Protecting your property from sharing with future partner

Question from Joyce updated on 10th September 2007:

My child owns a property and currently is not in a relationship with anyone, what action should be taken in order to protect his property from sharing with his future partner.

Our expert responded:

Trusts are often used to protect property from future relationships, however more and more experts are saying that even if your trust owns your property and you get into a relationship you should also have a property sharing agreement. Essentially once you are in a relationship for three years (note: what constitutes a relationship and working out when it started can be a very grey area), everything is split equally between the parties. The way you get around this is what is referred to as contracting out of the Property Relations Act where both parties need to get independent legal advice and a contract is drawn up outlining who owns what.

Lisa is a Certified Financial Planner and a director of Acumen Inc, a financial services company offering a full range of services including portfolio management, investment advice, property investment advice and mentoring courses, insurance and mortgages.



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