what to do

[Mess]

If you are able to back up the 65k figure with receipts, or at least a clear paper trail from your account transfers to the house account, mortgage, etc.

Be wary of any amounts that she may spent on you, like food, bills, etc that she can come back with. I'm not saying who's right or wrong here, just that this will come down to a battle of receipts.

If you can show, not just claim, 65k, then you have a good case for unjust enrichment and possibly a trust claim for part of the house. Your lawyer sounds like he is giving decent advice, but make sure you can back up your claims.

[ntgtnn]

i used my t4 from last year(09) and half my t4 from 08 seeing i moved in june 1/08...i have my statements from my account printed off(from oct 08) and they show all transfers to her account(some months 2700) they also show moneies being paid onto the power bills, electric, credit cards, and so forth... i work in a camp so im gone for 3 weeks at a time and all is done when im gone..can show for the renos which i paid onto the credit card of home depot...dont have anything that shows it goes to her mortgage seeing she transfers from my account to hers then to the mortgage one but have everything else

[blinkandimgone]

So what you're saying is she managed to get a court to garnish your wages for child support for her 6 children after you lived together for 20 months? How old are the children?

[ntgtnn]

no..the garnishing is due to 2 sons fom a relationship 16yrs ago that i happen to fall into arrears from..she kicked me out when they garnished my wages

[bayleaf]

I think you should talk to that lawyer again. You may well have a claim for unjust enrichment, which is based on the common law concept of constructive trust. This is judge-made law and you won't find it in the Alberta family relations statute. Generally judges try to find a way to correct things when one party in a relationship gets taken for a ride. Of course, financial benefits you derived (like free rent) would be subtracted.

A lawyer might file a lis pendens against the title to the house which would need to be cleared before she could sell it.

[blinkandimgone]

Originally Posted by ntgtnn

no..the garnishing is due to 2 sons fom a relationship 16yrs ago that i happen to fall into arrears from..she kicked me out when they garnished my wages

OK, I understand now. I do wonder though why you'd be spending $65,000 on this woman and her six kids if you're in arrears for your own child support?

[OttawaM43]

You might be entitled to SWEAT EQUITY. Just a thought. I know of a case for a guy living with a woman that got $10000 for just over a year of living together for cutting lawn, changing light bulbs etc.

[standing on the sidelines]

Originally Posted by ntgtnn

no..the garnishing is due to 2 sons fom a relationship 16yrs ago that i happen to fall into arrears from..she kicked me out when they garnished my wages

I would fight her on the money. I really hope that you will do the moral thing and if you do recover, pay the arrears to your sons mother. That was a nice thing to do to your kids. I would also make a visit to whoever holds ex gf mortgage and tell them that you are no longer living there and she will not have your income to help her with the house.

I hate to say it but it sounds like she took you for a ride. Once the money was being taken off your check for the arrears you outlived your usefulness to her.

[ntgtnn]

the one thing im having a hard time with is the terms "free loading" and rent free"..on an average month the power bill is 265.00 and the heating is 298.00 which is paid directly from my account and so is the cable, cell bills for her daughter, her and myself, food, kids schooling which is 1200 a yr, sports,money transferred from the account to hers average about 1800 and other stuff..with me being home only one week of the month i think i over pay "rent"...seeing there is 6 children of hers ages from 7-20yrs living there i thought i did the right thing by being responsible awith the understanding that assuming the role of the father figure these responsibilities are needed to be taken on...on average 5000 was taken from my account per month for bills and less than a 100 was left for me when coming home having to put my hand out and asking for money...now understand that the house is 5300sqft with a total of 23 different rooms and i did 85-90% of the renos on including the outside which included a fence down the 250ft driveway a 70ft drainage ditch for the minnesota mound plus the usual yard work on 3 acres...and yet she feels i sponged of them long enough