Woman wins share of ex-lover's home

A WOMAN has won a legal victory that will benefit thousands of others who split up with their partners.

Until now unmarried women were not automatically entitled to a share of the family home if their relationship collapsed.

But a judge has ruled that Elayne Oxley has a right to a portion of the home she lived in with her estranged partner - even though she did not pay the mortgage - because of her contribution to running the household.

Ms Oxley, 51, said: 'Women who live with their partners assume they are protected but the law doesn't recognise the term common-law wife when it comes to money. My case will change that and prevent other women enduring the anguish I have been put through.'

She lived with Allan Hiscock for 16 years. He paid the mortgage on their four-bedroom house in the village of Hartley, near Dartford, and she contributed her wages towards food and utility bills. But when they split Ms Oxley was horrified to find that she had no legal right to the house.

Today, following a two-year legal battle, she is celebrating after the High Court ordered Mr Hiscock, 54, to hand over a 40% share of the £232,000 value of the home. Legal experts say ex-lovers will now be able to claim a substantial share of a property even if they did not help pay the mortgage.

Until now courts commonly decided how much of the home's value each side received on the basis of what they had put into the mortgage.

But in Ms Oxley's case the judges decided the amount she had paid in bills should also be taken into account. Ms Oxley was working for social services when she met Mr Hiscock, who was an engineer at Dartford power station, after her first marriage ended.

She soon moved in with her children, then four, six and seven. 'I was in love. I wanted to be married to him but he didn't want to for tax reasons,' she said. 'Perhaps I was gullible.'

In 1990 Mr Hiscock bought the house, then valued at £127,000, with a 22% contribution from Ms Oxley. 'We pooled our resources,' she said. 'I gave him my £900-a-month salary, paying all the utility and food bills while he paid the mortgage.'

When he ended the relationship she was devastated. 'I had got to the age when you are striving towards a home and I was on my own,' she said.

In the High Court, Lord Justice Chadwick awarded 40% of the sale proceeds to Ms Oxley. She said: 'I think that's fair. People are living together and investing a huge amount in property and both parties need protection.'