Hi all, My sister has her own house(recently divorced)and is in a relationship with a new guy,who she has been seeing for 18mths.He is keen to move in with her(He has no property himself,he rents!).Sister has told me,she intends to put her house in some sort of "trust"thing,where,if he moved in,and further down the line,the r/ship ends,he can't access his "share".I've never heard of this.I always presumed,that whoever owned the property,both can legally claim their half should the r/ship fail.Anyone else heard of the trust thing,where she can protect her house?TIA
The law can be very different from country to country, so it's hard to say. My guess is that the main issue would be if she died and didn't have a will, he could make a claim to the house/her property.
Yogamat, The first thing you need to do is get a lawyer. Not sure how this all works in AU, but tell your lawyer all the circumstances you have mentioned here. They may require any past receipts, bills, or other paperwork attached to this property. If you put this off and don't get it settled, you will likely have a legal mess to deal with. Better to get it all settled now. The "trust" will probably involve someone else to take over legal issues in case there is an illness, etc. In this case, it may likely be you. First, she will need to make sure that everything was settled in the divorce properly. Also it would be good advice to this new guy that his business is in order as well, even if he has no property. This includes bills, liens, etc. so nobody can complicate things later. If AU law is like ours, it is possible to make it so that he can only have what was his, and her belongings to her family. But there may be stipulations there. This is why the lawyer is absolutely necessary. He may not charge for the first consultation, or maybe a little bit. But you must do it. In some cases, people who live together can have rights to more than what they brought into the relationship, especially if he made money and spent it on their home or other things while together. This must be stipulated in a contract. The sooner and more thoroughly this is taken care of and understood, the easier it will be later. Good luck...
Trust is a common mechanism for joint ownership of property or anything like that. It can help to protect your sister's house, but it's important to draw up an agreement correctly. I remember that my grandad lost his house due to several mistakes made in his trust agreement, so it's important to hire a good specialist in property law. .
