NSW Protecting the interest of parents' property after my ex moved out from it

smallcat said:

My question is: How to protect my parents' interest on their retirement home from being taken away during property settlement or assets division?

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So basically, the ex shared a house owned by several people, with you, for around 3 years... If there was no financial or non financial contributions to the property itself ( improvements for eg) then it's hard to see any legitimate claim to include it in an asset division... At worst it would only be as a percentage of your share & shouldn't require the sale of it or any cost to your parents..

Other point to make is that if the property is included in the asset pool, being co owners, your sibling & parents have the right to become parties to the case.

I think worst case is that you need to pay more than 50% to your ex, because of the 'additional needs of caring for the children' if she continues to be the primary carer.

She probably wasn't 'allowed' to do so, but it is nearly impossible to prove it was theft since they were shared property while you were living there. It would not be worth the trouble of pursuing it. When I received an IVO and was removed from my home by my ex, she kept ownership of EVERYTHING in the house including the car in my name. I was told by my lawyer that because she 'needs the property for the children', any attempt to try to sue for recovery would seen very unfavourably by the family court. In other words legal theft of property. As I said to you in other threads, the person who has the children and gets in first with an IVO/AVO wins almost everything. It's morally wrong, but it's the way the law seems to work.

smallcat said:

Worst case means I need to pay the value of 50% of my portion to my ex?

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Not necessarily 50%... Nobody here can tell you what the just & equitable entitlements may be to each party as all cases are different... Beat advice I can give you is to spend a bit of money to get a professional legal opinion... To that end, get together all your financials & figures from relationship beginning to present, & a timeline of events... Take it along to a family law solicitor for an opinion on just & equitable entitlements... Thwen you have a solid, well informed basis for what you are seeking... Courts like that rather than a figure you have plucked out the air.

smallcat said:

What exactly is "parents become parties to the case"?

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Meaning if a property settlement is filed that includes the house in the asset pool, then because it is co owned, the other owners who also have a financial interest in it, can apply to become a party to proceedings...

smallcat said:

Also, when she moved out, she stole a lot of homeware, necessities and food (yes, food!) belong to my parents and slibing. Was she allowed to do so?

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See GlassHalfFull post above