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  • Separated since July - Can I sell my property owned since before marriage?

    Hello Everyone,
    Again, I am seeking advice from this wonderful and friendly group of well-oriented people in family law.

    I own a small apartment in Europe which I received from my parents as a gift 5 years prior to my marriage in 1988. The property is still registered under my maiden name. Me and my husband separated in July this year. We sold our matrimonial home and are living separate - I live with our sons. Although my husband hired a lawyer we do not have Separation Agreement in the works yet. I think this is because I ask my husband's lawyer to pay CS for both of my sons who are in school but he is only agreeing to pay for one of them. Therefore he probably wants to "wait and see" hoping that my older son will drop out of school soon and he will not be legally responsible to pay for him.

    I have a good offer on my apartment right now and would like to sell it. I fear that real estate market in my home country is going down like a rocket. However, I have been warned by a few people in MY COUNTRY (not from Canada or Ontario) that if I sell it now [U]before[U] we divorce he will legally be eligible to receive half of the money from the proceeds of sale.

    Is this so here in Ontario? If my husband finds out that I have sold that apartment (the sale would probably be finalized in early spring next year) can he go to court and ask for half of the money I received? Even though the apartment is overseas, in my maiden name, inherited from my parents (even though they are still alive) BEFORE the marriage ?

    I would very much appreciate your advice. I have been reading some articles on the internet and to me it seems that property division is calculated according to separation date which in our case is pretty clear i.e. July 3, 2012 and so if I would sell now this income should not be included in this calculation.

    I would like to thank very much to anyone who posts a reply to my post here.

  • #2
    If you have a good offer then sell it. If he is entitled to half in any form then it doesnt matter if its cash from the sale or the property itself. I am thinking you would have to put the apartment as an asset on your side of the financials anyways so it doesnt matter when the separation date was, you owned it at time of separation.

    Your parents gave you a gift, it wasnt an inheritence. Can you show any paperwork showing that they bought it for you?

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    • #3
      Thank you a million for your reply Standingonthesidelines. You really clarified this for me. As far as paperwork showing that it was a gift I am not sure at this point if I have a document in place. My parents owned this apartment and when they bought a new one for themselves they "gave" it me and we have a legal document which shows that the apartment was "given" to me. However, I can ask my parents to go to a lawyer and swear an Affidavit confirming that the apartment was given to me in such year as a gift. Would that work?

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      • #4
        You would list it as excluded property on your financials. If you dont' have any documents simply have your parent swear an affidavit as to the circumstances around the property. There should be some documents available somewhere that show the transfer of the peroperty from them to you?

        It would be entirely excluded, unless you wedre living in it as the matrimonial home. It doesn't soundl ike this is the case at all, so you shouldn't have any issues with keeping it seperate.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Margaret-Krupa View Post
          Thank you a million for your reply Standingonthesidelines. You really clarified this for me. As far as paperwork showing that it was a gift I am not sure at this point if I have a document in place. My parents owned this apartment and when they bought a new one for themselves they "gave" it me and we have a legal document which shows that the apartment was "given" to me. However, I can ask my parents to go to a lawyer and swear an Affidavit confirming that the apartment was given to me in such year as a gift. Would that work?
          I think that should be good enough

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          • #6
            Thank you very much for your responses. I feel so much better now! I am so glad that I did not take the overseas lawyer's advice that I should not sell it because my husband would claim half of the money I get from that sale. Thank you again.

            Comment

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