The High Court has ordered a man to pay his former wife €85,000 in return for her transferring her interest in jointly owned property following the nullification of their marriage.
E.G. and J.G. married in July 1993 and separated in December 1996. They had no children. A decree of nullity was granted to the respondent in June 2001.
The parties jointly owned, as tenants in common, land on which they had built a substantial house and a separate holding of about 24 hectares. Both properties were mortgaged to the Agricultural Credit Corporation. E.G. also owned her own house, while J.G. had separate agricultural land inherited in his sole name.
The dispute centred on the financial contribution E.G. had made towards the jointly owned property. She maintained that she contributed towards the land purchase, construction, furnishing and mortgage repayments. J.G. disputed parts of her account and sought to become sole registered owner of the jointly held lands.
Mr Justice White said the parties’ financial arrangements were difficult to reconstruct because neither side called an accountant. The court therefore had to make a reasonable estimate rather than a precise calculation.
The judge found that E.G. had contributed about £16,000 from her own funds and approximately £6,450 in loan repayments over two years. That produced an estimated contribution of £22,450 towards the house, whose total cost including financing was put at about £65,000.
Although E.G.’s valuer placed the house at €300,000, the court considered its true net value closer to €250,000. It took account of the outstanding borrowing, upkeep by J.G. and the difficulty of valuing the house separately from adjoining land.
The court assessed E.G.’s interest at more than €83,333 and rounded the award to €85,000.
J.G. was ordered to pay that sum. Once payment is made, E.G. must sign the documents required to register him as sole owner of the jointly held lands.