A judge has decided that a young couple, whose relationship broke up after four years living together, should equally share the proceeds of the sale of their Co Dublin home.
Circuit Court President Mr Justice Esmond Smyth held they had equally discharged monthly mortgage and insurance payments out of their joint resources through a money manager account with the EBS. He said the woman plaintiff and the defendant had each failed in evidence to present circumstances sufficient to dislodge a reasonable inference that the other had a 50 per cent interest in the equity of the proceeds of sale. Unhappy differences had arisen between them but it was not for him to decide who was in the right or wrong in relation to what happened in their private lives. He had been asked to determine the percentage interest in the proceeds after the mortgage had been discharged.
Mr Justice Smyth said there had not been an enormous difference in each party's valuation of the property. There was an outstanding mortgage of just under £50,000 which, when discharged along with legal and other expenses, would leave an equity of approximately £70,000 which, he ordered, should be split equally between them.
He made an order for sale of the house and directed that the defendant execute all necessary documents to effect the sale. After allowing the defendant credit for a £6,000 deposit he made on the house, Mr Justice Smyth made a number of further orders relating to outstanding debts and bank credits. He directed that the defendant, who had told the court he wished to hold on to the property, be granted a stay of five weeks to allow him ascertain the potential for buying out his former partner's interest.
Allowing the plaintiff half her costs, he said there could have been very little doubt but that the defendant could not have got more than 50 per cent in the action.