult daughter, who is doing everything to separate us, provoking constant arguments between my wife and I, our marriage is falling apart and I will probably file for divorce because I can no longer stand being treated like a total zero. Now my wife and her adult daughter keep telling me that this is not my home. They say I have nothing here and I have no say here. A few days before the wedding, we bought a car in instalments, which I also sent money to pay off over five years. The car is registered in my wife’s name and has not yet been paid off, because my wife said that the repayment will take two years longer because it is better this way.

Everything was fine until I finished the house, but now things have changed.

Throughout my time working in Europe, I denied myself everything in order to send as much of my saved money as possible to my wife for the above-mentioned purposes. I did it for all of us, not for myself. I am almost 60 years old and spine problems prevent me from starting my life over again.

Now, during our arguments, my wife tells me that if I want, I can leave. I will be left with nothing, because this is their home. I can leave, the only question is where to go, since I gave them everything.

I’m alone here and have no one to turn to for help.

Before I start any divorce proceedings, please  provide some information regarding separation or division of property. Please let me know whether I have the right to apply for division of property or recovery of my full financial contribution.

I am so sorry that your marriage is being undermined by your stepdaughter, and more upsetting and disgusting is that your wife is permitting or colluding with her daughter to instigate arguments.

Your wife’s conduct is shameful because she should have strictly ensured that her daughter did not comment or interfere in her marital affairs, but she never seemed to have curbed her interference.

You were and are not even given any respect by your wife and her adult daughter, nor have they shown any gratitude for the improvements you made to the home and their standard of life.  Their unfeeling, dishonest and utter lack of respect for the law and lack of any standards of fairness is astounding,  and this makes me very angry, not only because their conduct is predicated to give Jamaican women a bad reputation as users of men for their own financial and property gains, but because it is so disgusting.

The mother and daughter clearly believe that as a foreigner you know nothing of Jamaican family laws, and most particularly about family property division laws or the legal principle of refunds of the whole or part of monies expended by one spouse or person on property belonging to another, or on the family home with the owner’s knowledge and agreement.  I am pleased that you mentioned these and are asking me to assist you to understand more about the laws and processes, before you proceed to file a petition for the dissolution of your marriage.

You and the mother are married and pursuant to the Property (Rights of  Spouses) Act, you are entitled to one-half share in the family home even if your wife is the registered proprietor of the real property.  This is also the case about the motor car, which is personal property.  The court faced with an application to make a declaration of the respective interests of each spouse in the relevant real and personal properties registered in your wife’s name, and to make consequential orders for the division, manner of division and manner of settlement of the entitled interests on the said parties, must take into account certain factors provided in the said Act, which the court deems relevant in dealing with the issue, whether it would be unreasonable or unjust  for each spouse to be entitled to 50 per cent each.   This means that in circumstances such as yours, the court must examine the facts and circumstance, and in applying the factors may decide that one party, for example, you, are entitled to a greater percentage of interest of the current increased value of the family home and regarding the motor vehicle, because of the value of your contribution for the improvements you made for the family home, and regarding the car, for the number of years during which you paid the instalments for the purchase of the vehicle.

The fact that one spouse is the owner of the property (family home and car), does not erase your legal and statutory right to your share of either 50 per cent,  or more,  in such properties or their value.  What you did for the family home for the use and comfort of “the family” increased the value of what had been a small, aged and uncomfortable house, when you and your wife met.

You and your wife being married are pursuant to section 6 of the Act, and are presumptively entitled to 50 per cent each of the interest/value of the family home.  The same applies to the car.  You do not have to have been married for five years to be so entitled.  However, common-law spouses only qualify to have such shares when they, being single, have cohabited together as if they were man and wife for not less than five years.

The 50 per cent shares in the family home must be based on the fact the family home was in the sole ownership of one of the spouses.  If this was so when you invested your monies as aforesaid, then the 50/50 presumptive provision would apply, but with the proviso that the court could make a higher award to one of the parties, as stated above.  If your wife has taken steps to add her daughter’s name as a joint legal proprietor with her after your infusion of money and works to extend and refurbish and improve the existing old structure, or in the course of you providing those monies, you ought to, in your application, apply for an order for the court to set such a joinder of the daughter on the title aside on the ground that it was done to deprive you of your interest therein.

If, on the other hand, the daughter had been on the title before your marriage and your infusion of the capital sums to improve the premises, and this was not disclosed to you, and your wife and her daughter had you believe that your wife was the sole owner, then you would be entitled to claim the refund of your investment plus your percentage of the increased value of the premises which resulted from your actions.

You must obtain the services of a good family law attorney to act for you.  Your application for your interest in the real and personal properties within your marriage can be done, because of your wife’s repeated statements that you can leave the home and that you will leave with nothing because the family home is their home.  This is palpably untrue and an attempt to deny you your rightful share of the value of the premises and of the car. By making these statements you wife has raised questions as to the title to or possession of the property and so you can therefore apply to the court to determine these questions and the judge can, on such a claim, make orders for the sale of the property, and for the payment of a sum of money held to be your spousal share of the subject properties.

You can make your application for your shares on the grant of your decree of the dissolution of your marriage or after you and your wife have separated and there is no reasonable likelihood of a reconciliation, or if you can prove that your wife is endangering the property or seriously diminishing the value of the property by mis-management or by other means.  To make any of the first two applications, you must file within 12 months of the dissolution or separation or within a longer period granted by the court upon an application.

The Act contains provisions for the date for the valuation of the properties, the factors to be consider by the court in the making of a division of the family home and other properties, and provisions for protecting against actions to dispose of interests in property in order to deprive the other party of their interest or diminish the same, which is stated to be an offence for which the party so acting would be liable on summary conviction before a parish court to pay a fine of up to one million dollars or to imprisonment for  up to a maximum term of 12 months, or to both a fine and imprisonment.  If plans are afoot to defeat your rights or your claim, you can apply to the court to make an order restraining your wife from so acting and/or to order (if she sells the house or car) that she pays the entire proceeds into the court to be dealt with as the court directs.

I believe that I have dealt with enough of the existing law to enable you to decide to retain the services of a lawyer to assist  and act for you with the preparation of your claim and to represent you in court.

I must advise you that if your wife suggests that you enter into a settlement agreement with her rather that have the matter dealt with by the court, that you do not agree and sign and act on such an agreement without asking your lawyer to peruse it and advise you accordingly.  You have suffered enough and must do all you can to protect your interests in order to ensure that you obtain your full entitlements.

I hope that I have assisted you and if you need further assistance, just ask for it.

All the very best.

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.