Terms & Conditions

[Anonymous]

We have a claim from a women who is currently getting divorced. She is buying a property in Spain which she has paid a 50% deposit.

She currently has £54,000 sitting in an investment trust which is to be paid for the spanish property when completed. As she has a contract with the builders where she is legally obliged to pay once complete we are unsure whether the money should be classed as savings.

It appears that the all other capital and investments have been frozen whilst the terms of the divorce are dealt with.

As the money has not from the sale of a property which is going to be used to buy a new home (other than a holiday home) I don’t believe that it should be disregarded, what do others think?

[Anonymous]

My initial inclination is to say that this is not disregarded capital.

But on second thoughts I am wondering if you could make an argument for disregarding it under Schedule 6(2) (for a working age claimant).

[i:9fb071b77a]Any premises acquired for occupation by the claimant which he intends to occupy as his home within 26 weeks of the date of acquisition or such longer period as is reasonable in the circumstances to enable the claimant to obtain possession and commence occupation of the premises.[/i:9fb071b77a]

You could argue that the deposit plus the £54k has all been committed to the purchase of the property under the terms of the contract, so all of that capital has already been used for acquiring the property.

[Author]

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