In a recent article in the Daily Mail Richard
Keys reported that:
"Kate Moss may be getting married - but she has no
plans to share her house. The star has splashed out £7.25
million on a new pad, and despite her plans to wed rocker, Jamie
Hince, she is the sole owner"
A friend is further quoted as saying "Everyone thought
that they would own the house together………. it was presumed they
would share the ownership. After all, that's what a normal
married couple would do". The inference here would
appear to be that Kate has been very clever in that should she and
Jamie separate then he would not be entitled to make a claim on
this property in any separation/divorce negotiations.
This scenario is a common one for couples planning to marry in
Scotland. Certainly it is a cardinal principle of Scots
property law that when a person purchases heritable property and
registers the title in their own name then that person is the owner
of the property.
However, in terms of Section 10 (4) (a) of the Family Law
(Scotland) Act 1985 the exception to this is if a house is
purchased before the marriage for use as a family home, then
the asset is included in the matrimonial property as are any
furnishings and items for the home .
Although Ms Moss is understood to own a further two properties,
one of which is mortgage free, in Scots law neither of these would
constitute "matrimonial property." Problems would
arise, however, if during the course of the marriage the properties
were subsequently sold and the free proceeds used to purchase, for
instance, a motor vehicle or shares or invested in a joint
account. As the asset would by then have changed the new
asset would be considered matrimonial property.
It is essential in order to be excluded from matrimonial property
that the asset remains substantially in the same form.
Nevertheless a court could take into account the source of funds
used to purchase the property but such an argument has no guarantee
of success.
It is important that specialist legal advice is obtained when
acquiring assets if a change in your relationship status is
imminent. Please contact our Family Law Team for further
assistance.