Cohabitation disputes and financial claims

TOLATA is the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 - the legislation the court applies to property disputes between people who are not married. It looks at the legal ownership, the beneficial interest, and what the two parties intended at the time the property was bought and during the relationship.

You may still have a claim. A beneficial interest can arise from direct financial contributions (deposit, mortgage payments, substantial improvements), promises that were made and relied upon, or a clear shared intention. The evidence has to do real work - contemporaneous documents, transfers, messages - but the claim is a real one.

TOLATA claims do not carry a hard statutory deadline in the way some claims do, but delay weakens the evidence and can hand the other side arguments about acquiescence. The honest answer is that the longer you wait, the harder it becomes. Where you think there is an issue, take advice early.

Where children are involved, separate claims may be available under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 - for housing or maintenance for the child's benefit. These are distinct from TOLATA claims and run on a separate track. We can explain how the two interact in your specific situation.

The most useful evidence includes bank statements, transfers, mortgage records, builders' invoices, and any messages or emails where the two parties discussed who owned what or who would pay for what. Even small contemporaneous documents - a text confirming a deposit transfer - can be the difference between winning and losing a point.

In most cases, yes. The majority of cases settle through negotiation or mediation before a final hearing - a sale and split of the proceeds, a buy-out, or a transfer of one share to the other. Court sits as the backstop, not the default route.