Matrimonial home bought with inherited money was joint asset to be sold for equal shares


The England and Wales Court of Appeal has struck out part of a financial remedy order that awarded a Mrs Crowther the former matrimonial home, which was bought entirely from the inheritance that she had received after her parents' death. She had argued that if her ex-husband wanted to live independently he could apply for a council house or claim housing benefit, and so he did not need any capital from the GBP200,000, mortgage-free house.

The family court judge accepted this, but the appeal court did not, preferring the ex-husband's argument that once an inheritance has been invested in a matrimonial home, it becomes a matrimonial asset to be split equally. It duly referred the case back to the family court (Crowther v Crowther, 2017 EWCA Civ 2698).

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