Is your love as deep as your pocket? Part V
We will continue to explore a decision by our local Court of Appeal regarding a husband’s request to have a property declared a family home, and grant him 50% ownership. He needed the Court to do this because the family home has a specific meaning in law. The wife in the case is his 2nd wife. She bought a property in 2003 for $17,000,000.00, and spent a further $13,000,000.00 on renovations which were completed before 2008. The property was bought in 2003 before they got married. The husband admitted that he did not contribute any at all to those costs.
The husband insisted that the 2nd wife bought the property because they both agreed it was a good idea to do so, and would make it their family home when he divorced his 1st wife whom he married in 1984. The husband 1st moved into the property in 2008 while still married to his 1st wife. The 2nd wife denied having any agreement with the husband to purchase the property, and said she bought the property in 2003 to provide a home for herself, her mother, and the child born in 1999, whose father is the husband. She also said, the husband only moved in after her mother passed in 2007.
Unsurprisingly, the 2nd wife decided to rely on Jamaica’s legal bases for varying the 50/50, equal share rule regarding the family home. We will continue to look at one of the bases she relied on to vary the 50/50 rule. In previous articles we considered the improvements the husband stated he made to the property and his admission that the permanent but cosmetic changes he made were voluntary and for his benefit. He also admitted to there being contributions by the 2nd wife for certain changes, and bills which he claimed to pay but could not provide receipts for.
Basis #1: She owned the house at the time of marriage (Cont’d)
How not to ‘fatten fowl for mongoose’
You might recall from a previous series dealing with maintenance, that I mentioned the un-romantic approach of consulting an attorney before getting married or cohabiting. Our laws not only allow couples to make a written maintenance agreement but also written agreements for the division of property. This written agreement for the division of property can be made before or after marriage, or cohabitation. The seriousness of this written agreement is confirmed by the legal requirement for each person to get legal advice before signing. Are you romantic, realistic, or both?
Wedding bells or sirens
Having finally divorced his 1st wife on October 5, 2011, he moved out of the property/family home for 6 months after a quarrel with the 2nd wife. As is customary, the couple received pre-marital counselling from a pastor.
The pastor, and the 2nd wife gave evidence that the counselling sessions included discussions about an agreement for the division of property being signed before the wedding; a prenup. The husband initially denied having these discussions, but later admitted that they did take place and that he insisted there would not be a marriage if there was a prenup.
According to the pastor, and the 2nd wife, a draft agreement had in fact been prepared but was not signed because the husband required changes to the document and it was agreed that the husband would sign the agreement after the wedding. Based on the 2nd wife’s, and pastor’s evidence the agreement was that the couple would each retain the assets they had brought into the marriage, and the property would not have been the family home. Instead, a property referred to as Cherry Hill would be the family home.
The pastor gave evidence that he agreed to conduct the ceremony on the basis that the husband would sign. Are you hearing wedding bells or sirens? They heard wedding bells, and got married in March 2012.
In our next article we will explore what happened with the draft agreement, and the Cherry Hill property.
Until next time, stay safe.
Disclaimer by the author: Nothing in this article is to be taken as legal advice. You should consult an attorney regarding your specific case. All liability with respect to actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this article are hereby expressly disclaimed.